How to properly start a clean 2026 file with no previous history

LisaDee
LisaDee Quicken Mac Other Member
in Installing and Updating (Mac)

Hi,

Forgive me if this is the thousandth time that this question has been asked but I would actually like to set my Quicken file up correctly this time. I am running Quicken Classic Deluxe Version 8.3.3 (Build 803.58927.100) on a Mac laptop. I would like to set up a new file starting 01/01/2026 with no previous history from my old Quicken file.

What is the best way to do this? Should I manually enter my bank statement amount from 12/31/25 and then proceed to connect to downloads? Will I then have to manually remove all transactions dated prior to 01/01/26 using this method?

What about investment accounts? Best to manually enter them?

Sorry to appear so clueless, I just want things to be correct.

Many thanks for any advice you can provide.

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Comments

  • Jon
    Jon Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    If you're starting over with a new file, when you connect your accounts for downloading you're going to get a bunch of stuff from 2025 the first time you download which you will then have to delete. (Exactly how far back each account goes will depend on the financial institution, but in my experience it can be anywhere from a few months to a couple years.) What I would do is go ahead and connect the accounts first, get all the historical data they want to send you, and then delete anything from 2025 or earlier. Once that's done you shouldn't see those transactions download again - Quicken will remember you downloaded those transactions before.

    Once you've deleted all the old stuff you don't want anymore, you can go through the accounts and add Balance Adjustment transactions for each one to establish the account balance as of the end of December 2025.

    You can do a similar thing with Investing accounts, except you would use Add Shares transactions to set up the account holdings as of the end of last year.

    The only downside to doing things this way is you lose any custom reports, categories, or tags you had set up in the old file. You will have to recreate all of those by hand.

  • LisaDee
    LisaDee Quicken Mac Other Member

    Thank you so much for your help and suggestions. Happy New Year.

  • Rwpayton
    Rwpayton Quicken Mac Subscription Member

    I had a 15 year old version of quicken. My computer crashed. I think I’m starting over with no history. I can’t find start button or any way to open a file. How do I get into the program?

  • Jon
    Jon Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited January 7

    @Rwpayton "15 year old version of Quicken" could mean a couple different things for the Mac. Were you using Quicken 2007 for Lion, which was the 2012 release of the old PowerPC version of Quicken that got updated to run on Intel Macs? Or was it one of the Quicken Essentials releases from the early part of that decade?

    When you say your computer crashed, did you have to replace the hard drive, or reformat it & install everything from scratch? Did you end up buying a new Mac? Were you able to recover anything from the old Mac/hard drive or are you starting completely over?

  • jacobs
    jacobs Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    @Rwpayton If you're truly starting from scratch, you can simply launch Quicken, the same as you launch any other progtam on your Mac. If the Quicken "Q" icon is in your Dock, click on that; if not, open your Applications folder and drag Quicken to your Dock. Quicken will launch, and after you to sign in with your Quicken ID and password, you will be on the "Let's Get Started" page. You can choose to start a new file from scratch and then begin creating accounts and transactions. In the future, just click the Quicken icon in the Dock, and Quicken will open in your last-opened data file.

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993

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