I can't back up Quicken file located in Dropbox

Question

I keep my Quicken file in Dropbox so it is available on my two computers.

When I save a backup, it gives me an error:

Quicken cannot open the data file because it is in use by another application, such as

a cloud storage backup.

I have to pause Dropbox before backing up.

Note that I used to store my Quicken file in Google drive, and backing up worked fine.

Oleg S · Answer

NotACPA, q_lurker, thank you for your suggestions.

Unfortunately, these manual workflows won't work for me - it's too likely that I (or my wife) forget a step and lose or overwrite our edits.

>A simple hiccup in the connection while the file is open can irretrievably TOAST your file

That would make Quicken different from all other apps that work fine with files stored in Dropbox.

Anyway, I've been storing the Quicken file in Google drive for years and on Dropbox for a few months without toasting it. If it does happen, I'll restore from the backup.

q_lurker · Answer

There may be a variety of opinions here with minimal absolute best practices.  All FWIW.

I would likely copy the file from your hard drive to Dropbox and then copy from Dropbox back to whichever hard drive.

My objection or reluctance to the Quicken Backup - Restore sequence is that each restore announces a re-sync of your file to the Quicken Cloud. I do not trust that process to not alter some preference settings that may not be evident.  I cannot definitely point to specific proven associations of such problems but it is known that syncing to Quicken’s web and mobile apps can cause problems.

Proceed with caution.

NotACPA · Answer

It's a BAD practice to store your Q data file in Dropbox.  A simple hiccup in the connection while the file is open can irretrievably TOAST your file..

The Best practice is to store the file on your hard drive and do a backup to Dropbox when you exit Q.  When doing this, you'll need to start your Q sessions with a RESTORE from Dropbox

You're getting this message because DB is accessing the file while you're trying to backup