How to transfer specific files from one Quicken to another

JRPUT

On one computer I keep track of investments while on a different computer I keep track of monthly budgets, checking, and savings accounts. My question - how can I copy the checking account (only) from one computer to a second computer?

jacobs

First, can you clarify exactly how you're doing what you're doing currently. I want to make sure we're on the same age about separate accounts versus separate data files. A data file is the physical file on your Mac which Quicken opens and modifies as you enter and edit transactions. An account is a single account which appears in the left sidebar of Quicken which parallels a real-world account at a financial institution such as a bank or brokerage. A Quicken data file typically contains multiple accounts. Normally, people keep all their accounts in one data file, unless they are doing financial record-keeping for others (e.g. a parent, child, non-profit association, etc.) 

Are you saying you have two separate, independent Quicken data files, one on Computer A with only accounts for your investments, and on a different data file on Computer B with only accounts for your banking, savings and credit card accounts? 

If you do indeed have two separate Quicken data files on the different computers, do you want to keep them separate? In other words, if I explained how to safely copy the data file with banking, savings and credit card accounts from Computer B to Computer A, do you still want to keep them separate? It is relatively easy to move a data file from one computer to the other, but they would still be separate.

Or is it your goal to merge the two files together into just one data file?

In general, you can't copy a single account from one computer to another. If you're looking to permanently merge the account(s) from one file into the other, there is a way to do that; if you're looking to copy a single account back and forth between two different data files, that it not really feasible.

So please provide a little more clarity about what you're trying to accomplish, and we can offer some advice on how to proceed.

RickO

I will assume you already keep separate Quicken data files on the two computers, true? If so, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by copy the checking account to a second computer. Do you mean you would have a third file (2nd file on computer #2) for just the checking account. Or do you want to merge the checking account in the existing file on the 2nd computer? And do you want keep the checking account on the both computers up to date, or move the account and only keep it on the 2nd computer?

Please answer these questions and we can go from there.

JRPUT

Thank you for your help - let me try to clarify exactly what I am looking to do! On Computer A I have several accounts. On Computer B (a different data file) I have a checking account with manual entries for budget purposes (meaning I assign a specific category for each check or withdrawal). I need to copy this one checking account from Computer B to Computer A with its own data files and investment accounts. My goal is to continue to run the two computers (Data files) and manually copy this one account each month.
Although I realize I can simply set it up to download all transactions from my financial institution, I don't want to rely on this method because of the need to assign each category for reporting purposes.
Thank you!

RickO

If it's okay to have a copy of the B file on Computer A as a separate file, this is easy. Just zip the file, copy it over, then unzip it on Computer A. Next month, replace the copy the same way. I do this all the time as I have a copy of my "real" file on my laptop that I sue for reference only when I'm not on the home desktop computer. I actually have a set of scripts that encrypts and zips the file on the desktop Mac whenever I close it and puts it in Dropbox. Then another set of scripts that decrypt and unzip it on the laptop whenever it notices a new version in Dropbox, replacing the copy on the laptop. All runs automatically.

If for some reason you really need to combine the two files on Computer A, that can be done, but more complicated. Let me know.

BTW, it is easy to switch between two files on one Mac using the File > Open Recent menu.

jacobs

As RickO said, if your goal is to copy the file from Computer B to computer A, and then have the two separate files on computer A, so you can switch between them, it's as simple as moving the file — for which you should always use File > Compress in the Finder to create a .zip copy before moving.

If your goal is to move the file from B to A, and then to extract the checking account transactions in the file which came from B and import them into your main file on computer A, that's a bit trickier — but it can be done with some manipulation.

JRPUT

Thank you for your help. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question.