How to breakup a Quicken File into separate years....neatly.

PSLorenz

I have always had one big Quicken file (QDF) for 25 years, through all the different versions. Since this file is now at over 230 Mb, I think it might be a good idea to break off all the data from 2024 and also start new for 2025. I'm running Premium, so I've got quite a lot of investment data too. I could do what I know to do, which is simply make a new file and start with new balances all the way around. But, would anyone know of a neat way to do this? Maybe there is a feature that would do this for me?

volvogirl

You can do a year-end copy but most of us here don't recommend it. It's better to leave all your data and history together in one file and it should not affect performance.  Sometime in the future we guarantee you will want to see something and you won't be able to merge them back together. You can run reports for any time period.  Just copy your whole file for a backup (which you should be doing regularly anyway) and continue on in your current file. Too many times people ask for help on how to re-merge their data, which can't be done.  Also any uncleared checks will then show up in both files.   So just continue on. And if you upgrade to a newer version in the future you will have to remember to convert all your old files too.

Or you can do a  File - File Operations - File Copy with dates in the future it will do a better job than  year-end-copy. The YEC has to try to work around reconciled vs unreconciled transactions and the Copy doesn't.       

Unreconciled transactions and investments transactions won't be cleared out.  Most of the users here recommend you just hide the accounts.  Just make frequent backups. 

NotACPA

What, exactly, do you expect to be the benefit of such split? Because it will have negligible benefit, at best, on performance.

And, should you at any point want to do a multi-year comparison … it's almost impossible to "put Humpty together again".

volvogirl

You can do a year-end copy but most of us here don't recommend it. It's better to leave all your data and history together in one file and it should not affect performance.  Sometime in the future we guarantee you will want to see something and you won't be able to merge them back together. You can run reports for any time period.  Just copy your whole file for a backup (which you should be doing regularly anyway) and continue on in your current file. Too many times people ask for help on how to re-merge their data, which can't be done.  Also any uncleared checks will then show up in both files.   So just continue on. And if you upgrade to a newer version in the future you will have to remember to convert all your old files too.

Or you can do a  File - File Operations - File Copy with dates in the future it will do a better job than  year-end-copy. The YEC has to try to work around reconciled vs unreconciled transactions and the Copy doesn't.       

Unreconciled transactions and investments transactions won't be cleared out.  Most of the users here recommend you just hide the accounts.  Just make frequent backups. 

PSLorenz

Thanks! OK, I won't split off any data. I should have said, my worry is if there is a limit to file size. That would be my only reason. So, I'll just ask, there is no limit to the file size…..practically? Myself I don't see 1Gb of data for what I do ever in the future.

splasher

If you are concerned about the data file's size and you are putting attachments in it, stop doing that and develop a folder structure outside of Quicken to keep the scanned images of the attachments. Attachments take up a lot of space and they are only accessible via Quicken one at a time.

If your investment accounts have gotten very large, Quicken can do an archive function on them where all of the closed securities are moved to a new "archive" account in your current file leaving the current account with just the active stuff, but it is all still available if you run a Networth report over time.