What is a reasonable number of backups of Quicken data to maintain?

Agent905
Agent905 Member ✭✭
I am curious as to what is a safe number of backups of my quicken data to keep? I backup after each session. As of now all registers are in balance and no questionable transactions exist. Thank you for your replies.

Answers

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    It's a personal choice matter but IMO it is better to do a bit of overkill when it comes to backups.  I have my automatic backup settings set to backup after each session and to retain the 35 most recent backup files.  This translates to about 1 month of backup files.
    For me this is a good number because I run Quicken frequently.  When I find a problem in my file and need to restore a backup I don't usually need to go back more than 1-2 weeks.  And then I've got a  couple more weeks as buffer.
    I also save the last backup file from each quarter for at least a couple of years...just in case I find that something from long ago was deleted/corrupted.  Those old backups can be a valuable archive for those really old transactions.

    (Quicken Classic Premier Subscription: R54.16 on Windows 11)

  • Jon
    Jon SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    I think looking at it from a time basis is better than a quantity basis. Somebody who opens their Quicken file several times a day should have a higher number of backups than someone who only opens it a couple times a week. 

    I'd say having backups going back at least a couple weeks is a good idea, however many backup files that turns out to be.

    Quicken Mac subscription. Quicken user since 1990.

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2022
    Jon said:
    I think looking at it from a time basis is better than a quantity basis. Somebody who opens their Quicken file several times a day should have a higher number of backups than someone who only opens it a couple times a week. 

    I'd say having backups going back at least a couple weeks is a good idea, however many backup files that turns out to be.
    I agree with you, except I would suggest having backups to cover at least a month.  Sometimes an issue comes up that we won't see for a couple of weeks or more so if you have only a couple of weeks of backups then you might be SOL in being able to recover from it. 
    I don't know about QM but QW does not allow for selecting a time period for automatic backup settings...must select a quantity of backups.  So, select a quantity of backups to be retained that based upon your usage of Quicken approximates the time period you want to have backups for.

    (Quicken Classic Premier Subscription: R54.16 on Windows 11)

  • Jon
    Jon SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Boatnmaniac said:

    I don't know about QM but QW does not allow for selecting a time period for automatic backup settings...must select a quantity of backups.
    QM is the same.

    Quicken Mac subscription. Quicken user since 1990.

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