Suddenly cannot get complete transactions from Vanguard

NebularNovice

I have three Vanguard accounts. I had to reconnect two of them. When I reconnect, I am suddenly in Simple mode with no option to change that. That is, the Tracking Method box on the general tab is frozen at Simple with no option to click Complete. (The third account is not involved, still connected for Complete.)

That box explains that Vanguard uses EWC so I can't get complete. That makes no sense for various reasons. The other account uses Direct Connect. Worse yet, the Account List shows these two accounts also as Direct Connect even though I can't get Complete downloads. And the Account Details Online tab shows Connection Method: Direct Connect.

Other info: I tried allowing Quicken to set up new accounts instead of linking to the existing accounts. That works fine — as long as I don't want all my historical transactions. Also I set up a test file and connected Vanguard. All three accounts come in as Complete.

There are some other strangenesses in my Vanguard setup, but they have been that way for a long time while this problem has only started this week. I can get into that detail if necessary, but I think it will just confuse this discussion.

Windows Classic Deluxe, Windows 11

Jim_Harman

A couple of other users have reported issues reconnecting Vanguard accounts. Here is the procedure I worked out the last time this happened, and it appears to work for these new problem accounts as well. Some of these steps may not be necessary in every case, but I want to cover as many bases as possible.

1. Back up your data file in case something goes wrong.
2. Go to Edit > Preferences > Investments and make sure the "Default to Simple investing for new accounts" box is not checked.
3. Go to Edit > Preferences > Downloaded transactions and un-check the "Automatically add to investment transaction lists" box if it is not already un-checked. This will give you a chance to review any new transactions to make sure there are no duplicates and the transactions are going to the correct accounts.
4. Go to each problem account, click on the gear at the top right and select Edit account details. Make a note of the account name and the Vanguard account number.
   For accounts that have been connected since before 2009, when Vanguard converted to their current brokerage platform, you may see old “Pershing” account numbers, which begin with 2 digits and a V rather than the current 8 digit numbers. If you downloaded transactions using Web Connect (QFX) during the outage, your account numbers may have been changed to the new numbers. You will need to use the old numbers when re-linking the accounts. If in doubt, open a backup from before the outage, record the correct account numbers, and then return to your working file. You are only using the backup to see what account numbers Quicken was using for Direct Connect before the outage. 
5. Now for each problem account, click on the gear at the top right, select Edit account details, and then the Online Services tab. If it says the account is set up for transaction download, click on Deactivate. Do not click on “Set up now” after deactivating, you must go through the following steps.
6. Go to the General tab and now you should be able to select Complete mode. Select that.
7. Go to Tools > Add Account. This should open the Add account window. Don't worry, you will not be adding any accounts, you will be linking your current Vanguard accounts in Quicken to the corresponding online accounts.
8. Enter Vanguard and you should see the Vanguard logo on the right. 
9. Below the logo, click on Advanced options. Read the permission screen about Quicken and Intuit and click on Continue.
10. Under How should Quicken connect, select Direct Connect. Click on Next.
11. Provide your Vanguard username and password, and check the Save to Password Vault if that is how you normally operate. Click on Next.
12. You will see a list of all your Vanguard accounts. Any accounts that are already connected will be marked Don't add to Quicken. Accounts that you can connect will have entry boxes. For your existing problem accounts DO NOT SELECT THE DEFAULT OF ADD TO QUICKEN. Instead, select Link to existing account and select the Quicken account to use. Do not guess here. If you don't know which account to select or there are Vanguard accounts that you don't want to track, select Don't add to Quicken and only do the accounts you are sure of. You can pick up at step 7 later and reconnect any other accounts later if necessary.
13. Click on Cancel if you are confused at this point and your accounts will not be re-linked. If you are satisfied, click on Done and your accounts should be set.
14. Check to make sure any downloaded transactions are going to the correct accounts.

If you have attempted to update while the accounts were in Simple mode, you may see Added or Removed transactions during that time. You will need to delete these. If there are problems, restore the backup file you saved and you will be back to where you started.

Please let us know if this works for you.