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backups and live data files on cloud

pamela77

I recently transferred my data from my old Mac to my new Mac running Sonoma. I put the file in iCloud Drive and then opened it and put it locally on my new Mac. Everything was fine. Then yesterday with the help of apple support I transferred my documents and desktop to my new Mac by turning on iCloud Drive for doc's and desktop on both computers. I planned to then move the documents to a local file on the new Mac. The rep helped me create a new folder under "USER" and he said this would be a local file. In the past I have kept documents only locally. Apparently I have to copy and paste everything from the cloud into a local folder to get it to download from iCloud to the new Mac. Here is my concern - My documents folder contains some backups of quicken and I know there can be issues with iCloud corrupting the current live data file. So right now they are in the cloud in my documents folder.

I tried to go in under Macintosh HD or under "user" to create a file called quicken so I could move those files locally onto quicken but it would only allow a Smart Folder, which I think doesn't really move the file. Where or how can I create a local folder to put the quicken backups in? How do I tell quicken where to save that live data file locally. I read a previous post that said to make a quicken file under Macintosh HD but I can't see how to do that.

Another factor is that I have an older file from 2005 to 2018. I moved that over a few days ago and I have not tried to open it yet although it appears to be available from the "open recent" menu. I think I got it put locally but I don't want to touch it until things are stable.

I want my passport to back up my quicken files and my understanding is that it won't back it up if I have docs and desktop clicked to be on I cloud drive. Thank you for your help!

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Jon

That folder that they created for you under USER should be a safe place to store your Quicken files, is there some reason you don't want to use that?

Another safe place would be the default location Quicken stores data files; from your home directory go to Library/Application Support/Quicken/Documents.

Or you could create a new directory in your home folder, one that would be in the same directory where the Desktop and Documents folders are located.

I'm not sure what directories your Passport drive is going to backup, I've never tried to use the software that comes with those.

pamela77

Thank you Jacob, I didn't want to use the folder that I had already made because I wasn't sure if it was a Smart Folder or a real folder. Luckily the age old trick of restarting the computer allowed me to make a new folder under my home user and I put all those old files in there. I did use drag and drop rather than copy and paste but it seemed to work - is there any reason that method wouldn't work?

I wanted to put the current active file into a folder that would be backed up by my external hard drive (my passport and I don't thing it backs up the libraries, but I am not sure and will contact apple support about that.

I read some of your other posts where you said it is ok to put backups into documents or on the desktop but not ok to restore from them and not ok to put your current active file there. What if you did store a back up on the desktop and then for some reason needed to restore from that? Would it not work? If not, how is it helpful to keep them as backups? I am thinking it might be good to have some backups in the cloud in case something happened to my Mac.

How do I tell quicken where to keep the active file. I see where to tell it where to save back ups but I don't know where the active file is located

Thank you!.

Jon

Copying or moving files via drag & drop is fine, so is cut & paste.

It's OK to store backup files in the cloud, but if you need to use one I would it to a non-cloud location like the folder where your Quicken files are located first.

As for Quicken knowing where your files are located, I would open the file by right clicking on it & selecting Open; as long as Quicken is installed on your Mac it should know to open it with Quicken. Next time you can just start Quicken & it will automatically reopen the last file that you were using.

pamela77

Thank you Jon, is there a way to tell the Mac where I want it to store the active file? I want it to get backed up in my passport so I want to be sure it is in a folder that gets backed up.

smayer97

WARNING: Quicken LIVE files should NOT be stored in ANY folder that will be synced to ANY cloud service, including iCloud. By default, all files in the Documents folder is synced to iCloud.

Therefore, if you want the Documents folder to sync to iCloud, be sure to NOT place your LIVE Quicken data file in there.

On the other hand, it IS safe to store backup files created by Quicken in a folder synced to a cloud service.

HTH

pamela77

Thank you Smayer97. Forgive me for asking again, but there is something I am just not quite getting.

If it's ok to leave back up files in a folder synced to iCloud Drive, then what happens if you need to use the back up? Wouldn't you have to actually use that one you had in a folder synced to iCloud? What is the purpose of even having backups synced to the cloud if you can't use them? Do you have to move them somewhere first and THEN it's ok to use them?

2. How do I tell quicken WHERE To leave that active file. I created a file in my user/home folder called quicken. How do I tell quicken to leave the active data file there? I want it there so it will back up to my passport.

3. To complicate things further, I subscribe to back blaze, an online backup service. It's like a Time Machine but remote. It only saves data. The only way you get to use it is if you go into it on purpose and bring out files (it's more for emergencies). Is that going to corrupt anything?

Jon

You don't need to tell Quicken where to leave the active file. Just put it where you want it & open it from there, Quicken will remember where it is & save changes back to that same file.

As for backups & cloud syncing, it's OK to store Quicken backup files in a location synced to the cloud because Quicken writes the backup file once when you exit the program and that's something the cloud sync understands. With your main Quicken file, Quicken is making changes to the file every time you enter a new transaction and the cloud syncing can get confused about what's been uploaded to the cloud and miss something.

In the case of BackBlaze, IIRC it only syncs when you're not using your computer so there's no conflict with Quicken.

jacobs

@pamela77 I see you've gotten a lot of good advice here, but no one has answered the question you've asked three times. 😉 If you want to tell Quicken to relocate your active data file to a new location, simply open your Quicken data file and then select File > Move To… and then select the location. (Or, as others have said, at a time you'v quite out of Quicken, in the Finder, move your file to the new location and then double-click the data file to launch Quicken and the program will then remember the file location.)

You also asked: "If it's ok to leave back up files in a folder synced to iCloud Drive, then what happens if you need to use the back up?" What you'd do in that case is to drag the backup file to your Quicken folder, and then double-click it to have Quicken open it.

Jon

It wouldn't have occurred to me to try to use Quicken to move the Quicken data file because so few programs have that command. Usually all you can do is save the file to a new location which leaves the old copy where it is so now you have two files. When I need to move a file I always use the Finder.

pamela77

Thank you to all of you for this very interesting and helpful conversation. The intricacies of iCloud Drive, iCloud, quicken, cloud and file organization on the Mac can be confusing, and I appreciate all of your input.

A few years ago I had multiple file corruptions and spent days on the phone with Apple support and they finally concluded that the iCloud sync for mobile was the culprit. I had to rebuild a file from scratch, and I have never used iCloud sync since . I know that iCloud sync for mobile is different than what we have been talking about here but it made me very very careful. Thanks again for your responses.

Does anyone know if the iCloud sync is still causing problems or if it might be OK to use it to sync to my iPad?

pamela77

Jon, what is IIRC please?

Jon

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly.

pamela77

Thank you!