Changing Quicken 2010 file name

in Q11 open account register, click on Account Actions in upper right, select edit account details.

Under the File menu at top of screen, there is a line "save a copy as". Click on that and enter Wells Fargo.qdf or whatever your choice is and then save it. Next time you open Quicken, you can then open the new file and should be able to use it. Be sure to backup first to be safe.

Starting in Q2010, all your Quicken data is stored in one Windows file: QDATA.QDF [where QDATA is the name of your file ("Wachovia", I take it) and .QDF is the extension)]

When Intuit made that change, they also decided to remove the "rename" feature from Quicken (presumably because there is only one Windows file to rename, instead of the multiple Windows files in previous versions).

So you can now easily use Windows Explorer to rename your Quicken data file.

If you normally have Quicken open the file you last had open in Quicken, you'll need to use the Quicken File > Open Quicken File option the first time you open the renamed file.

[My practice is to keep my file names less than 8 characters and to use only alphanumeric characters. Most people who do not follow that practice have no problem, but a few do.]

snipped-for-privacy@nada.com wrote: :: I would like to change the file name, not the account name. The :: current file name is Wachovia and I want to change it to Wells Fargo :: now that the conversion is complete for my accounts. Is it as easy as :: changing the names of the Wachovia files in My Documents/Quicken/ :: folder by replacong Wachovia with WellsFargo? :: :: I don't see anywhere from within Quicken to do this.

You ONLY keep track of one or more accounts in this Quicken file? Although of course you can do this, I just wonder why you wouldn't want to keep the file name generic so that, after time, you use it to put in other assets and liabilities (credit card accounts, other bank accounts, etc.). Why limit the name of the file to one institution?? (I am really probing to ensure you understand what Q is all about, really.)

Andrew wrote: :: snipped-for-privacy@nada.com wrote: :::: I would like to change the file name, not the account name. The :::: current file name is Wachovia and I want to change it to Wells :::: Fargo now that the conversion is complete for my accounts. Is it :::: as easy as changing the names of the Wachovia files in My :::: Documents/Quicken/ folder by replacong Wachovia with WellsFargo? :::: :::: I don't see anywhere from within Quicken to do this. :: :: You ONLY keep track of one or more accounts in this Quicken file? :: Although of course you can do this, I just wonder why you wouldn't :: want to keep the file name generic so that, after time, you use it :: to put in other assets and liabilities (credit card accounts, other :: bank accounts, etc.). Why limit the name of the file to one :: institution?? (I am really probing to ensure you understand what Q :: is all about, really.)

Damn it! I wish there was an easy way to recall a post. I left out key words above, which should have read:

"You ONLY keep track of one or more accounts *** from the single banking institution of Wells Fargo*** in this Quicken file? Although of course you can do this, I just wonder why you wouldn't want to keep the file name generic so that, after time, you use it to put in other assets and liabilities (credit card accounts, other bank accounts, other stock brokerage accounts, work 401Ks, etc.). Why limit the name of the file to one institution?? (I am really probing to ensure you understand what Q is all about, really.)

:: :: -- :: ------------------------------------------------------------- :: Regards - :: :: - Andrew

That's the best solution - the Windows Explorer route. Then just open the renamed file under file open like you said.

I agree also that maybe you would prefer to rename the file to your first name or last name or something other than a single financial institution so as not to severely limit your use of Quicken in the future like Andrew said.

What Quicken is all about depends on the user. For me, keeping the institutions separate works great for what I want to do, and has since Quicken for DOS. I don't have recurring payments, like mortgage or car or credit cards. The only regular withdrawal is for health insurance and that's down directly with the bank. I have a single brokerage account and two credit cards at diiferent places. I use Quicken to control where I have to go to do various things that are different to me. Putting everything in one Quicken file seems to me to be like putting everything on your computer on the C: drive.

Each file is one institution. I have no liabilities other than this month's credit card charges, monthly bills, and, of course, taxes. I have another file for our several Schwab brokerage accounts and I have no investment needs that they can't handle. Comingling all my accounts in one Quicken file would do nothing for me.

I am curious what uses of Quicken I might have in the future that would be limited by keeping institutions separate. My uses of Quicken are bill pay and nothing regular, checking investments, all at one brokerage (and 99% 0f my assets other than a paid for house), and seeing how much my wife is charging on credit cards :-)

My needs for Quicken are quite simple.

snipped-for-privacy@nada.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

For one thing,I'm quite sure there is some overhead (such as info that stays the same regardless of whether the FI is Fidelity, Chase, Citibank, or Discovercard). Combining all this would make the total sizes of the files smaller. As another thing, Quicken can tell you what your net worth is. But only if all your financial info is in the same place. Lastly, if I want to switch from looking at my Mastercard account to looking at Fidelity, TIAA or Vanguard, I can stay in the same file. I only definitely consider separate files if I were to use Quicken again for a non-profit, my kids or grandkids, orsomething totally different from my own household.

snipped-for-privacy@nada.com wrote: :: On Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:29:27 -0400, "Andrew" wrote: :: ::: snipped-for-privacy@nada.com wrote: ::::: I would like to change the file name, not the account name. The ::::: current file name is Wachovia and I want to change it to Wells ::::: Fargo now that the conversion is complete for my accounts. Is it ::::: as easy as changing the names of the Wachovia files in My ::::: Documents/Quicken/ folder by replacong Wachovia with WellsFargo? ::::: ::::: I don't see anywhere from within Quicken to do this. ::: ::: You ONLY keep track of one or more accounts in this Quicken file? ::: Although of course you can do this, I just wonder why you wouldn't ::: want to keep the file name generic so that, after time, you use it ::: to put in other assets and liabilities (credit card accounts, other ::: bank accounts, etc.). Why limit the name of the file to one ::: institution?? (I am really probing to ensure you understand what ::: Q is all about, really.) :: :: What Quicken is all about depends on the user. For me, keeping the :: institutions separate works great for what I want to do, and has :: since Quicken for DOS. I don't have recurring payments, like :: mortgage or car or credit cards. The only regular withdrawal is for :: health insurance and that's down directly with the bank. I have a :: single brokerage account and two credit cards at diiferent places. :: I use Quicken to control where I have to go to do various things :: that are different to me. Putting everything in one Quicken file :: seems to me to be like putting everything on your computer on the C: :: drive.

Yeah, I had a feeling you were using multiple Quicken files across several institutions. There is a tremendous advantage of using one Q file per person (like Han delineated); complete reports, ability to cross-link accounts with transactions, easy search capabilities etc. So, for example, if you write a check from your bank to your credit card (two different 'institutions' in many cases), you'd end up with having to enter TWO transactions, each of which is separate and reeks of the possibility of error.

But, I am not going to try to convince you to do this. Whatever works for you. I will say I've NEVER heard of anyone doing this however. And the downside seems so obvious to me I'd never consider it.

To use your analogy, it's like buying a separate computer to run individual applications. But again, to each his (or her) own.

"Andrew" wrote in news:4dfbc009$0$28694$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

LOL

I agree. Being able to track activity between different financial institutions from within the same file seems much more logical.

and what will be done when Wells Fargo is bought by another bank ???

Change the name of the account for Wells Fargo. Simple.

But you see, it's not! In a sense, you proved my point about what the "correct" packaging should be. You said "account". We're not talking about "accounts"...we're talking about FILE NAMES! Which is what, of course, we all are using, not one file per institution. Of course you can change the name of your Quicken file to whatever, but a single set of bank transactions should (IMNSHO) indeed be one of many *accounts* inside a single Quicken file (which would presumably be something like Han suggested I think, a person's name or whatever.)

Exactly. Example: my file name is "TIM". My old Wachovia account is "Wachovia - checking". If I would've stayed with Wachovia, I would change the account name to "Wells Fargo - checking". My file would still be intact and functioning. :-)

I do not write checks to any other account or to anything I can pay with bill pay. I've never had to enter two Quicken transactions for one real transaction.

I write about a dozen checks a year and those to people I hand them to. I only do a few reports on the checking accounts at tax time.

But let me ask this. Since I am at this point now, how do I merge accounts that are in different Quicken files now into a single Quicken file without losing any account history? Is there an easy way to do this that isn't subject to error or information loss?