Replicate File for test purposes

Joe W. Brown, CPA

Is it possible to copy a file for test purposes that will not sync to cloud as well as download transactions from FI?

RickO

Yes it is. First make a backup of your primary file (menu File > Save a Backup) and stash it in a safe place in case anything goes wrong. Then click menu File > Show "filename" in Finder to locate your primary file. In the Finder, make a copy of the file, give it a unique name and double click it to open. Click menu Quicken > Settings, then in Connected Services, turn off Sync. This file will no longer sync to the cloud. As long as you don't do an Update All/Selected Account(s), then it will not sync to the FIs. You could go to each FI's settings and disconnect downloads, but it's not necessary as long as you remember not to initiate an update while using this file.

One caution: when you return to your primary file and try to sync for the first time, it will likely give you a warning that only the most recent file can sync to the cloud and ask you to reset the cloud. This is because the server saw the copy file hit the server when you turned off Sync. It should only happen the one time. You can safely allow it to reset the cloud from the primary file, which will overwrite the cloud date with the primary file's data. This can occasionally result in a few duplicate transactions to download (not likely). If that happens, they are easily identified as duplicates that have not been reviewed (assuming you are marking transactions as reviewed). You can delete the duplicates if this occurs and check that your balances are correct.