Why do all of my Quicken files change the balances to red Xs?

mustangmaddi

No matter which Quicken file I use, the balances of some accounts change to a very long number that is definitely wrong, and most balances change to red Xs. What do I need to do?

[Edited - Readability]

Sceptic

@mustangmaddi the symptoms you're describing, where balances suddenly change to extremely large incorrect numbers and account balances display red Xs, could indicate a data integrity issue within the Quicken file.

Before making any manual corrections, I would recommend running Validate & Repair on the affected file:

1. Make a backup of your data file.
2. Select File → Validate and Repair File.
3. Choose Validate File and click OK.
4. Review the DATA_LOG.TXT report when the process completes for any errors that were found and repaired.

If the issue persists after validation, the next step would be to create a Quicken Copy, which can rebuild portions of the file structure:

1. Make a backup of your data file.
2. Select File → Copy or Backup File.
3. Choose Create a copy or template.
4. Create a copy of the file and open the newly created copy.
5. Check whether the account balances display correctly in the copied file.
6. Note: If you decide to keep the data file copy as your file ongoing, you will need to reactivate online connections for all accounts.

Since you mentioned this occurs with multiple files, it would also be helpful to know:

• Are the affected accounts banking accounts, investment accounts, or a mixture of both?
• Do the balances change immediately when you open the file, or only after performing a One Step Update?
• Approximately when did this behavior begin?

Those details may help determine whether this is a data file issue or something else affecting Quicken's display of account balances.