How to "reset" without losing data

mikeulator

It seems every few months I have an issue with Quicken and I have to try and fix it, putting transactions on the wrong account, or balances way off… something. I don't remember what happened, but back in January, I was trying to fix an issue, and I deleted some transactions, thinking it would re-download them… it didn't. I ended up restoring my quicken file from backup and then tried syncing (after learning it keeps a ledger and won't re-download) and every single account was throwing errors trying to connect… so I ended having to deactivate and reactivate them all… but ever since then I've had issues where the auto update reports everything is fine but it's not downloading transactions. Or, a few times, it's reported an error saying the account doesn't exist (it does) or isn't authorized (password hasn't changed), and then I have to reset it again to get it working. But apparently, it only reports that it is updated, but doesn't actually update.

How can I start over without losing all of my history/transactions? I have no idea why this file appears to be broken in regards to accounts, or why restoring from a backup broke them (I think I tried both restoring an automatic Quicken backup and then from my filesystem backup… the qdf file). Do I create a new Quicken file and then try to restore from a backup of the original? Something else?

Version: R52.28, Build: 27.1.52.28

[Edited Readability]

Quicken Kristina

Hello @mikeulator,

Thank you for letting us know you're seeing these issues. If you want to start a new file and keep your transaction history, you can do so. First, you will need to create an export file. According to our article on exporting Quicken data, QXF is recommended unless you have investment or business data, in which case you would use QIF. For more information, please see the article: https://info.quicken.com/win/export-data-from-quicken#ExportingdatafromQuicken-ExportfinancialdatatoaQIFfile .

Once you have created the export file, the next step is to create a new Quicken file. For instructions on creating the new file, please see the article linked below: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-create-new-quicken-data-file/#section-windows-2

In the new file, go to File>File Import, and select the file type that matches the file type of the export file you created.

Once the information is imported into your Quicken file, review the accounts to ensure everything looks correct. If it looks correct, then backup your Quicken file and connect your accounts.

To connect your accounts, navigate to Tools>Add Account and follow the prompts. When you get to the Add/Link screen in Quicken, make sure to link your accounts to the correct nickname in Quicken. Repeat this process for each financial institution you want connected to your Quicken file.

Warning: There is a chance that the initial download from the financial institution will include duplicate transactions. Make sure to review the accounts and delete duplicates as needed.

I have no idea why this file appears to be broken in regards to accounts, or why restoring from a backup broke them (I think I tried both restoring an automatic Quicken backup and then from my filesystem backup… the qdf file).

There is always a risk of CC-800 errors after restoring a backup file, especially if you have accounts connected using Express Web Connect Plus (EWC+). However, it is unusual for the issue to be persistent. Usually, deactivating and reconnecting the accounts corrects the problem. It is possible that an issue with the cloud account associated with that file is causing the problem. If you'd like to try some troubleshooting for your original file, please let me know!

I hope this helps!

mikeulator

Thank you for the reply, Kristina. I would like to try troubleshooting the existing. I wonder if there is an issue on the backend/cloud account… because just today it finally pulled in transactions (cash transfers to my brokerage account) that happened a few weeks ago. Suddenly today they decided to show up… but not the transactions for the stocks I bought with that money.

mikeulator

@Quicken Kristina adding a tag for notification

miklk

You may want to just do a copy as template and see how that goes.

(Better option to keep old data in tact)

You will need to re-establish all online accounts though.

mikeulator

@Quicken Kristina , @miklk

Thanks for the responses. I ended up backing up and checking all boxes to export everything, knowing full well I could be exporting the corruption, but I figure I could walk back each one, one at a time to narrow it down if I had to. It ended up being fine. I did have to add my accounts, and then I did have to fix 3 transactions (old transactions so no idea how the restore changed them)… and everything appears to be good. All balances are reflecting what I see when I manually login.

I also ended up setting a backup schedule to run a back up ever 1 time I load the file (I usually only load once a day after auto update runs) and hold up to 60 days (I may change it to 90, sometimes it takes a while for me to notice issues because I only manually login to accounts once a month). The interesting thing, though, is the backup file for my old QDF is 52MB but the new one is only 22MB…. that is a huge disparity and I can't help but wonder why. All the transactions seem to be there… does an export not save the ledger and maybe all that ledger info is missing?

The other weird thing it did on my brokerage account was add transactions for "Add" and "Remove" of shares (many fractional) that are not transactions that were made on my account. It also created a "MiscInv" that I wonder if it did to balance the cash balance with what is reported from the bank… I don't know. And then it wanted me to enter the price for placeholder entries for each of those weird Add/Remove transactions… I ended up just deleting those transactions and the placeholders… didn't affect the balance so I think it's OK.

Another retirement account now also has a ton of fractional placeholder transactions for I don't know why… I haven't deleted those. I think all of these placeholders were the ones I was asked on restoring the backup if it matched an existing ticker and I chose no, to add it, for all of them because the CUSIP was different and I thought maybe it was because of the times when they switch funds for the category I have chosen.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for the follow-up,

I'm glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue.

Those add and remove transactions may have resulted from data issues in the original file. The placeholder transactions would have been automatically added by Quicken once you connected the account. They are used to fill in missing history and ensure balances match what the financial institution reports.

Thank you!