Add "Save a Copy" feature (similar to "Year End Copy") (21 Legacy Votes)

DYGIT · September 2025

Year End archiving of data - Quicken for Mac = PLEASE!

Nanito · January 10

He tenido Quicken desde hace mas de 30 años, al principio lo use en Windows, desde hace algunos años en Mac.

No recuerdo si en las versiones de Mac anteriores a la que poseo ahora se podía hacer, pero estoy seguro que en Windows si es posible.

Hacer un respaldo de la información en determinado momento, por ejemplo al 31 de diciembre de cada año y pasar esa información a históricos. Eso para que el archivo de datos que poseemos en la actualidad sea leído por la computadora mas ágilmente y los registros del pasado si se desean consultar, se pueden accesar desde históricos.

Como Contador creo firmemente en el cierre de periodos y el respaldo de la información.

jacobs · January 10

For those like me who don't speak Spanish, here is an automated translation of this Idea post:

Create Historical

I have had Quicken for more than 30 years, at first I used it on Windows, for a few years on Mac.

I don't remember if in the Mac versions prior to the one I have now it could be done, but I'm sure in Windows it's possible.

Make a backup of the information at a certain time, for example on December 31 of each year and pass that information to historical. That so that the data file that we currently have is read by the computer more quickly and the records of the past if you want to consult, can be accessed from historical.

As an Accountant, I firmly believe in the closing of periods and the backup of information.

Quicken Mac is designed to NOT be separated into separate files at the end of each year. The underlying SQL database is designed to be robust and fast even as file size grows over many years and decades. I have only a single data file for my more than 3 decades of Quicken data. All that data doesn't get in my way for day-to-day work, and it is invaluable when I want to search for when specific events happened in the past.

In the past the Quicken Mac developers said they did not plan to implement a "year end copy" feature which had been requested. But over time, a new, similar request was started and gained votes; you can see it here and add your own vote and comment:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7684427/add-save-a-copy-feature-similar-to-year-end-copy-21-legacy-votes

That said, I absolutely agree on the topic of maintaining adequate backups! I have my Quicken Mac set to retain 50 automatic backups. (The default is inexplicably set to only 5, and many users fail to change the setting.) That's in addition to the backups it generates each time a new version is installed. And I save a manual backup periodically so I have backups going back in time far longer than the automatic 50 backups. I also use Apple's Time Machine software to continually back up my Mac — not just Quicken, but all my documents, music, photos, etc. I also use iDrive software to back up my key data to the cloud every day, as an additional layer of protection and in the event of a catastrophe which might render my Mac and Time Machine drive inaccessible. And I use SuperDuper! software to do a full-disk backup of my Mac to an external hard drive, rotating two such drives every few months and keeping one away from my home. All that might seem like overkill to many users, and I'm not saying everyone needs to have all those layers — but everyone needs to have more than a few simple backups to be safe.

Former Accountant · 12:00PM

I used Quicken 2007 obn a Mac for years and was always able to close a financial year by Save-A-Copy. Today, I was told this option does not exist on the current Mac Quicken program. This means the data file will continue to grow year after year. The program should be revised to allow for a closing of the financial year into a separate file that could be deleted when it is no longer necessary to keep that file. This option would allow more storage space on a computer.

Quicken Anja · 12:20PM

Hello @Former Accountant,

Thank you for reaching out with your request.

Your idea has been merged into this already active Idea thread regarding the same request.

Thank you!

jacobs · 3:01PM

@Former Accountant If you take a little time to read through this thread, you'll get an idea of reasons why it hasn't been implemented… and why it perhaps should be (and might be, some day).

You mention file size, but that's nt really an issue for many Quicken Mac users. My data file, dating back more than 30 years, is just over 100 MB; that's pretty small looking at today's hard drive capacities. The only people who have large (over 1 GB) Quicken Mac data files are those who choose to store many attached documents in their Quicken file. But separating out by year wouldn't reduce the amount of space the sum of the files take up on a hard drive. And the modern SQL database used by Quicken Mac is built to grow to a massive amount of data without significant speed impact.

There are nice advantages to keeping year after year of data in a single file. It makes it easy to look back for comparisons or past events. It also insures that some old data doesn't get left behind in a file format the program can no longer read many years later.

The biggest reason I think for a feature like this is for people who have gone through what I'll call life events — marriage, divorce, kids grown up/moved out — who would like to eliminate large swaths of former categories, tags, or payees they will never use again (and might not want to see all the time, in the case of a divorce). That, to me, is a compelling reason for the developers to create a way to split off old data and continue forward with a purged/cleaned up dataset.

Add "Save a Copy" feature (similar to "Year End Copy") (21 Legacy Votes)

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