Is it possible to have the Quicken program on 2 computers?

W B Walters

My wife wants to have the program on her computer so when she is working away she can do reconciling and stuff. Not able on mobile app. Anyone know?

Jim_Harman

You can have Quicken on two computers, but you must be very careful if you are trying to share a data file.

The safe way to do it is when one user is finished, save a backup to Dropbox or another shared location. Then the other person can restore the backup, keep working, and when they are done save the backup again.

Accessing an active data file from a shared location will sometimes cause data corruption.

See this Support article for more information.
https://www.quicken.com/support/can-i-install-quicken-multiple-computers#:~:text=Can I install or use,a network or shared drive.

Ps56k2

Quick answer... as mentioned - you can "install" Quicken on multiple computers,
but Quicken is NOT a file sharing program.
Also - the Quicken Cloud is NOT designed to perform that sharing function.

Gopher651

Easy to use Google drive in mirror mode. Install on both computers. File is stored local on both and synced to cloud. Both computers kept updated. If you have a Google account, you get 15gb free storage. Been doing this for years. Just pause when using Quicken as certain Quicken functions close then reopen the data file (ie. backup from file drop down) which triggers a sync and can return a file in use (or cannot open file) when trying to reopen. Resuming after Quicken syncs the file. Don't need to use backup to share and cannot be using the file at the same time for obvious reasons.

Jim_Harman

@gopher651, it is the Google sync you are pausing while doing a backup, right? Are there other times you need to pause it, such as when doing a Validate and Repair?

It is interesting to hear that this works for you.  Note that this configuration is explicitly not supported by Quicken.

Gopher651

@Jim_Harman
Any time a file is changed and written to the drive a sync is triggered. If you notice when backing up, the register window goes blank and a backup settings window displays. The file is closed to allow for the backup. Google sees a changed file and syncs. Quicken returns a successful backup window and when OK is clicked the file is reopened but fails because Google is syncing. The same happens if you close Quicken and immediately reopen before sync is complete.Any function that acts like this may be the same. I just pause but never analyzed
I don't believe this is what Quicken means. They do not recommend opening the file over a network which would be streaming (Google does this also). Mirroring is copying cloud files locally so you are actually working with a file on your system that is synced to the cloud.

Greg_the_Geek

Can I share my Quicken file between multiple computers using Dropbox?

• Services such as OneDrive or Google Drive can be used as a location to store backups of your Quicken data files.  We don't recommend storing your active data files, or installing Quicken, on these drives.  If you restore a backup that is located in your cloud drive, make certain the restored file is saved locally on your hard drive before using the file.

Gopher651

@Jim_Harman
I should also mention Google drive installs a new "drive" on your system under my computer. This drive is a direct link to Google cloud. Opening from here would be streaming and not recommended.

Gopher651

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> Can I share my Quicken file between multiple computers using Dropbox?* Services such as OneDrive or Google Drive can be used as a location to store backups of your Quicken data files.  We don't recommend storing your active data files, or installing Quicken, on these drives.  If you restore a backup that is located in your cloud drive, make certain the restored file is saved locally on your hard drive before using the file.

As I tried to explain with mirroring, the file is local and not opened from Google drive. Mine is in c:/users/username/Google drive/quicken. It is copied to the cloud
c:/users/username/Google drive is an exact copy of what is in the cloud and is synced

Greg_the_Geek

And Quicken DOESN'T support storing your active data file in a Google Drive folder. Don't complain here if you file ever becomes corrupted.

Jim_Harman

Also don't expect any help from Quicken Support if this setup causes problems.

Gopher651

I disclosed the location of my file as it is on drive c:. You are saying naming a folder "Google drive" is what is not recommended?
I have 2 data files that are exactly the same. 1 is in my users folder and one is in the cloud. Quicken opens the one in users folder and Google makes sure the one in the cloud matches. If the file in the cloud changes Google updates the copy in users folder.

Gopher651

As a note my file on Google drive is NOT the active file. It is a copy. My active file is in my users directory. No different than any other user. I suggest you search the difference between mirroring an streaming. I'm done.