Ridiculously slow
Quicken has gone from a slow snail pace to cold winter ooze. Quicken is the only program i use that gets worse with every update.
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Hello @jay25252,
To troubleshoot this issue, more information would be helpful. What is slow in Quicken? For instance, is it slow to open, is One Step Update slow, or it is something else that's not performing well?
I would recommend following the steps in this article: . This FAQ also has tips that may help improve Quicken's performance:
I hope this helps!
Quicken Kristina
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Just changing the
Improve Graphics Settingsmade a great improvement in the One-Step Update process.I would highly suggest trying the change.
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Everything is slow. Almost unusable. Help. Have validated file. Was faster for a day or two after the last update but now back to watching paint dry.
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Hello @DRHayes,
If you haven't done so already, I would recommend reviewing the FAQ linked earlier in this discussion.
Providing further information may also make it easier for us to help you. For instance, which operating system do you use (Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, something else)? What exactly is slow in your Quicken (for instance, slow to open the program, slow to open a file, slow to run One Step Update, slow to update an account, etc)? Is it consistently slow, or is the behavior intermittent?
Thank you.
Quicken Kristina
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I am having a similar or the same issue.
Switching between accounts takes more than 20 seconds. Reconciling downloaded transactions takes 18 to 20 seconds per transaction. This is consistent and seems to be worse over each update.
I am running Windows 11 ARM in a VMware Fusion 13.5 machine on a Macbook Pro with 16 GB memory and an Apple M1 Pro chip. The virtual machine uses 4 processor cores and has 4 GB RAM. Every other program on this VM runs quite well. Except Quicken.
In Task Manager, I note that Quicken regularly maxes out the performance of the sole processor used by the program.
I tried running a validated and super validated copy with no improvement in performance.
I would greatly appreciate figuring out the root cause since the Mac version of Quicken cannot seem to import successfully the data file I have.
Thanks.
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I am running Windows 11 ARM in a VMware Fusion 13.5 machine on a Macbook Pro with 16 GB memory and an Apple M1 Pro chip. The virtual
machine uses 4 processor cores and has 4 GB RAM. Every other program on this VM runs quite well. Except Quicken.In Task Manager, I note that Quicken regularly maxes out the performance of the sole processor used by the program.
Quicken predates multi-core processors by decades and has no knowledge of their existence. Your virtual machine adds no performance and probably subtracts some. Perhaps Quicken for Windows might run better for you on an actual hardware Windows PC. If you have a friend with a Win10 or Win11 PC, maybe it would be instructive to install QWin there with your data file and see how it runs.
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.
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I am running Windows 11 ARM in a VMware Fusion 13.5 machine on a Macbook Pro with 16 GB memory and an Apple M1 Pro chip. The virtual machine uses 4 processor cores and has 4 GB RAM.
Please change your VM to at least 8 GB RAM or even more, if possible, and see if that makes any difference, performance-wise. With every new version, Windows has become more memory hungry and 4 GB RAM is no longer sufficient.
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I could not find this setting anywhere, where do I find it?
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You can find this "Improve Graphics" setting documented in the FAQ referenced by @Quicken Kristina :
Click on the "View Post >" link to open the full discussion.
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I changed the RAM allocated to the virtual machine from 4 GB to 8 GB. There was no perceptible difference in performance for Quicken. I accepted 4 downloaded transactions in the same AMEX account in both configurations. The average time for Quicken to process the transaction was 14 seconds in both the 4 GB and 8 GB virtual machines. I note that this Macbook has a pretty fast SSD.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I installed Quicken on an HP EliteDesk 800 G5 PC running Win 11 with 16 GB RAM. I accepted 4 downloaded transactions in an AMEX credit card account. The performance was noticeably faster at about 6 seconds per transaction compared to 14 seconds per transaction in the virtual machine.
However, 6 seconds is still pretty long.
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You may want to read this comment by @Boatnmaniac in another discussion
and see if the same applies to your system …
(To read the full discussion click on the date stamp in the box above.)0 -
Any updates on this issue with Quicken operating at the pace of an elderly sloth? SLOW SLOW SLOW
Between clicks, I can clear out my email inbox and whatever else needs to be done. Painful.
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I have the same very slow Quicken in my Win10, also slower and slower after each upgrade.
I also run in Hyper-V VM - 8 cpu cores, 6GB memory with Dynamic to 1TB, 20% memory buffer
the main issue is that Quicken remains single threaded MS DOS application, so it can't benefits from modern multicore CPU - IMHO
In the Windows Task Manager the Quicken process just takes 120MB, so I'm not sure why it was recommended to provide 8GB to the VM?
Even 2GB for it will not limit Quicken processes , also IMHO. I don't any supporting facts for required 8GB to Windows to run just single Quicken. in my case the VM is for Quicken only, nothing else, but Windows processes are there.
Is there any plan to migrate Quicken to modern multi Cores software framework? Any time soon?
Best Regards0 -
@mikek753b said:
Is there any plan to migrate Quicken to modern multi Cores software framework? Any time soon?
No, that would take a total rewrite of Quicken. That just isn't going to happen.
Even 2GB for it will not limit Quicken processes , also IMHO. I don't any supporting facts for required 8GB to Windows to run just single Quicken.
I concur that the suggestion is more in line with "hope" and maybe the fact that it is recommended when a machine is going to be used for all everything, not just for Quicken. Note that 2GB is what Quicken can use, but of course the OS needs resources too. I will point out that even Quicken uses more than one thread while running, so multiple cores aren't a total waste. In Quicken itself there the GUI is going to be on a different thread than the other processing. And Quicken is of course making calls to the system APIs which can be using multiple threads.
The big thing to understand though, is that whenever the subject of "slow performance" comes up this isn't about Quicken (the program) it is either something in the data file or something about the system.
Yes, if Quicken was rewritten to use multiple cores and such its performance would probably be better, but there is also the "base performance" that is known. In other words, not everyone is having these performance problems therefore it can't be assumed that just because Quicken isn't optimized for multiple cores that is the reason for these people's terrible performance problems. If one was on a high-power computer and complaining about how other applications are "instant" and Quicken takes "seconds", then that might be explained by the lack of multiple core optimization.
For instance, I have no such problems, and one can take it for granted that if I was an exception this forum would be filled with complaints on it. They certainly aren't shy about complaining about other things. I also just tried running in an VirtualBox VM. The startup is a bit slower than on the native machine (about 6 seconds in comparison to 3 seconds), but once up it seems to perform pretty close to the same speed. Like 2 seconds to change to a new register the first time, and the second time, less than a second. Entering a transaction in a banking account is instant, and entering a transaction into an investment account is about 3 seconds.
I have no good answers for fixing general performance problems.
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I think the Quicken is so slow for those 2 main reasons:
- aged MS DOS based single threaded software implementation, even it was ported to multithreaded and multi core Windows, it can't benefit from multi core resources
- aged internal DB for the data file, this is also very dated implementation that just isn't scalable for modern needs, for above 10 accounts and above 3 years of history
sure above 2 are very costly to address instead just keep pushing 20 years old software implementation - I understand it from company business point of view.
As MS Money product was killed , I don't know about real alternative that can really force Quicken to get required code re writes.
As result Users complains remain as complains.
Sure new Quicken on-line is on-line service, but I'd like to have all my data on my personal PC/Laptop, and don't depend on Internet connection to check for my accounts data and reports, especially for Tax and Investment. Again just me.
Best Regards0 -
Sorry, but I don't agree with you at all. I run Quicken on Windows 11 with an AMD 5600G (6 core), 16 GB memory and a SSD and Quicken works very fast for me. My Quicken data file is local and not on a cloud or network folder.
Quicken Subscription HBRP - Windows 10-1 -
Without actually doing real measurements/optimization it is anyone's guess at the main performance problems, but I wouldn't bet on either of the two you suggested. First off, the really bad problems like you guys are having would most likely be some kind of something that is hanging up the application. Maybe because of a call to an old API (which Quicken has tons of). But in general, it would be the GUI implementation and the flow of when and how Quicken refreshes things that I would suspect first.
Like the most problematic part of Quicken seems to be the investment register. And when inspecting the controls of it, it seems to be quite a jumbled mess, and seems to be recalculating information that should really just be storing. And based on just how reluctant the developers are to touch anything in it I'm sure it is a nightmare to work on.
The database gets called out many of times as a possible source of the problem because it is so old, but in my opinion that isn't the problem, at least not for performance. If you were talking about correcting for errors or something that would be different. But I see in different parts of the program where they can get at the same data for say a report quite a fast fashion. And when they implemented the moving of transactions where it was done outside of the register, that can do thousands of transactions in a few seconds.
As for multiple cores, like I said before it might be possible to use it to speed things up, but one has to understand that for most people you are talking about speeding up, but in fact if you were getting the "normal performance" this thread would probably not exist. You are getting abnormal performance.
I don't see how I would be any more "impressed" by Quicken changing from 2 seconds on the first change to a new register to zero (best case). BTW Quicken caches the data for a given register in memory the first time it accesses it, that is why it takes longer the first-time vs the times after that. When you think about how much data we are talking about, and how fast drives are these days you will realize that the whole data file can be read in less than a second. It is what it is doing with that data as it reads into different parts of Quicken that has to be what slows it down.
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Would you share info about:
- how many accounts in your Quicken?
- How many years for Investment accounts?
- How many years for Bank and Credit Cards accounts?
- How many items in Bills & Income per month?
thanks
Best Regards0 -
BTW for new Data file with just 1 Institution and a few accounts, without any in Bills my Quicken is also fast.
While on my real Data for any auto "Reconcile" upon "Done" for Accepted new downloaded transactions it takes 2-5 sec.
Yes, I have fast NVMe for the storage.
My Data qdf is about 200MB . For modern DB the 200MB isn't issue, while for Quicken any above 50MB slows it down. This is again about modern software with caching, hashing, pre fetching and etc. Where whole that 200MB can be load in memory for way faster parsing.
I don't think many will object to provide to Quicken dedicated 1GB memory, but it just can't use it…
Best Regards0 -
- 51 accounts with 26 active
- 29 years (started 1/1/1994)
- 29 years (start1/1/1994 as well)
- 18 items.
My Quicken data file is 122 MB. I don't have any attachments. Why do you think anything about 50 MB slows down Quicken?
Quicken Subscription HBRP - Windows 101 -
thank you
How do you keep the data file so small, while 29 years data in it?
Do you trim anything?
When you run the Quicken , how much memory it takes by Windows Task Manager? if you can check for that, pls.
Main takes about 120MB - 150MB memory only.
How many seconds it takes for a credit card account to reconcile or accept new downloaded transaction?
For me even selecting another account takes 1-5 seconds. Some faster vs another account, while an Investing account type takes up to 5 seconds.
No, I don't see 100% CPU usage, while Task Manager shows 6%-10% only, so I don't know why it's so slow for me.
That's all CPU usage for switching between accounts, while I had to wait up to 5 seconds.
this is for One Step Update, which isn't a big deal for me to wait for a few minutes
Best Regards0 -
While on my real Data for any auto "Reconcile" upon "Done" for Accepted new downloaded transactions it takes 2-5 sec.
Am I hearing this correctly? You are complaining about 2-5 seconds for automatic reconcile?
Frankly, I consider that a "non-issue".
This is a performance problem:
Switching between accounts takes more than 20 seconds. Reconciling downloaded transactions takes 18 to 20 seconds per transaction. This is consistent and seems to be worse over each update.
I might add that one needs to be very clear about what kind of account they are entering the transactions into. It is VERY different to be entering them in a banking account and get this kind of slowness, and into an investment account. As mentioned before investment accounts are definitely not handled in the most efficient manner and are highly dependent on the number of transactions/security lots/securities. That is one of the reasons for the "archive" function which tries to move as many of these transactions to another account.
I don't think many will object to provide to Quicken dedicated 1GB memory, but it just can't use it…
Personally, I don't think it needs it. If you read that last sentence in my above paragraph, you see that putting the "problem transactions" into another account speeds things up. Why?
Quicken doesn't load the transactions into a register before you open it. That has a lot of ramifications if you think about it for deciding where the problem lies. If the problem is only in one investment account or maybe a few heavily used investment accounts, well welcome to the world of Quicken it was never optimized for "active traders". And the best they can offer is to move transactions to a place that doesn't get used often.
On the other hand, if someone says that they are having the same performance problems in a non-investment account, about the only things that can be suggested is "data corruption", don't get close or exceed to 32,000 transactions in one register (break it up).
My numbers that you requested are:
- 134 accounts with 14 active.
- 27 years, 1996 start.
- 27 years, 1996 start.
- 11. I have had many more over the years, but of late I don't do a lot of planning for the future (I'm basically retired and I know pretty much everything that is coming my way, it pretty much set on "automatic").
Just looking at this list suggests to me that you don't really understand where Quicken's performance problems would come from. None of the above look critical to me as far as the way Quicken works.
For instance, up until you hit the limit, the number accounts you have is basically irrelevant. Now if you had asked for the number that were active and connected to online services (especially that last part) that would be something that I would think would be important. The same goes the number of years using Quicken in banking and investment account. When I first used Quicken (which actually pre-dates 1996, started in 1992, but stopped after a year or so because it was all manual entry) the activity in those accounts was far less than at the peak of when career/investing. The "activity level" is much more of an important factor.
And on the bills and such, the important part there would be how many are "online", none of mine are.
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Oh, and my data file is 166MB.
How do you keep the data file so small, while 29 years data in it?
That's the thing "years" don't count, activity level does.
Looking at your last comment. You are in the "normal range" of performance for Quicken, and shouldn't even be posting in a thread that says "Ridiculously slow". A few seconds to switch accounts isn't slow.
Come back when you have this problem:
Reconciling downloaded transactions takes 18 to 20 seconds per transaction
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I have similar problems. Accepting a downloaded transaction takes about 5-6 seconds per transaction. I used to be able to update my finances in about 5 minutes. Now, it takes me about 2 hours a month. I have a killer PC, that I use for high video processing and game development, it has an 8 core i7 and 64GB of memory. My Quicken file is on an SSD drive.
I have been a faithful user of Quicken since 1990, so I have about 33 years of data with a file size or 213MB. I do not want to archive the old data because I frequently search transactions to see when I bought something or when we took a certain vacation. I also like the historic graphs and reports. This is not a big file in this day in age.
I believe the problem is that Quicken is still a 32bit program and Quicken just really doesn't care that much about their existing customers to make the product work. They are more interested in getting new customers on their light-weight web-based app.
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@DanL is this in an investment account or a non-investment account where it takes 5-6 seconds per transaction?
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Have you guys with performance problems tried the Windows cleanup utilities SFC and DISM? These programs detect OS issues and repair them. If you've never run them, they might improve things for you. They are both built-in Microsoft utilities and won't do any harm but might help.
While connected to the Internet, open an elevated (admin privileged) command prompt and type
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
This will take a while as it examines your Windows image and may use Windows Update to get everything up to date. Take note of any messages it displays.
Then enter the command
sfc /scannow
This will also take a while and you should note any messages.
If either of these utilities find anything, reboot your PC and see whether Quicken runs any faster. I will be extremely interested to hear your results. If any of you achieve any improvement from this procedure, I will add it to the FAQ about Windows settings which speed up QWin.
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.
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In the category of "it isn't what you think", I saw a post that mentioned taking as much as 2 minutes for Quicken to load their data file, and the data file was on a USB drive. They moved it to the C: drive, but the performance didn't change. But it got me thinking I should test that. Note I'm using a USB flash drive, it is an OK drive for a flash drive, but of course really slow in comparison to modern NVMe drives.
The startup time was 5 seconds for both of them.
Here are the tested difference in speeds of the two drives.
Bottom line is, that Quicken's "performance" doesn't really have a lot to do with the disk speed until you start talking about "a few seconds or less".
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Not sure what happened, but my Quicken Classic (Business & Personal) had been slow for awhile now, but I stayed with it because I didn't like any alternatives. I have data going back to 2007 and my file is 513MB. It was a dog for a long time. I tried all the changes listed on this board and nothing cured it. Painfully slow entering transactions manually as well as downloads. Switching accounts was painful and I was crashing a lot!
I am currently running R53.16 Build 27.14.53.16.
I am not sure what cured it, but around the time that it was fixed was a new release AND I had exempted Quicken from my anti-virus software. Once it was "cured" I put the anti-virus rules back in thinking that would "prove" what the problem was but it has been fine since then as well. Now it is snappy and I am able to get done downloading transactions in a few minutes rather than the 15 minutes or more it was taking!!
I am running on
Windows 10 Enterprise
Intel Xeon CPU E3-1225 v3 @3.2GHz
RAM: 20GB
HD: SSDThis is my remote server that I access via remote desktop. Which when looking for solutions was always cited as a possible reason. But like many of you I have installed locally an a high performance machine and was still getting slow response. This told me it wasn't a hardware problem.
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I have been using Quicken since 2000. I was getting very slow response for years. Entering and accepting transactions was painfully slow. I have tried so many things trying to get better speed. Over the last month I have been getting really good performance. A couple of things happened around this time.
- I tried a suggestion limiting all the Quicken program/data files from my anti-virus
- an update came out.
I was able to get good response so I put the anti-virus rules back in thinking that would "prove" it was an anti-virus problem. But it still went fast. So the update? Not sure, but I am not complaining. Transactions are taking less than a second and I can get my "work" done each day in less than 5 minutes rather than the 20 or so I was struggling with.
My rig:
- Windows 10 Enterprise
- Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1225 v3 @ 3.20GHz
- RAM: 20 GB
- SSD hard drive
I run this via remote desktop (which was always cited as a potential problem). Additionally, like you I have done fresh installs and re-installs. This server has been rebuilt at least twice, so even a "fresh" fresh install. I also installed onto a more speed gaming rig and always the same problem!
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