Quicken program and data are located on OneDrive.

Question

While attempting to move my data file to my hard drive I realized that both Quicken and it's data file is on OneDrive. I have no Quicken folder on my local PC. I did not move the data file. Is it necessary to have both the program and data on the same drive? Can I just move the data to a newly created Quicken folder on my computer? Any other suggestions? What is the actual risks of continuing to access the data from OneDrive?

Thanks

Quicken Classic Deluxe

Windows 11 Home

V. R67.7

Sunrise · Answer

I just purchased a new Windows 11 Home computer.  I've had Quicken since 1998, with very little issue ever with new computer set-up, or anything really.  Until now.  This is the first time I set-up Microsoft 365 on my new computer before doing all the other tasks.  I know Microsoft loves to get itself involved in everything.  When setting everything up, I was asked if I wanted to save the file to OneDrive.  I had other things on there and didn't realize that OneDrive was suggesting the Application and not just the backup. I didn't realize the Quicken Application could be an issue on OneDrive or Dropbox either. I have always created an external backup and a back-up on Dropbox.  Anyway, I was out of my Quicken for about a month as my old computer died and I purchased a new one.  I was able to get the info off of the old computer through 4/12/26 (My company's IT guy did) and set-up on the new computer.  I entered all new payments, and such made during the downtime and backed it up to a thumb drive (5/15/26).  The next time I went in to Quicken, everything seemed fine and I did another back-up on my thumb drive (5/18/26) …until it asked if I wanted to use the Mobile and Web. I thought GREAT.  New stuff!  I set that up…and that's where the heartache began.  The next time I logged in (5/20/26) I was hit with the message that my file wasn't found.  After 2.5 hours on the chat/telephone with Quicken Support as well as the technician logging into my system, I was assured everything was working fine.  He backed it up into OneDrive and logged out blaming the issues on me using the Mobile and Web section of Quicken.  He suggested I turn it off and not use it.  Apparently, the tech support at Quicken didn't even have any knowledge about the OneDrive issue either.  Today (5/24/26) I tried to open Quicken only to receive the message about "Opening Quicken for Windows OneDrive Warning".  I have attempted the resolution Quicken gives me.

Here's the thing:

So far seemed good until I got to Step #2 after locating the QDF in OneDrive.

Right-click on that file in OneDrive and select Cut.

There is no cut in the dropdown box any longer that says CUT. May be a Windows 11 thing.  Even when I got to "More Options", there is no option to just "MOVE" the file.  And the instructions specifically say do not COPY the file.

Where do I go from here to move my data file, which is 123,964KB stuck in OneDrive?

smayer97 · Answer

The risk of having a live data file on a cloud-based drive is that the file can get corrupted, as we often see here in the forum. So, this set-up is not supported by Quicken.

You can place your file anywhere on your computer. The only thing to avoid is to not place it in a folder that is synced to any cloud-based storage, like DropBox, OneDrive, etc., as the same corruption issue applies.

And no, the software and the data file do not need to be on the same drive; only that they both be on drives connected to the same computer. The Quicken software will be located in the default location on the local drive, as noted above.

nmestanas · Answer

The Quicken program should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Quicken. Your data file .QDF by default goes to C:\Users\\Documents\Quicken. Are they located there? Here's a support article on storing your data file in a location sync'd with One Drive. https://www.quicken.com/support/one-drive-message/