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Most data in a Quicken for Mac file can be converted for use with Quicken for Windows. This multi-step procedure involves preparing your Macintosh® data file, exporting the data, importing it into Quicken for Windows, and then rectifying any discrepancies due to duplicated transactions or data that was not included.
The following components of your Quicken for Mac data file will convert to Quicken for Windows:
- Accounts:
- Online account information is not included and must be re-enabled in Quicken for Windows if you intend to continue using online services.
- Investment accounts that were reconciled must be re-reconciled in Quicken for Windows.
- Mutual Fund accounts will become Investment accounts containing a single mutual fund.
- Transactions
- Categories
- Classes
- Securities
The following components of your Quicken for Mac data file will not convert to Quicken for Windows:
- Accounts: Online account information.
- Securities: Unused securities and all price histories.
- Loans:
- The liability register will be included but the associated amortization schedule will not.
- Reminders, scheduled transactions, memorized (QuickFill) transactions or the Calendar:
- Memorized transactions do not convert but can be rebuilt, based on your imported transactions.
- Add-on programs:
- Most information entered into add-on programs such, as Emergency Records Organizer and Debt Reduction Planner will be included.
- Memorized reports or graphs, or any change to the default settings of the program, will be included.
- Budgets.
Your Macintosh computer must be able to recognize PC-formatted disks. Some programs from Apple® that allow this are PC Exchange®, File Exchange®, and the Apple® File Exchange® Control Panel. For further assistance with this, refer to the documentation for your computer, the documentation for these software products, or visit Apple's Web site.
Before beginning the conversion process, you must verify your date and time settings, and then restart your Macintosh computer if you make any changes.
For Mac® OS 9:
- From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels.
- Open the Date & Time Control Panel.
- Click the Date Format button.
- Verify that the Region option is set to U.S.
- Under the Short Date section, select the Show Century option unless you are converting to Quicken 98 for Windows. When you choose Show Century, the Region will change from US to Custom.
- Click OK in the Date Format window, and then close the Date & Time Control Panel.
- Restart your Macintosh.
For Mac® OS X or higher:
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From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
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Double-click the International icon.
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Click the Date tab, and then select the Show century checkbox. When you select Show Century, the Region will change from US to Custom.
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Close the International window, and then restart your Macintosh.
Prepare your Quicken for Mac data for conversion:
- From the Quicken for Mac Lists menu, select Accounts. Verify that the Show Hidden Accounts box is selected.
- Rename any account names, security names, categories, classes, and account description fields to comply with these guidelines:
- Names cannot contain special characters such as *, &, <, />, %, #, @, :, $, ~, ^, or }.
- Categories and Accounts cannot have the same name. For example, if you have a category and an account both named Petty Cash, you must rename one of them.
- An account cannot be named Cash. If an account is named Cash, rename it to Cash Account or something else.
- Edit any transactions in your register affected by the following:
- Category and Class fields cannot contain more than 29 characters.
- Transactions cannot contain more than 30 split lines. If your transactions have more than 30 split lines, create new transactions to accommodate the excess split lines.
- Make sure that all online transactions have been accepted into the register, and that the Download Transactions window contains no outstanding transactions.
- Delete all pending online payments.
- From the List menu, select Securities. All securities should have an uppercase ticker symbol associated with them. If a security does not have a symbol associated with it, its price history will not be exported.
- Reindex the data file by pressing Command + Option + B on the keyboard at the same time.
- Save a copy of your file, and then open the copy:
- From the File menu, choose Save a Copy.
- In the Save a Copy window, you can specify a specific date range to be included in the file. To include uncleared transactions dated prior to the specified date range, select Include prior uncleared transactions.
- Click OK.
- In the Save window, specify Desktop as the location, enter a unique name for this file (such as Conversion Copy), and then click Save.
- From the File menu, choose Open, and then open the new copy (Conversion Copy) from the Desktop.
- Print your account list for use in comparing balances after the data is imported into Quicken for Windows:
- From the Lists menu, select Accounts to open the Account list.
- Select Print Accounts from the File menu, and then click the Print button.
Create a QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) file for import into Quicken for Windows:
- In the copy that was created of your file (Conversion Copy), choose Export from the File menu.
- Full Export will be selected in the Export Window. This option will convert all accounts, categories, and transactions to Quicken for Windows. If you want to export only part of your file, select the Custom Export option, and then specify what to include in the export.
Note: In some versions of Quicken for Mac, the option to export online payees is available, but should not be selected because they cannot be imported into Quicken for Windows.
- Click the Export button.
- In the Save window, name the file Export.qif and save it. For the file to be properly recognized when importing it into Quicken for Windows, it must contain the extension .qif after the filename.
- Insert a PC-formatted floppy disk in the Macintosh's disk drive and copy the Export.qif file to it.
On your computer running Microsoft® Windows®, before opening Quicken for Windows, check your date and time settings:
- Click the Microsoft® Windows® Start menu, choose Settings, and then choose Control Panel.
- Double-click the Date/Time control panel.
- Verify that the correct Time Zone is selected, and then click OK.
- Double-click the Regional Settings control panel.
- On the Date tab, verify that the Short date style and Long date style are set to four digit years (yyyy), and then click OK.
Create a Quicken for Windows file (if you have not already):
- In Quicken for Windows, choose New from the File menu.
- Click OK to create a new file instead of a new account.
- Name the file using eight characters or less, and containing no blank spaces, and then click OK. This will be your new Quicken data file, so name it accordingly.
- Complete the Create New Account Wizard, using all the default settings. In Quicken 2003, click Exit Setup in the Guided Setup window.
Note: If you are prompted to choose a financial institution, type None in the Financial Institution field, and then click Next.
Import the Macintosh QIF file:
- Click the File menu, point to Import, and then select QIF file. (In Quicken 98 for Windows, click File, point to File Operations, and then select Import.)
- Click Browse and locate the Export.qif file on your floppy disk. (In Quicken 98 for Windows, click Find File to locate the file on your floppy disk.)
- In the QIF Import window, select Transactions, Account List, Security list, Category list, and Special Handling for Transfers.
After your file imports:
- For each banking account in Quicken for Windows 2001 and later, it will be necessary to Accept All transactions in the Compare to Register screen. The Compare to Register screen will be in each banking account register. After accepting the transactions, click Done.
- Compare the account balances in your Quicken for Windows file to the balances on the list you printed from Quicken for Mac. If the account balances in your Quicken for Windows differ from those in your Quicken for Mac file, you must find the discrepancy and manually enter or edit the transactions.
- The most common causes of a discrepancy between account balances are transfers to other accounts within split transactions that have become duplicated. The original split transaction appears with the correct amount, but the transfer component of the transaction is reflected in a completely separate, new transaction.
This new transaction generates a duplicate of the transfer amount contained in the original transaction, thus causing your account balance to be incorrect. To correct this, isolate and delete the duplicate transfer transactions and reenter the transfer category into the original split transaction.
- If your file seems as though it is missing data that should have been included, create a new Quicken file and import items individually.
- Rebuild the Memorized Transaction list by holding down the Shift key on your keyboard and selecting Memorized Transactions from the Cash Flow menu. (In Quicken for Windows 2002, 2001, or 2000, hold down Shift and select Memorized Transactions from the Banking menu. In Quicken for Windows 98 or 99, hold down Shift and select Memorized Transactions from the Lists menu.)
- Re-enable your accounts for online services, if applicable:
- Open the account register, select Enable your Quicken account from the top, and then follow the onscreen instructions.
- After your accounts are enabled, complete an online session. Because of the change of platform (Macintosh to Windows), every transaction available online from your financial institution will be downloaded in your first online session.
The number of transactions downloaded varies. Some financial institutions have 60 to 90 days of transaction history available, while others may have up to one year of transaction history. The downloaded transactions should match those already in your register, and in Quicken for Windows 2001 and later, will need to be processed in the Compare to Register screen.
- Your Online Payee list may be populated by the downloaded transactions. Any missing payees will need to be manually entered.
- Recreate any loans and budgets.
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