where did my data go?

Question

Been in the hospital and rehab for several months; I'm finally home, and I opened Quicken to catch up, but the format is new, and all my data is gone.  What happened, and what can I do to restore or retrieve my data, or do I need to start over?

[Edited - Readability]

Sceptic · Answer

@riggerr I'm sorry to hear about your health issues, but I'm glad you're finally back home.  Before starting over, let's try to determine what happened to your Quicken data file.

Since you're using Quicken Windows 2016, let's first determine whether Quicken is opening the correct data file. A change in the appearance of the program does not normally erase your financial data.

A few questions:

* Is this the same computer you were using before your hospital stay?
* Do you see any accounts at all, or is Quicken completely empty?
* If you select File → Open Recent, is your usual data file listed?
* Has anyone worked on, repaired, replaced, or reset the computer while you were away?

I would not start over yet. In many cases the original QDF file is still on the computer, but Quicken is opening a different file or an older backup. The answers to the questions above should help determine the next step.

If your original data file cannot be found, then, as @rhoneyman mentioned finding a good backup would be your only solution.

rhoneyman · Answer

You almost certainly have backup files. Restore the most recent (or the one before that) and see if that fixes the issue. If you don't know where to find the backups, start a new backup and go to the suggested folder. Also, are you using a version of Quicken from 2016, or is that just a remnant from when you first entered the community?