Automatic Backups (Q Mac)
Quicken Mac Classic Deluxe states that it will "automatically create a local/online backup when quitting Quicken" when that option is selected under the File Option.
From my observation this IS NOT the case. The automatic backup only occurs when a CHANGE has been made to the Quicken File and one exits quicken; no backup is created, either LOCAL or ONLINE if nothing has changed to the quicken data.
Comments
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That makes sense to me - why make identical backups that are stored in the same folder on the same drive?
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It makes sense that the only time Mac Quicken should make a backup is when the quicken data has been altered. Unfortunately in Mac Quicken Classic Deluxe under FILE > Backup Settings one is allowed to check a box titled 'automatically create a local/online backup when quitting Quicken". If this box is checked the backup is not taken unless the quicken data is altered - so the box seems useless or isn't working as the developers intended.
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If you uncheck that box it doesn't do any local backups automatically at all, it will only do them when you select the backup command, so it is definitely useful. I don't think many people would want the automatic backup feature to work the way you say it should, and that it's working as intended.
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To me it sounds like the developers need to rethink the wording of the BOX Named "Automatically create a local backup when quitting Quicken".
If the BOX is CHECKED, the only time the backup is created is when quicken data has been ALTERED & one QUITS Quicken.
If the BOX is CHECKED, the backup DOES NOT occur just because one quits Quicken. The quicken data had to have been ALTERED
According to your statement above if the BOX is UNCHECKED, no backups occur t all when quitting Quicken; whether or not the quicken data has been altered.
Sounds like the BOX Description should read "Automatically create a backup when QUITTING Quicken AND quicken data had been ALTERED.
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@William Day Can you explain a use case for having Quicken create a backup when quitting even if nothing has been changed in the data file? I can't think of one; the prior backup is still the current backup, because nothing changed. Why would you (or anyone) need to accumulate multiple identical backups?
Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 19930 -
That's not what I'm saying : The Quicken > File > Backup Settings provides the option to "automatically create a local/online backup when quitting Quicken". Obviously that is not happening. The statement is not true and should probably read "automatically create a local/online backup when quitting Quicken AND quicken data has been altered". There is no need to create a backup if the quicken data has not been altered but that is not what clicking the box states.
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I think you're just hung up on semantics. Since you agree there is no reason for Quicken to create a backup upon quitting if no data has been altered, then it's doing exactly what you and other users would want it to do. (In the early days of modern Quicken Mac about a decade ago, it always generated a backup, and users requested the developers change it so it didn't create a backup if data hadn't been changed.)
Yes, they could add more text to the settings preference, but the developers generally try to keep the description of preference settings as short as possible; most are 10 words or less to try to keep it easy to understand for most users. And the problem is, the automatic backup setting is even more nuanced than what you're saying, and becomes too unwieldy to spell out in precise detail. For instance, if you open Quicken, change most settings, and immediately quit, Quicken does not save a backup even though a setting was changed. But… some settings changes do result in a backup taking place. So the text for "Automatically create a local/online backup when quitting Quicken AND quicken data has been altered" is also not a precise description.
So I think the existing label is good enough because it performs the action people would expect and want it to, even though it doesn't have an asterisk or footnotes to spell out what actions will or won't cause it to create a backup upon quitting.
I think you'll find that there are various places in Quicken where the wording of a button or menu action or setting isn't always precise, but generally conveys what it does accurately. I'll cite one such example: marking a scheduled transaction as "Paid" is a bit of a misnomer, because it doesn't necessarily mean a scheduled expense has actually been paid; a scheduled transaction two months from now can be marked as paid in Quicken, even though the bill hasn't yet been paid. The button could probably more accurately be described as "Mark scheduled transaction as posted in the register to allow it to be edited" or "Create live register transaction from scheduled transaction template" or something else describing what is actually taking place. But it's too complex, so the button is simply labeled as "Paid", and once people use it once or twice, they understand what it does or doesn't do.
So my suggestion is that as you learn your way around Quicken Mac, if you observe that what some action does and it isn't exactly how it's labeled, but the wording choice doesn't adversely affect your interaction with you data, just accept it. On the contrary, if it was doing something contrary to what it says which could be harmful or disruptive, that's by all means worth calling out. 😀
Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 19930 -
Thanks Jacob ….In the future I'll try not to take Mac > Quicken > Classic > Deluxe 'select options' literally.
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