Quicken needs to support a Read-Only option to view old Quicken files

Eugene King

I see that some other people have asked about read-only Quicken files and the answer seems to be "can't do" but that is something that Quicken should support. When we create an end of year file, we should be able to view it and produce reports but not change any transactions or add transactions.

Thanks.

NotACPA

When ever I upgrade to a newer version of Q, I go back and open all such old files ... just to bring them up to the current level.

Have you tried that?  It doesn't change any transaction, or add any, it just updates the Q product that can read the file.

UKR

It has been requested over the years to change Quicken to create a "proper" Year End Archive File where scheduled reminders are disabled and transactions are made read-only, editing allowed only with a special prompt.

That request hasn't been fulfilled yet.

For the time being, immediately after you create a Year End copy file (YEC) you should go into this file and

• delete all scheduled reminders
• set a transaction password to protect all existing transactions in the file
  (use a simple one like "x" and write it down so you won't forget)
  

When you open this file again later, any changes to the file will cause the transaction password prompt to show. You can cancel unexpected prompts so the change isn't applied and processing continues.

After installing a major version upgrade to Quicken (or maybe once every couple of years) you should open each of your YEC files, one at a time, to make Quicken process it and apply any database structure changes. Nothing worse than having an archive file that is so out of date that Quicken can't update it to current levels without going thru extra conversion steps.