Searching Archive Data as if on your Current File

rvgonzalez

Hello, My Quicken file is 130MB and takes time to upload/download from my iCloud every time I use Quicken ON MY MAC. I want to reduce the size of this file by keeping only the last two years. But here is the catch: I often have to search for data before those two years I want to keep. I am concerned that archiving or creating an EOY copy will not allow me to search all my data.

Thus, am I stuck with keeping my large file since I often search for old data?

Jon

You can only have one Quicken file open at a time, so you can only search one file at a time. If you split your data into two files for old & new transactions, you won't be able to search the contents of both at the same time.

jacobs

(In the future, please don't post the same thing in multiple threads, as it makes it hard to reply and keep going with a discussion.)

The first thing I'll say is not to do this:

My Quicken file is 130MB and takes time to upload/download from my iCloud every time I use Quicken ON MY MAC.

You should not store your Quicken file on iCloud (or any Cloud storage service). Because your Quicken data file is actually a collection of hidden folders and files as well as a database, using cloud storage for your data file is not recommended because it can result in file corruption

It is strongly recommended to keep your active Quicken data file in a location on your Mac's hard drive that is not stored on iCloud. For instance inside your user home folder, create a Quicken folder and place your data file there.

It is fine to store your Quicken-generated backup files on iCloud though, because those files are compressed and protected from corruption. You can do this in Settings > General by clicking the Backup Folder button and selecting a folder on iCloud, or in a folder like Documents which you have set to be stored on iCloud.

That all said, I will note that I have about three decades of data in my Quicken data file. One of the things I love about Quicken is having all that history of our financial life in one, up-to-date data file; I often search for old transactions to see when we purchased something or went somewhere. And with my data file stored locally, it takes only about 3-4 seconds to launch Quicken. 😀