Starting over but save old data somewhere?

RCButler3

I have been using Quicken for almost 30 years, but in the last couple years have not been great about keeping all the accounts up to date, so it's become a bit of a mess. Windows 11.

So what I'd like to do is make sure all my old data is saved somewhere, but start fresh with just a few accounts (checking and credit cards, and not try to do all the investment accounts anymore)

It appears from prior posts, that all I need to do is File - New Quicken File. Is that accurate?

At the bottom of the File menu I see three Backup files, with a check mark next to one that appears to have been created in 2022 (last time I had major problems) I'm pretty sure that is where things are saved when I back up currently. Can I assume that will still be there if I need to go back and check old records? Do I do a manual back up to there before starting a new file?

Thanks for any guidance that will make this a smooth process before I do anything I will regret!

Boatnmaniac

You can certainly start a new file via File > New Quicken File without any issue. Just be sure to give the new file a unique name. A simple way to do that is to use the default file name but add "New" or the date of the file creation to the end of that default file name. That way you will not risk overwriting your current data file.

Yes, you should make a backup file of your current data file before you create the new data file. Better to be safe than sorry. You can save it to the same folder where your other backup files are located.

The bottom of the File menu is limited to showing the last 4 files that were opened. Creating a new data file will cause the 4th file listed there to be dropped off from the File menu but the data file itself will not be affected and will still be in the folder where it was previously saved.

Regarding backup files: You can certainly opt to manually save backup files. Many people do that. However, I make manual backups only for specific circumstances. Instead, I rely very heavily on using Quicken's automatic backup feature. I have set it up to backup my data file every time I close the data file session and to save enough copies to account for the last 1-2 months. After that max number of backup files is reached, Quicken will automatically delete the oldest backup file whenever a new backup file is created.

Because of this set up, I rarely need to do manual backup files but will sometimes still do so for special circumstances such as when I want to make some change(s) in the data file that I am not sure I want to keep. Then I don't have to close the session and reopen the data file before making that change(s).

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