Auto sync to cloud on close has recently stopped being "automatic"

JimC52

Long time quicken user with stable Win10 Q Classic Premier on regular updates. The automatic sync to cloud on close feature has worked properly for several months, but all of a sudden recently quit being automatic. There had been no changes to the environment - local copy on internal SSD C: drive - and no network changes on my end.

Manual sync to cloud works fine and remotely entered data uploads as expected.

I have refreshed the cloud data, and then deleted and re-initialized it when the refresh failed.

There are no error messages.

I know it isn't syncing automatically by checking the remote app on my android phone a few hours later. Any ideas where to go next?

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

Thank you for attempting those troubleshooting steps and for providing more information.

Since, unfortunately, the previous steps have failed so far, next, I suggest you try manually resetting your cloud data by creating a test file and deleting your cloud account from that test file. After that, you would attempt to resync your main data file which should then create a new cloud account (this does not affect your data saved within that data file).First, please proceed to save a backup (just in case). From there, create a new data file (click here to view instructions, and review the section titled: "Creating a new file"). Once the new file opens, follow the steps below to remove your main data file's cloud account.

1. Go to Edit
2. Preferences
3. Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts
4. Click Cloud accounts associated with this Quicken ID (#) (this is not a button, it is written in blue underneath the "Edit dataset name" button)

1. Select the Cloud Account Name used for your main data file and click Delete
2. Type Yes and click Delete

After that, switch back to your main data file (click here to view instructions, scroll down and review the section titled: "How to alternate between multiple files"). Once your main file opens, resync your data by navigating to the Mobile & Web tab and clicking on the blue Get Started button, and then the blue Sync Now button and see whether or not the errors you were receiving persist. You can then also delete the new file you previously created as well as its cloud account.

Please let me know how this goes!

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

I know that you mentioned refreshing the cloud, however, I invite you to take a moment to review the instructions below. It is recommended to save a backup before proceeding. However, before doing so, first, verify that the Dataset name and the File name match each other identically by navigating to Edit > Preferences > Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts. 

If they do not match, please click Edit dataset name and change the Dataset name to match the File name exactly the same (do not copy the file extension: ".QDF"). 

Then, click OK in the preferences window and proceed to save a backup (just in case). From there, please follow the steps below to reset your cloud data.

1. Sign out of your Quicken Mobile/Web app(s)
2. On your desktop program go to Edit
3. Preferences...
4. Mobile & Web
5. On the following screen you can leave the preselected option for "No, just reset my Cloud data", type Yes in the entry field to confirm, and click Reset
6. Wait for the sync reset to finish
7. Navigate to the Mobile & Web dropdown menu 
8. Select Cloud Sync to resync your data and to make sure no errors occur
9. Wait for it to finish syncing 
10. Sign back in on your Quicken Mobile/Web app(s)

Once that is done, see if the issue still persists.

Let me know how it goes!

JimC52

As noted in the first paragraph above, I aligned the Dataset Name with the Filename (less the .QDF extension). Interesting, the on screen help message describes the Dataset Name as "friendly file name" for the actual data file. Nevertheless, I did as asked and they are now aligned.

I then completed the following enumerated steps, going even further by removing the application from my cellphone and reinstalling from the Play Store. I also shut down and restarted my cellphone. I'm not sure how the mobile app could prevent the desktop app from syncing data on close (of the desktop app), but I completed everything as requested.

I then created an account entry in on the desktop and exited the program. After waiting for about 5 minutes I opened the mobile Companion app and could not find the corresponding entry from the desktop. I then restarted the desktop app, checked the "last sync'd on" timestamp in the Mobile and Web screen; it is still not automatically syncing the data when the application is closed.

This used to work and has worked for many months, and through several desktop app quicken updates. I'm not exactly sure when it ceased to work but it has been within the past 30 days.

So, no, this suggested procedure did not resolve the failure-to-auto-sync-on-close problem.

stever21

I'm having the same issue on my end as well. ALso tried the above steps and issue still not resolved.

JimC52

I just realized that the syncing has completely reverted to manual - if I don't open the Mobile & Web tab and manually sync, a sync of data never happens. Even when I do morning or nightly "updates" from my electronic billers and banking accounts, the mobile data never syncs.

Something has changed in the program several revisions back and it broke the automatic syncing of mobile data. This makes any reliance on the mobile application questionable if you cannot get to the PC based version to force an update. I don't see how this can be an intentional change.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52 and @stever21,

I am curious as to if this issue could be related to a specific pop-up message. Usually, there is a pop-up window that asks if you want to sync to the cloud (see below), you might have hit the "don't remind me again" button.

First, I suggest resetting warnings to see if that corrects the issue (see below).

Let me know how it goes!

JimC52

I never have seen the pop-up window you about Sync to Cloud as you displayed in your answer. I did exactly as you requested above and "reset quicken warnings". There were no indications that operation failed or succeeded, should there have been? The button simply blinks once when I press select on the mouse.

Following this reset, I exited Quicken using the File → Exit path then restarted about 3 minutes later. Mobile sync still shows the last time I did a manual sync, so Auto Sync on Exit still doesn't work like it once did.

When I force a manual sync, the expected popup appears, a message stating a successful sync has been completed and the last sync time is updated properly.

BTW - this has been going on for many months, hence several revisions to the QW program; I am currently running the most recent: R60.15

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

Thank you for providing more information, I apologize that those troubleshooting steps failed.

Next, I suggest resetting your cloud data from your Quicken desktop program and see if that may make a difference. However, before doing so, first, verify that the Dataset name and the File name match each other identically by navigating to Edit > Preferences > Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts (see below). 

If they do not match, please click Edit dataset name and change the Dataset name to match the File name exactly the same (do not copy the file extension: ".QDF"). 

Then, click OK in the preferences window and proceed to save a backup (just in case). From there, please follow the steps below to reset your cloud data.

1. Sign out of your Quicken Mobile/Web app(s)
2. On your desktop program go to Edit
3. Preferences...
4. Mobile & Web
5. Make sure sync shows it's ON and click on Reset your cloud data 

1. On the following screen you can leave the preselected option for "No, just reset my Cloud data", type Yes in the entry field to confirm, and click Reset
2. Wait for the sync reset to finish
3. Navigate to the Mobile & Web dropdown menu 
4. Select Cloud Sync to resync your data and to make sure no errors occur
5. Wait for it to finish syncing 
6. Sign back in on your Quicken Mobile/Web app(s)

Once that is done, see if the issue still persists.

JimC52

Thanks for your continuing assistance. I "signed out" of the mobile Quicken Classic (v7.5.1) on my Android phone, and then executed the steps you've described in your last message. I verified the Sync on Close was selected. All messages through this process reported success - there were no error or fault messages.

I then made a new entry to an account being sync'd and exited the program.

I signed back in to my mobile QC but the new test entry did not appear in recent transactions.

I restarted QC on my desktop, selected Mobile and Web, and executed a manual sync.

Checking Recent Transactions on the phone now shows the test entry as expected.

What this means is that 1) manual sync is working property and 2) automatic sync on close (of the desktop version) does not happen as expected.

Something changed within Quicken Classic because this worked properly in the past.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

Thank you for attempting those troubleshooting steps and for providing more information.

Since, unfortunately, the previous steps have failed so far, next, I suggest you try manually resetting your cloud data by creating a test file and deleting your cloud account from that test file. After that, you would attempt to resync your main data file which should then create a new cloud account (this does not affect your data saved within that data file).First, please proceed to save a backup (just in case). From there, create a new data file (click here to view instructions, and review the section titled: "Creating a new file"). Once the new file opens, follow the steps below to remove your main data file's cloud account.

1. Go to Edit
2. Preferences
3. Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts
4. Click Cloud accounts associated with this Quicken ID (#) (this is not a button, it is written in blue underneath the "Edit dataset name" button)

1. Select the Cloud Account Name used for your main data file and click Delete
2. Type Yes and click Delete

After that, switch back to your main data file (click here to view instructions, scroll down and review the section titled: "How to alternate between multiple files"). Once your main file opens, resync your data by navigating to the Mobile & Web tab and clicking on the blue Get Started button, and then the blue Sync Now button and see whether or not the errors you were receiving persist. You can then also delete the new file you previously created as well as its cloud account.

Please let me know how this goes!

JimC52

YES!!!

Thank you Quicken Jasmine for sticking to this and coming up with the fix. I don't know why, but

1) switching to a new Qdata file,

2) building a dummy account,

3) manually syncing that new data file to the cloud,

4) deleting the original (old) cloud data file,

5) switching back to the original Qdata file,

6) selecting the old accounts to be sync'd,

7) manually syncing the old data file to the cloud,

8) deleting the temporary data file from the cloud,

and then exiting Quicken fixed the issue. Auto sync occurred upon program exit and provided all the pop-up balloons in the correct order as expected.

I owe you a drink next time you're in Rogers, Arkansas. 😁

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

You are very welcome! I am happy that we were able to resolve the issue!

Haha, thank you!

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any further questions or concerns!

JimC52

I did discover one difference in the way cloud sync runs today compared to prior to a somewhat recent update. 6 months ago, an automatic sync would occur on exit simply by having that selection made in the Mobile & Web page. There was no message pop-up asking about sync and no message about success or failure.

Today, with auto sync enabled, a pop-up occurs asking if you wish to sync as the program exits. If you select YES, it syncs, default is not to sync. I've not seen this pop-up occur before now, so I have no idea when it actually was introduces and made quasi-mandatory.

I would expect that by enabling auto-sync on exit, the question would not be necessary every time but if you disable the pop-up message then it turns off auto-sync without the operator knowing it.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

Thanks for coming back and providing more information. By chance, is the pop-up that you are seeing now the same as the screenshot in one of my previous responses?

If not, could you please provide a screenshot of what you described seeing above? If needed, please refer to this Community FAQ for instructions on how to attach a screenshot. Alternatively, you can also drag and drop screenshots to your response if you are not given the option to add attachments.

Thank you!

JimC52

It is the same pop-up as what you previously told me to expect.

If you'll remember, I wrote that I had never seen that pop-up (or any pop-up related to auto-sync) before even though auto-sync on close worked for several years(?) or at least since it was first introduced. I've been using Quicken in one version or another since the '90s, so I don't remember when sync to cloud was first introduced.

I was an early adopter for Quickbooks for my business when it first came out, so Quicken for my personal stuff was simply natural.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @JimC52,

I do remember. This could have been part of the reason you were experiencing the original issue with automatic syncing on close. I believe that manually resetting the Quicken Cloud caused your file to begin auto-syncing on close again and that pop-up message to come through.

I hope this helps!

JimC52

I appreciate the time you've spent on this with me and happened to have this thought as I opened your last response this morning: Auto-Sync on Exit isn't really automatic anymore, you must manually select "Yes" in a pop-up window each time you wish to exit Quicken and sync the cloud data. This change is what threw me off and started us on this troubleshooting path.

Maybe program engineering should either make the feature truly automatic or reword the option to "Reminder to Sync on Exit".

Thanks again and have a Blessed holiday season.