Quicken FAQ: How do I convert from Quicken for Windows or Mac or MS Money to Quicken Essentials for
How do I convert from Quicken for Windows or Mac or MS Money to Quicken Essentials for Mac?
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How do I convert from Quicken for Windows or Mac or MS Money to Quicken Essentials for Mac?
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Before you begin. . .
What you need to know before you covert your data
- Converting from Windows? - You will need access to a computer running Windows with Quicken installed.
- Converting from Quicken for Mac? - Quicken Essentials converts data from Quicken for Mac 2007, 2006, and 2005 only.
- Quicken Essentials can import data from a single file once - For example, if you have two data files in Quicken or Money, you can't import data from both of those files into the same Quicken Essentials data file.
- You CAN import data into a Quicken Essentials data file that already has data in it - For example, if you start poking around Quicken Essentials and create a data file you want to keep, you can import your old data (from Quicken or Money) into that file.
- Your old data file will be preserved - Nothing happens to your old data file when you convert your data to Quicken Essentials. The converter utilities simply create a copy of the data and convert it into a format Quicken Essentials can read. But the old data file remains intact.
- Don't delete your old data file - After you convert your data to Quicken Essentials, you'll want to review the new file to make sure everything moved over correctly. If necessary, you'll want to view the old data file so you can compare balances and transactions.
What gets converted from my old files?Most, but not all of your data, can be converted to Quicken Essentials.
- Your accounts
- All transactions except transactions in investment accounts
- Your scheduled transactions
- Your categories
- Your classes and tags (these are both called “tags” in Quicken Essentials)
- Online banking download setups (Quicken for Mac and Windows)
If you’ve set up accounts to download data from your financial institutions into your Quicken for Mac or Quicken for Windows data file, the information about your financial institutions and your user id’s will be carried over to Quicken Essentials. Exception: Your passwords will not be carried over. You will have to re-enter your passwords the first time you do a download in Quicken EssentialsWhat doesn't get converted?
- Investment account transactions - Quicken Essentials gives you the ability to track the total value of the holdings in your investment accounts, but it does not track individual transactions. When you convert your data, Quicken Essentials will create an account for each of the investment accounts you have in your old data file. But it will not carry over the transactions. Instead, the balance for the new account will be 0.00 until you do an online update, at which point Quicken Essentials will update the balance to the current balance for that account.
- Custom reports - Quicken Essentials will not import any custom reports you created in your old data file.
- Online banking passwords (Quicken for Mac and Windows) - You will have to re-enter your passwords the first time you update your accounts in Quicken Essentials.
- Online banking information (Microsoft Money) - If you have Microsoft Money, you will have to set up your accounts for statement download in Quicken Essentials.
- Data from the more advanced features in Quicken for Mac and Windows - For example, the following data is not imported: business data, rental property data, lifetime planner data, cash flow forecast data, budget data, spending plan data, debt reduction data, emergency tax records data, tax planner data, and home inventory manager data.
If you are converting from an older version of Mac. . .As much as we improved the experience of using Quicken when we rebuilt it from the ground up, there are some features you may have been used to using in Quicken for Mac (or Quicken for Windows) that are not include in this version of Quicken Essentials.
- Investments: Quicken Essentials lets you to track the overall value of your investment accounts and the value of specific holdings, but the software does not track individual buys and sells, nor will it provide some advanced investment performance reports.
- Direct bill pay: You can track your bills in Quicken Essentials, but the program doesn't have the direct bill pay capabilities that allow you to pay your bills directly from the program.
- Other advanced features: Quicken Essentials does not include many of the advanced features in other versions of Quicken, including Business features, Rental Property, lifetime planner, cash flow forecast, spending plan, debt reduction plan, emergency tax records, tax planner, and home inventory manager.
Find which product below you are converting fromHow do I convert from Quicken for Mac?
Before you get started, please review these notes:
- Create a copy of your current Quicken for Mac data file. You'll use this copy for the conversion.
- Launch the Quicken File Exchange Utility (it's also on your Quicken Essentials disk).
- Follow the on-screen instructions to locate the copy of your old data file and then convert it. When complete, you'll have a new data file -- but it's not quite done. We still need to import it.
- Open Quicken Essentials. You can import your old data into a new data file or one that you've already started using.
- Choose File > Import, and then select the file that you just created during the conversion process.
How do I convert from Quicken for Windows?The converted file has a .QDFX extension. You'll find it in the same folder as the copy you made earlier.
For Quicken for Windows 2011 and newer
- Open your data file.
- Choose File > File Export > Quicken Transfer Format (.QXF) File.
- Save the .QXF file to a form of removable media (like a USB drive).
- Move the .QXF file to your Mac.
- Open Quicken Essentials.
- Choose File > Import, and then select the .QXF file.
For Quicken for Windows 2010 and earlier- Using your Windows PC, insert the Quicken Essentials disc and install the converter utility called Quicken_Converter_Setup.exe. Alternatively, download the converter here.
- After it's installed, open the converter utility and follow the on-screen instructions to convert your data and save the conversion file on your PC.
- Move the .QXF file to your Mac.
- For example, you can put the .QXF file on a USB drive, and then copy the file from the USB drive to your Mac.
- Open Quicken Essentials.
- Choose File > Import, then select the .QXF file.
How do I convert from Microsoft Money?The conversion file has a .QXF extension.
Quicken Essentials can help you convert your data from Microsoft Money 2007 or 2008. Before you start, note that:
Quicken Essentials won't know where you are in the process of reconciling if you convert your data mid-stream.
- Launch the conversion utility.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to convert your data and save the conversion file on your PC.
- Move the .QXF file to your Mac.
- Open Quicken Essentials.
- Choose File > Import, and then select the .QXF file.
Ok. Now that you're done converting, what's next?The conversion utility is on your Quicken Essentials disk. You can access it when you insert the disk into your PC.
The conversion file has a .QXF extension.
For example, you can put the .QXF file on a USB drive, and then copy the file from the USB drive to your Mac.
If you want to move your old data into a Quicken Essentials data file that you’ve already started using (optional), make sure that data file is now open in Quicken Essentials.
- Remember to re-connect your accounts to your financial institutions. - If you moved your data from Quicken Mac or Quicken Windows, the connections between your accounts in Quicken and your financial institutions should have been carried over, but you will still need to reenter your passwords the first time you update your accounts.
- The balances for your investment accounts will be 0.00 until you do an online update. - In Quicken Essentials, investment accounts only track your total balance, not your individual transactions. Quicken Essentials will set up your investment accounts in your new data file, but since the software does not track individual transactions, it will not convert the transactions from the old data file. For that reason, Quicken Essentials sets the balance to 0.00 until you do an online update and download the account's current balance.
- Review your account balances. - In most cases, they should be identical to the balances in your old data file. If they look off, refer to the Troubleshooting section below.
If your overall balance (the total value of all your accounts) looks wrongIf you moved your data from Microsoft Money, you will probably need to reset up your accounts to download transactions from your financial institutions. Choose your account from the Source list (on the left). Click Settings icon in the toolbar, and update the account information on that page. (See the Getting Started Guide on the installation disk for more information.)
- Remember that the overall balance might not yet include the balances for your investment accounts.
- Check to see if the balance for an individual account looks wrong. If it does, refer to the next section for the possible problem.
If the balance for an individual account looks wrongThe balances for those accounts will remain 0.00 until you do an online update to download data from your financial institutions.
You can find the import log by selecting Help at the top and choosing Show Logs in Finder.
For example, let's say you made a $1,000 transfer from Account A to Account B. If Quicken Essentials can't identify that the transaction for the withdrawal from Account A is the match for the transaction for the deposit in Account B, then it creates one transaction for the withdrawal it found in Account A, and it creates a new match for the deposit in Account B. At the same time, it creates a transaction for the deposit that it found in Account B and a new match for the withdrawal from Account A. As a result, the withdrawal gets logged twice in Account A, causing the account's balance to be $1,000 less than it should be. And the deposit similarly gets logged twice in Account B, causing that account's balance to be $1,000 more than it should be.
To fix this, simply identify the orphaned transfers and delete the duplicates.