QDATA File changes on me frequently

Are you storing your file in a directory that's syncing to a cloud service (iCloud, Dropbox, etc)? If so, move it to a different folder that isn't being synced - Quicken & cloud services don't get along.

Bandit0615 said:

Why would DropBox cloud service be included with Quicken?

You can store your backup files on a cloud service and that works fine, you just can't have the main file located there.

MoMoney99 said:

I was always told that as long as the file is closed & saved/sync'd on the cloud service before re-opening it, we would be good.

Hmmm, I'm curious who told you that. There are many, many  posts here on this site, as well as on the Quicken.com site, about not doing so.

When the live Quicken file is stored on a cloud storage service, things may work fine for a long time, and suddenly it doesn't. And what doesn't work manifests in different and sometimes strange ways. The bottom line is simply not to do it. As Jon noted, it's fine to have your Quicken backup folder be on iCloud or Dropbox, as ling as your active data file is on your local hard drive. 

If you're interested in using Quicken Mac on multiple computers, I'll refer you to this post I wrote in another thread about how you can do so safely and fairly easy.

MoMoney99 said:

How is it that in this day and age, we have a personal finance software application that doesn't fully support accessing our data on multiple devices without causing havoc?

That's a complicated question to answer. Partly it's because Quicken was developed at a time when sharing data across multiple devices via the cloud didn't exist or wasn't common. Partly it's because it's a complex database program which is finely tuned to running a local database which doesn't play nicely with cloud storage services which move chunks of a data file back and forth between the cloud and the user's computer. Partly it's because there's one group of Quicken users who don't want any of their data or banking credentials stored online where it could be vulnerable to a data breach. Quicken has tried to satisfy those users by keeping the program firmly desktop bound, while developing the Quicken cloud mobile/web interface for those users who want data probability. For users who really want to be able to access their data from any device, anywhere, they developed the new Quicken Simplify product as an online-only personal finance program; it has similarities to desktop Quicken, but not all the functionality, and the data isn't compatible. So there's no one solution which suits everyone and works perfectly. And as you've seen, while there are other personal finance programs on the market, none are perfect or ideally comprehensive, so many people stick with Quicken — even with its limitations — because they determine it's best for their needs.