Strange alphanumeric categories taking over Quicken for Mac

Michael Putzel

When trying to start a budget in Q Mac Deluxe 6.10.3, I discovered that a bunch of 36-character alphanumeric Categories had taken over much of my category list. They apparently hadn't shown up before because they aren't offered among the categories I usually use to identify income and expenses. One example:
C 608300D-03DB-40EC-9BBA-D4E391D35545 and below that a subcategory that says
Some familiar category names appear below the long ones as subcategories. They obviously make a mess of anything like a meaningful budget. The Quicken Support rep I spoke to said they appear to be evidence that my main Quicken file, including all backups for at least a couple years, are corrupted, although the app still functions to track my spending, which is my main purpose in having it.
Can anyone tell me what's going on and how to fix it? I've been a Quicken user since Quicken for DOS 3.0, in the early 1990s and have had my share of problems, but this one is really strange. Thanks.

Quicken Jared

Michael Putzel said:

When trying to start a budget in Q Mac Deluxe 6.10.3, I discovered that a bunch of 36-character alphanumeric Categories had taken over much of my category list. They apparently hadn't shown up before because they aren't offered among the categories I usually use to identify income and expenses. One example:
C 608300D-03DB-40EC-9BBA-D4E391D35545 and below that a subcategory that says
Some familiar category names appear below the long ones as subcategories. They obviously make a mess of anything like a meaningful budget. The Quicken Support rep I spoke to said they appear to be evidence that my main Quicken file, including all backups for at least a couple years, are corrupted, although the app still functions to track my spending, which is my main purpose in having it.
Can anyone tell me what's going on and how to fix it? I've been a Quicken user since Quicken for DOS 3.0, in the early 1990s and have had my share of problems, but this one is really strange. Thanks.

Hello @Michael_Putzel,   

I am sorry to hear about this strange issue with categories being changed to indecipherable strings of alphanumeric characters. Thank you for looking to the Quicken Community for assistance.

First, are you noticing this issue across multiple accounts and financial institutions? When did you first notice this; when were you trying to create a budget as this happened? Lastly, where is your current active data file located? You can check this anytime by navigating to File > Show "(Data File name will be displayed here)" in Finder... in the upper menu at the top of the screen. Be sure that the data file is located on your computer [Removed - Windows] rather than an external drive or cloud-based storage service. These latter locations can cause erratic behavior and even data damage.

I look forward to your response. 

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

Michael Putzel

Jared, Thank you for your response and questions. Sorry I was traveling and couldn't reply immediately. To answer your questions, I believe there are only two possible sources for the random names. One is Wells Fargo Bank, which is where I have two bank accounts, a Visa credit card, and Bill Pay. The other is Capital One, where I have a Visa Venture card. The accounts in both institutions are recorded in Quicken. My wife also uses Quicken and also has accounts at Wells Fargo and Capital One, but the unrecognized Category listings don't show up in her file, which is maintained on a separate MacBook Pro.

I first noticed the problem when I tried to create a new budget in Quicken on Dec. 8, the day I filed the query above. I had not attempted to use the Budget feature before and immediately noticed the strange numbers but didn't know how they got there. It was a Quicken Support representative who explained that the long alphanumeric names were coming from Categories, as shown in the Windows tab.

The data file is stored in: MacintoshHD/Users/MP/Library/Application Support/Quicken/Documents.
Automatic backups are stored in the same Library but in /Backups folder instead of /Documents. When I make my own backups, I have stored them in Dropbox, but I don't recall ever needing to restore from them.
One concern I had not noticed until last week is that Quicken apparently has been creating and numbering new data files. The last time I set up a new data file I named it by date: Quicken-MP 07-18-17.quicken. Over time, presumably for reasons known to Quicken, that file was replaced by a file with the same name but the number 2 added. After that, it started renaming files Michael's Finances, and those are numbered 2, 3, 4 & 5 with the 5 being the one opened this morning. My wife's Quicken account lists only one data file: AnnQuicken 04-19-17.quicken. I hope you can help get my data cleaned up and back in service. Right now, Quicken is behaving irregularly, and I don't know if I can trust it.
Thank you

Quicken Jared

Michael Putzel said:

Jared, Thank you for your response and questions. Sorry I was traveling and couldn't reply immediately. To answer your questions, I believe there are only two possible sources for the random names. One is Wells Fargo Bank, which is where I have two bank accounts, a Visa credit card, and Bill Pay. The other is Capital One, where I have a Visa Venture card. The accounts in both institutions are recorded in Quicken. My wife also uses Quicken and also has accounts at Wells Fargo and Capital One, but the unrecognized Category listings don't show up in her file, which is maintained on a separate MacBook Pro.

I first noticed the problem when I tried to create a new budget in Quicken on Dec. 8, the day I filed the query above. I had not attempted to use the Budget feature before and immediately noticed the strange numbers but didn't know how they got there. It was a Quicken Support representative who explained that the long alphanumeric names were coming from Categories, as shown in the Windows tab.

The data file is stored in: MacintoshHD/Users/MP/Library/Application Support/Quicken/Documents.
Automatic backups are stored in the same Library but in /Backups folder instead of /Documents. When I make my own backups, I have stored them in Dropbox, but I don't recall ever needing to restore from them.
One concern I had not noticed until last week is that Quicken apparently has been creating and numbering new data files. The last time I set up a new data file I named it by date: Quicken-MP 07-18-17.quicken. Over time, presumably for reasons known to Quicken, that file was replaced by a file with the same name but the number 2 added. After that, it started renaming files Michael's Finances, and those are numbered 2, 3, 4 & 5 with the 5 being the one opened this morning. My wife's Quicken account lists only one data file: AnnQuicken 04-19-17.quicken. I hope you can help get my data cleaned up and back in service. Right now, Quicken is behaving irregularly, and I don't know if I can trust it.
Thank you

Hello "@Michael Putzel",  

I am sorry about this issue continuing, and I appreciate you following up with me about this. The detail you've provided about the situation is very helpful, as well.

First, save a backup by navigating to File > Save a Backup... in the upper menu at the top of the screen, then proceed through the instructions provided below:

1. Navigate to Quicken in the upper menu at the top of the screen just mentioned, then go to Preferences > Mobile, Web, & Alerts

    2. Click the toggle to set it to OFF under Sync

Next, try this:

1. In Quicken, choose Preferences > Connected Services.
2. In the Cloud Account section, click on the blue "Reset" link to start the process.

Let me know if reseting Connected Services in this fashion seems to resolve the issue.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

Michael Putzel

Hi Jared,
I did just as you suggested: made a backup, turned off Sync, and reset Connected Services. Unfortunately, the strange categories are still there. I am attaching a screenshot of a partial list of Categories from the Windows tab.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @Michael Putzel,

Thank you for attempting those steps. 

At this point, due to the previous troubleshooting steps having failed, we recommend that you reach out to Quicken Support directly for further assistance as they can walk you through troubleshooting steps in real-time and escalate the situation if needed. 

The Quicken Support phone number can be found through this link here. Phone support is available from 5:00 am PT to 5:00 pm PT, Monday through Friday.

I apologize that we could not be of more assistance. 

Michael Putzel

Thanks. Will do. My would-be budget and reports are a mess as a result of this anomaly.

Michael Putzel

I have been trying to call Quicken Support for Mac to escalate this issue, but the queue is 32 minutes long, and this is the second day I have waited on hold as long as I could without success. Considering this issue has been hanging for almost a month now, please escalate my case and have a senior support tech contact me when I can actually get some help. My end-of-year finances are a mess because of this problem, and I really have to resolve it or find an alternative. Leaving my work phone tied up much of the afternoon is not helping. Thank you.

jacobs

@Michael Putzel I understand your frustration, but this community website isn't part of Quicken Support. I don't think anyone on the support team will call you as you wish based on your post here. If you want to talk to Quicken Support, you'll just have to find a time where you can do some work while the call waits on hold in the background, until you're connected. Call on a cell phone if you can't afford to tie up your business phone. Try calling early when Support opens, before a long queue builds up, or later int he day when you're at home. (Don't shoot the messenger; I'm just advising what I think you can do to successfully talk with a Support representative.) 

Michael Putzel

Thanks for the advice and the clarification, jacobs. I will keep trying, but the frustration of having a disabled app and no one capable of fixing it or available to help is beyond an annoyance. I thought asking the community might prompt some action. Maybe Twitter is a better platform for that.

jacobs

@Michael Putzel I don't think turning to Twitter is a better approach. You need to contact Quicken Support, and unfortunately that can require a bit of time on hold, especially around the start of a new year and tax filing time. They are just not set up to do outbound calling to users upon request, which is what you want.

Michael Putzel

Trying again. At least this time I got through to a Q Support human being.