Maintain ability to run 2 copies of Quicken for Mac simultaneously (20 Legacy Votes)

smayer97 · November 2017

In the past, it was quite simple to run 2 versions of Quicken at the same time because the versions, and the associated resources (preference file, Application Support files, etc) were differentiated by the associated year version, e.g. Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016, Quicken 2017.

As of 2018, as Quicken moves away from the version numbering using the year, e.g. Quicken 2017 to just Quicken, please be sure to maintain some way to continue to be able to run 2 different versions of Quicken at the same time. Otherwise, with the loss of the year #, there may be resource contentions that prevent this from happening.

Some use cases that require running 2 versions side by side:

needed when trying to compare results of upgrading
comparing data from 2 sets of data files
testing beta version while still running live data version

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smayer97 · November 2017

This IDEA has been added to the List of Requests for Data and File Management Features and the List of Miscellaneous Requests. You may want to click on each underlined link, then follow the instructions to add your vote to more related ideas.

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Bob Myers · November 2017

I think that this capability already exists. When I upgraded to 2018, a new "Quicken" directories were set up in the Application and Application Support directories. The old "Quicken 2017" directories were preserved. I am able to run both instances at the same time.

smayer97 · November 2017

At least as it stands, you can at least run two versions back to back on the same machine. But one must take great care not to accidentally open the same data file with both versions (since each version would automatically open the last opened file from either version). One would have to switch to a dummy file each time before closing the app. Quite a pain. Makes me glad I have a secondary computer that I can run new versions on in parallel while evaluating.

Not all are so lucky ;-p

frank6 · December 2017

I too want to have open two data files at the same time. I like to keep my personal file open on 2018 and also my mom's on 2017.

smayer97 · December 2017

I too want to have open two data files at the same time. I like to keep my personal file open on 2018 and also my mom's on 2017.

QM2018 and QM2017 can be run simultaneously....BUT later updates to QM2018 may (probably will) not unless this is addressed.

jacobs · December 2017

@smayer97: I understand the request, and as someone who helps support others on this forum, I might find it useful. I'm just not sure how feasible an idea this is, since different versions of the program would use the same support files. Working around that would require them to go back to individual, unique applications -- but that would inconvenience 99% of users who will just want seamless updates and not having multiple versions. It hasn't ever been possible to simultaneously run two versions of the same year's product -- e.g. Quicken 2017 v4.6.0 and Quicken 2017 v4.6.7 -- so I'm not sure how this would become feasible with Quicken v5.x and beyond. Also, because users won't be lagging behind on significantly older versions than the current one, the need for an older 5.x version for troubleshooting won't be what it has been in the past.

I think the workaround solution would be to create one or more separate User accounts on your Mac. You could create a user just for Quicken testing, and install an older or newer version there. Or create a separate user for each separate version of Quicken you want to be able to run independently. While it doesn't quite enable side-by-side viewing, it's easy to flip back and forth between logged-in user accounts in a couple seconds.

P.S. In your use case examples, beta testing is likely not an issue, because betas are typically named Quicken Beta and set up their own support files separate from the production releases.

smayer97 · December 2017

@smayer97: I understand the request, and as someone who helps support others on this forum, I might find it useful. I'm just not sure how feasible an idea this is, since different versions of the program would use the same support files. Working around that would require them to go back to individual, unique applications -- but that would inconvenience 99% of users who will just want seamless updates and not having multiple versions. It hasn't ever been possible to simultaneously run two versions of the same year's product -- e.g. Quicken 2017 v4.6.0 and Quicken 2017 v4.6.7 -- so I'm not sure how this would become feasible with Quicken v5.x and beyond. Also, because users won't be lagging behind on significantly older versions than the current one, the need for an older 5.x version for troubleshooting won't be what it has been in the past.

I think the workaround solution would be to create one or more separate User accounts on your Mac. You could create a user just for Quicken testing, and install an older or newer version there. Or create a separate user for each separate version of Quicken you want to be able to run independently. While it doesn't quite enable side-by-side viewing, it's easy to flip back and forth between logged-in user accounts in a couple seconds.

P.S. In your use case examples, beta testing is likely not an issue, because betas are typically named Quicken Beta and set up their own support files separate from the production releases.

Thx. Good reminder about work-arounds...that said, I don't need to be informed about the reasons why it may not work...believe me, there are many ways to make this work. Without knowing how Quicken's internals work, there is no way to propose a solution but there are...then again, it is not about anyone finding the solution either...that is Quicken's work....case in point, if they can make it work for beta versions, they can make it work for any. This should not be a highly complex problem to find a simply solution.

The issue is not whether there are obstacles, the question is if there is enough interest or valid reasons to make this happen. And I believe the first 2 are plenty enough reasons...

smayer97 · August 2023

for consideration?

Delaw · November 2023

Customers need to be able to open multiple quicken files on the same computer.

NotACPA · November 2023

They can. Just not all at the same time.

Quicken Anja · June 2024

Hello All,

The status of this Idea has been changed to Under Consideration as it has reached enough votes and has been submitted to our Product and Development team for further review.

Thank you!

cwreid3 · June 2024

Any chance we will be able to open 2 different Quicken files simultaneously soon?

jacobs · June 2024

Any chance we will be able to open 2 different Quicken files simultaneously soon?

@cwreid3 No one here can answer that. Only the development team knows if such a change is being worked on, or even under active consideration — and they don't share their plans. Except on Idea posts, and there's an existing Idea for this topic:

Maintain ability to run 2 copies of Quicken for Mac simultaneously (20 Legacy Votes)

smayer97

Nov 5, 2017

In the past, it was quite simple to run 2 versions of Quicken at the same time because the versions, and the associated resources (preference file, Application Support files, etc) were differentiated by the associated year version, e.g. Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016, Quicken 2017.

As of 2018, as Quicken moves away from the version numbering using the year, e.g. Quicken 2017 to just Quicken, please be sure to maintain some way to continue to be able to run 2 different versions of Quicken at the same time. Otherwise, with the loss of the year #, there may be resource contentions that prevent this from happening.

Some use cases that require running 2 versions side by side:
needed when trying to compare results of upgrading
comparing data from 2 sets of data files
testing beta version while still running live data version
If you find this feature helpful, please be sure to click "VOTE" above to increase the count of this post and therefore its visibility to other users and to the developers by seeking to have the features you need or desire end up in the latest version.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of the page, your vote will NOT be counted! Your VOTE matters!

Click "Follow" at the top if you want to receive notifications of any updates to this thread.

The status of that Idea shows "Under Consideration", which means it reached enough user votes to be forwarded to the developers to evaluate. It stays as "Under Consideration" until they either make it "Planned" or "Not Planned". The latter — rejection — is pretty rare; more typically, ideas which aren't nixed but aren't high on the developers' priority list sit as "Under Consideration" indefinitely. It can only become "Planned" if they not only agree with the feature request, but have assessed the work involved to make it happen, and have found a place on their development schedule for that work to take place.

Bottom line: since the feature request status shows "Under Consideration", it's unlikely you'll see it implemented soon. (It sometimes happens that they implement something where the status here wasn't updated to show it was "Planned" for a w while — but that's rare.)

Maintain ability to run 2 copies of Quicken for Mac simultaneously (20 Legacy Votes)

Under Consideration · Last Updated June 2024

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Maintain ability to run 2 copies of Quicken for Mac simultaneously (20 Legacy Votes)

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