Back Up Quicken Data

You never know when hard drive failure will strike, so backing up your personal finance data in Quicken is important. You will want to back up Quicken data files when you install a new version of the software, or migrate to another financial software that will use Quicken data.

To make a back up copy of the Quicken data file:

1. Start Quicken and click on File, then click on Backup and Restore, Back Up Quicken File.
2. Set the file location:
   • To temporarily store backup files during an install, set the file location to your desktop.
   • To permanently store backup files, place a writable CD in drive or plug in a USB drive and set the file location to the CD drive letter.
3. Five files will appear on your Windows Desktop or will be copied to the CD with the file extensions QTX, QSD, QPH, QEL and QDF. These are your back up data files.
4. You can delete the files on your desktop when you are sure you no longer need them, after you have been using the new version of Quicken or Microsoft Money for some time. If you backed up to a disk, be sure to store it in a safe place.

If you read this from a link in Quicken Restore Error messages, return to Restore article.