Backing Up or Restoring a Quicken Data File Using a Removable (USB) Drive

Overview

Backing up to a removable drive is an easy, convenient method to safe guard your Quicken data. Using a removable drive, such as a USB flash drive, offers ease of use and portability of your Quicken data. Intuit recommends using a USB flash drive to back up your data if possible.

To back up your file to a removable drive:

1. Close Quicken.
2. Attach the removable drive to the computer.
3. Open Quicken.
4. Select the File menu and
   • In Quicken 2010 or later: select Backup and Restore, then Backup Quicken File. The Quicken Backup window opens.
   • In Quicken 2009: select Backup. The Quicken Backup window opens.
5. Make sure the file you want to back up appears in the Backup data file: field (the file you are currently using is selected by default). If you want to back up a different data file, click Cancel, open the file to backup and repeat step 4.
6. Make sure the On my computer (e.g. CD or floppy disk) option is selected.
7. In the Select the disk drive and path to the backup folder field, click Browse (or Change) and select the location of your removable drive. If your removable drive is not listed, verify the drive is attached to your computer, restart Quicken, and begin at step 4. 
8. Select the Add date to file name checkbox to add today's date at the end of the file name. This will ensure the data you are backing up does not overwrite previously backed-up data.
9. Depending on your version of Quicken and operating system, you may also need to clear the Use Windows CD Writing Wizard checkbox by clicking it.
10. Rename the file (Optional).
11. Click OK (or Backup Now) to start the backup process, and then click OK when a message appears that the backup is complete.

To restore your file from a removable drive

1. Close Quicken
2. Connect the external (USB thumb) drive containing the data file you want to restore.
3. Open Quicken.
4. Select the File menu and
   1. In Quicken 2010 or later: choose Backup and Restore, then Restore from Backup File.
   2. In Quicken 2009: select Restore Backup File. 
      • If the file you want to restore is listed, select the file from the list.
      • If the file you want to restore is not listed, click Browse my computer to select the file you want to restore. Note: If the Quicken file to be restored is on a single disk, it has a .QDF extension. If the file spans several backup disks, it has a .QB1 extension.
5. If you are restoring the current file, click OK to overwrite it. Note: Overwriting the file will replace the information on your computer with the information on your back up disk. For 2010 and newer you can choose to overwrite the current file or make a copy which will not overwrite the current data file. If you choose the make a copy option that you will need to name that copy and choose a location and click OK.
6. Click OK when a message appears that the file is restored.  If you chose the make a copy option in 2010 or newer, click yes or no when prompted if you want to open the restored file.
7. Select the File menu and select Open, and then select the file you restored to open it (applicable to Quicken 2009).

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