Quicken Takes a Long Time to Open Files (Q Mac)

Charles271

I am running Quicken 8.0.1 on a 2022 MacBook Air with macOS Sequoia 15.1.1. Quicken takes 10-15 minutes to open my file. It never used to do this.

Quicken any suggestions on how two resolve this?

Here is a screenshot of what I see with the file name blacked out.

jacobs

This isn't Quicken Support, but I can say that I've seen people report this on occasion. I think in almost all cases, just leaving it running — for some users, for hours, or overnight — people have reported that it usually eventually resolves itself. (I don't know what process is triggered in this small percentage of cases, but it must be some sort of database consistency check or rebuild.)

But after it completes, and you use Quicken a bit, then quit, are you saying it repeats this again the next time, and each time, you launch Quicken? There should not be a database update process except after installing a new version of the program.

If this happens every time you launch Quicken, my first question would be where your data file is located. Odd behavior often results if the file is stored on Dropbox or iCloud. The latter can happen without you know it if your macOS System Settings have iCloud Drive turned on; there's a checkbox in that setting to store the contents of the Desktop and Documents folder on iCloud, so if you've got your data file in a folder in Documents, you might unknowingly have it living on iCloud. The solution is to move your Quicken data file to a location not touched by Dropbox or iCloud, such as a folder at the top level of your User (home) folder.

Charles271

Thanks. I have it stored on an external drive. There have never been issues with opening the file until recently.

jacobs

@Charles271 In that I haven't seen any reports similar to yours, and nothing about the overall file opening process should have changed with the most recent release of Quicken Mac, there definitely appear to be something odd about what you're experiencing. I'm assuming from your comment about having the Quicken data file on an external drive that the Quicken folder on this drive is not synced with iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, or other cloud storage services, right? Here are a few troubleshooting steps I'd suggest to try to isolate the problem:

1. Is your file password protected? Try removing the password/encryption temporarily to see if it impacts launch speed.
2. With Quicken not running, move your data file (temporarily at least) to a new folder you create at the top level of your User home folder (e.g. Macintosh HD > Users > [your Mac user account] > Quicken). Do you see any change in launch speed when you double-click the data file in this location?
3. With your data file in its normal location, try exporting your data to a QXF file — File > Export > Quicken Transfer File (QXF) — then creating a new file — File > New > From Scratch — and then importing the QXF file — File > Import > Quicken Windows File (QDF, QXF). This new file will not contain any saved reports or attachments, and your register configurations will be lost, but all your data should be present. If you quit Quicken and re-launch with this data file, does it open quickly, or do you still see the same 10-15 minute delay. You can switch back to your prior file easily (use File > Open Recent), or you can continue forward with this file if it solves your problem you haven't lost too much with settings and reports.

Charles271

When I followed step 3 and exported/imported the QXF file, the new file opens quickly. When I try to sync a financial account to update data, I the spinning wheel on the update box keeps going. It has been at least five minutes as I type this.