Trying to restore from a backup, but no recent files displayed to choose from (Q Mac)

Stephen Fisher

I'm trying to restore from backup, but the backup files Q presents to me are at least 18 months old. I back up after each session, but if I search on the file name in FInder, I see nothing recent. There is one recent backup file that I found on a separate backup HD, but QM will not open it, saying that it needs to write to it to open it and it can't do that. I made sure all the permissions for that file are “Read and Write” but it will not open. 

Where the heck are the backup files on the Mac HD? THe backup folder in Quicken Settings is mostly all greyed out and shows nothing recent. 

jacobs

Let's start with what version of Quicken Mac are you using, and what version of macOS?

What is the location of the backup folder selected in Quicken Settings?

I'm not sure I understand you saying the folder is grayed out. In the Finder? In Quicken? Can you post a partial screenshot to illustrate what you're seeing.

Have you tried a Finder search for the .quickenbackup extension to find all such backup files?

Do you have any backup software for your Mac overall, such as the built-in Time Machine, or cloud-based backup like iDrive or Backblaze?

Jon

The default location for backup files is in

/Users/<your user name>/Library/Application Support/Quicken/Backups/Automatic Backups

The backup files will all be grayed out if you look at the folder by pressing the Backup Folder button in Quicken Settings, because they aren't folders and you're supposed to be selecting a folder when you press that button. If you go to the File menu & select Restore From Backup, those files will be selectable.

Also, by default those files are sorted by name but that doesn't necessarily put the most recent files first. Click on the Date Modified header to sort the files by date, that should promote the most recent files to the top of the list.

Stephen Fisher

thank you both. Unfortunately I am leaving on a 1 week vacation (first time flying since Covid) and I will not be able to try out any of this on the desktop until next Thursday. But yes I have a Seagate type backup drive. That's where I found the most recent dated backup file that QM (subscription version updated monthly) would not open.

jacobs

@Stephen Fisher I hope you have a great trip! Post back here when you return and have a chance to look at it again.

I have a Seagate type backup drive.

I'm not sure from that comment how you're backing up your Mac? Do you use Time Machine to automatiucally and continuously back up your Mac? Do you use software like SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to make a mirror image copy of your Mac's hard drive? If so, how often, and when was the most recent? Do you manually copy selected files to the Seagate drive?

But before delving into that, follow the advice in @Jon ‘s post above to navigate to your backup folder to see what’s really there. (Note that the Library folder in your User folder is hidden by default in macOS; to get there, in the Finder hold the Option key while pulling down the Go menu, and Library will be visible to select.)