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Register changes in Q Mac

bobhollister

I just transitioned from the Windows version and there are several register settings that I miss. The first is the ability to use two lines for each transaction, more information easily seen. Second, in Windows the register just shows a blank line into which you start typing to enter a new transaction — you don't have to use the mouse or keyboard shortcut to start a new transaction. Third, the check # entry is also the transaction type, transfer, electronic fund, atm, etc.

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jacobs

The first two are certainly differences between the older Quicken Windows register and the newer Quicken Mac register. They've been this way for more than a decade since the current generation of Quicken Mac was created, so I don't think it's likely the developers are going to change the behavior now (although you're welcome to request it here).

Almost everyone who switches from Quicken Windows, or the prior generation Quicken 2007 for Mac, has the same initial comment about missing the 2-line register. 😉 It's a jarring change from what you're used to, but most people decide it's not so bad after they use it for a while. While the single line register does take more space horizontally, you may come to find it's much easier skimming up and down pages of register entries when every other line isn't showing different data. You may also find that some of the capabilities of the single-line register — ability to show/hide any columns, move columns into any order and make them any width — are helpful. I'm sure there are some Quicken Mac users who would like to go back to a 2-line register if they could, but I found after a while that I prefer the single-line interface and wouldn't switch back even if it was offered.

The blank row is another thing that takes a little time to adjust to, but it something you likely won't miss after working with Quicken Mac after some time. There are a few tricks to make this work well for you. Creating a new transaction can be done in three ways: clicking the "new" button in the bottom toolbar, selecting Transactions > New Transaction from the menu, or the simplest: pressing Command-N. The keyboard shortcut is also the key if you are entering multiple transactions: instead of saving a transaction by resting Enter and then needing to create a new transaction, you can do both with just a single Command-N keystroke; this saves the current transaction and opens a new one — basically what you're used to, with no additional steps.

Quicken Mac allows you to enter whatever you want in the Check Number field — like ATM, EFT, etc. — but it was designed with a separate Actions field for other transaction labels for those who want to keep the Check Number field for just check numbers. I found after a little use that I really didn't need to record these transaction labels, so I no longer do it in either the Actions or Check Number field, and I have the Actions field hidden.

My advice is to work with Quicken Mac for a while — and try not to constantly focus on or curse the differences from Quicken Windows! 😂 You've got years of hand-eye-brain coordination which take time to relearn and adjust to. Whether in the end you still wish for some of the Quicken Windows interface elements or not, it definitely won't be as jarring as you're finding it at the start.

AFantasia

Sorry — as a new Quicken MAC user after using Quicken Windows for 10+ years, I find the differences in the behavior of the register very POOR. Create a blank line in the register is more USER FRIENDLY than having to take manual steps to add a new row and new transaction — this is a MUST is I'm going to KEEP quicken.

Also, the lack of the PENDING transactions during the download in another frustrating 'feature' (I think that MAC Developers would call this — I call this a MAJOR DEFECT). Having the pending transactions downloaded with posted transactions allows for someone to monitor the financial activity through 1 application, versus logging in to multi web sites each to.

Finally - at least for now — Where is the VAULT for all secure connections

Jon

@AFantasia Mac OS has a vault-like system called the Keychain that apps can use to securely store information like passwords. So Quicken Mac uses that instead of a custom secure storage like the vault that Quicken Windows uses.

Edit: There's a separate idea thread for downloading pending transactions, if that's something you want you should vote for it by clicking on the little grey up arrow in the vote box below the first post in this thread:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7970427/please-for-the-love-of-all-mankind-please-enable-downloads-of-pending-transactions-q-mac

And as for the blank line issue, I can't recall now if there was ever an idea thread for that one in the past but I don't see one.

jacobs

as a new Quicken MAC user after using Quicken Windows for 10+ years, I find the differences in the behavior of the register very POOR. Create a blank line in the register is more USER FRIENDLY than having to take manual steps to add a new row and new transaction

Here's what I can share with you from my personal experience. I came from 20 years of using the old Quicken for Mac, which had a register very similar to Quicken Windows — including the ever-present blank line. When the modern Quicken Mac came out, I initially found it jarring to have to open a new transaction every time I wanted to enter something. But after using it for a little while, I found that pressing Command-N pretty quickly became second nature. And when I'm entering multiple transactions, using Command-N to save a transaction and open a new one is exactly the same, single keystroke as my old version where I pressed Enter to save the transaction and open a new blank one; I just had to let my brain adapt to pressing Command-N instead of Enter.

You're of course entitled to your own opinion; I'm just sharing my experience. I've been working with the current Quicken Mac for a decade now, and I don't give a thought to creating a new transaction because my brain and hands do it automatically. So I recommend just living with it for a while until it becomes second nature for you instead of something you think about after every transaction.

For what it's worth, the former Quicken Mac product manager did offer an explanation many years ago about why it doesn't create the blank line with the architecture of the current database; I don't recall the details, but he made it sound extremely unlikely that they would to try to re-create the old behavior just because people switching to Quicken Mac were used to doing it a different way.

– – – – –

As for pending transactions, I this is a relatively recent (2024) feature added to Quicken Windows — which was released, then withdrawn due to problems, re-released, then pulled again, and re-released a third time. Pending transactions can be problematic because sometimes they post for different amounts (such as when the pending transaction at a restaurant is your initial bill, but the posted transaction includes the tip you wrote on the slip), and because sometimes they are authorizations which simply never post (like at some gas stations, car rentals, or hotel check-ins).

It hasn't yet appeared in Quicken Mac, and we don't know if it's in the developers' plans or not. It's certainly not a "major defect" in Quicken Mac, even though it might be a feature you'd like to see implemented. (I think one of the issues is that different financial institutions do things differently — some download pending transactions and some don't; some include pending transactions in their online balance and some don't — so Quicken has to work around the quirks for different ways banks do things so it can present things correctly to users.) If you'd like to add your vote to a recent thread requesting this functionality, you can do so here:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7970427/please-for-the-love-of-all-mankind-please-enable-downloads-of-pending-transactions-q-mac

Finally - at least for now — Where is the VAULT for all secure connections

Quicken Mac doesn't have its own secure vault like Quicken Windows. Instead, it uses the Keychain built into macOS for secure storage of account credentials. You can search on here or just Google macOS Keychain to learn about this feature on a Mac.

For what it's worth, more and more financial institutions are switching to a newer connection protocol where Quicken doesn't store your login credentials at all; it sends you to the bank's website for your to login and then the bank returns to Quicken a secure token for authentication without use of your username or password. While this is where things are heading, adoption of this new standard (referred to by various names like EWC+, FDX, and OAuth) isn't universal yet, so many smaller financial institutions still rely on Quicken sending your username and password to log in.