Want to start new Quicken File - account holdings are wrong or missing stock shares

aprm1024

After 8 years I feel the file is carrying some errors in a number of accounts and I'd like to start fresh, hoping this can help alleviate some errors. What is the experience of people in this forum with this approach. I read that QIF file export/import gives you more control over which accounts to bring over to the new file.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @aprm1024,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. How much history are you wanting to carry forward into the new file? What kind of errors are you running into?

QIF file export/import does give you more control over what accounts to bring over, as well as letting you choose date ranges. That said, QIF does not always handle transfers well; if you have a lot of transfers between accounts, you may see your balances will be incorrect after the import. Another thing that can happen is if there are errors in some of the transactions you are trying to bring into the new file, sometimes those transactions do not transfer over properly.

Depending on how much history you need, one option is starting a new file and redownloading from your financial institutions. How much history will download varies by the financial institution, but most offer approximately 90 days. Many financial institutions also offer the ability to download Quicken formatted files, referred to as .QFX or as Web Connect files, to pull in additional history. How much history varies; it seems most that offer Web Connect allow you to download about 1-2 years worth of transactions. Also, unless you delete it, your previous Quicken file will still exist, so you would be able to reference it still if you needed to see more history. To see how to switch between files, you can reference this article (the How to alternate between multiple files section).

If starting a completely new file isn't a viable option for you, another option is creating a copy of your file. Doing this will rebuild all of the internal lists and database tables. If successful, you would then move forward with the copied file. To create a copy, please navigate to File > Copy or Backup File... > Create a copy or template (see examples below) which will also allow you to select a date range to move forward with.
If you wish to move forward with your entire data file, please check the full date range of your entire data file before copying so you can enter the correct date range if you do not wish to "shrink" your file by eliminating certain dates.

It's important to know that doing so will disconnect all online services in the copied file and you will need to sign back in with your Quicken ID and reconnect all of your online accounts, online billers, Quicken Bill Manager services, etc if you plan to use that copied file going forward. The reason for this is that the new copy also creates a new and separate dataset ID.

I hope this helps!