On Oct 1, 2026, at 14:52, Kalpesh Patel <[email protected]> wrote:
Tom – I agree with your intermediate step of going from Mac 2007
version to Windows 2007 via QFX format.
Also wanted to add clarification on the rinse-&-repeat three times
process that I mentioned in that for the next iteration open the file
that was copied using the “File Operation perform Copy” from the
previous rinse-&-repeat cycle; not the same file. For each iteration
you want to improve on the previously improved one. Do this
rinse-&-repeat three times as the very first step, then when data is
in Windows 2007 version (if you perform Tom’s intermediate step) and
finally when data is in Windows 2013 version before exporting to QIF
format.
David T. – this path might also bring your 2006 version to stable
2013 version if you are looking to keep copy of it to look back if
that is what you do.
From: Tom Route36 <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2026 5:12 PM
To: Kalpesh Patel <[email protected]>
Cc:[email protected]; 'Stephen Lee Phillips'
<[email protected]>; 'David T.' <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [GNC] Download assistance sought...
Kalpesh,
This is a great way to get around dealing with Quicken's subscription
requirement; and I think your way is definitely less hassle for
Steve. It's also possibly a good way of trying to clean up any
issues with the Quicken data itself. I do have one suggestion though
that might make the data cleanup process better -- or at least more
likely to be successful.
You suggest exporting the .qfx file from Quicken Mac 2007; and
importing the .qfx file to Quicken Windows 2013. That would probably
work. But in regard to trying to safely clean up the Quicken data,
my suggestion would be slightly different. I'd take the exported
.qfx file from Quicken Mac 2007 and import it into Quicken Windows
*2007* first. That way you're moving the data between Mac and PC on
the same year of Quicken software (2007), which I think might be safer.
Then once the data has been moved into Quicken Windows 2007, you
upgrade the software on the PC to Quicken Windows 2013. That might
be a safer way to clean up the Quicken data. It's still kinda iffy;
and doing multiple Validate and Repair operations to check for data
issues on both year versions (2007 and 2013) would be highly recommended.
Anyway, that would be my one tweak to your advice for Steve.
Tom
On 10/01/2026 04:02 AM, Kalpesh Patel wrote:
These steps can be reduced where their cloud version is *not* needed
at all.
Reading
https://www.quicken.com/support/converting-your-data-quicken-mac-0
steps to do Mac upgrade but probably isn’t necessary. Since Mac
version doesn’t provide QIF export, The cleanest route (outside of
cleaning up the data) is to export out data into QFX format from the
existing Mac version and then install Windows version of Quicken 2013
(might not need Virtual Box). There is a link at the bottom of
https://www.quicken.com/support/how-and-when-use-intermediate-version-convert-older-versions-quicken/?srsltid=AU7gw4UlwroMzIM8S5PREhIkCezAcT3BYQrpq0Ev9KerNVR0jIMjetyY
for Quicken 2013 Deluxe download for free which is stated to be able
to import QFX format and export away directly from there into QIF.
This kind of implies that changes to their internal database was last
done during version 2013, which make sense as I recall something to
that effect.
Before exporting the data, I suggest that in Quicken use Validate and
Repair from File Operations and then from File Operation perform
Copy. Do this about three times to try to rinse out bad records in
Quickens internal database (not guaranteed). Then export to QFX,
Import into Quicken 2013 on Windows. Run this rinse operation three
times there as well before exporting to QIF format.
This is likely to be the least resistant way of getting to GNC from
that old data.
From: Tom Route36 <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2026 2:35 AM
To: David T. <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Cc:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> ; Kalpesh Patel
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]>; 'Stephen Lee Phillips'
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [GNC] Download assistance sought...
David,
The reason for having to go thru this rather long complicated process
is because Quicken desktop software on the Mac -- all versions, from
the oldest to the current subscription version -- fails to include
any option to export a .qif file. I don't have a Mac system myself
where I could check that; but all the user forums and AI info that I
looked at seem to confirm that. You have to do the .qif export with
Quicken Windows software. Ugly, but that's Quicken.
As far as troubles with opening an ancient Quicken 2007 .qdfm file,
you're absolutely correct. Quite a few users have reported issues
trying to do that. Unfortunately, if there is a problem opening the
file with the latest Quicken Classic desktop software, the database
itself may have issues inherent in the data structures. And even if
you can successfully open the .qdfm file with the original Quicken
2007 software, it's quite likely that exporting it to a .qxf file,
and then attempting to open it with Quicken Windows (any version) is
likely to have problems as well. There's no real good way of getting
around that. If it's any consolation, the encouraging bright spot is
that the export of the data is likely to export basic checking,
savings, and credit card accounts and categories in those accounts
intact and correct (at least based on the reports that I've seen).
Where problems are more likely are with stock and mutual fund type
accounts, especially when they involve tracking stock splits and
capital gains. I suspect that no matter how the conversion goes for
Steve there's going to be a lot of manual tweaking involved in
Gnucash. It's the reality of dealing with nearly 20 year-old software.
Tom
On 09/30/2026 11:54 PM, David T. wrote:
Tom,
I hope you're right, but I'll note that I've seen some troubling
pages from the Quicken websites that suggest that the current
versions of Quicken won't directly open a Quicken file from 2007.
That would complicate things drastically.
Also, I'm not certain, but wouldn't Quicken for the Mac also have a
QIF export?
David T.
On October 1, 2026 7:54:44 AM GMT+05:30, Tom Route36
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]> wrote:
Steve,
I think Kalpesh's advice is on the right track here. But I think
there's a simpler way of getting to where you want to go. (Well,
maybe not simpler. There's a bunch of steps involved.) My suggestion
would be to let Quicken provide you with the means of converting that
data. First (and don't get scared off just yet) it *will* involve
you purchasing a Quicken subscription. *But* you should be able to
ultimately accomplish all this on the cheap -- i.e., for FREE! Bear
with me here while I explain.
If you go to the Quicken website (not a third-party, that's
important) and purchase a subscription from Quicken for "Quicken
Classic (Windows and Mac)" (that specific product name is also
important), you'll get the current Quicken desktop software. Once
you get that program loaded on your Mac computer, as soon as you go
to start it for the first time (after logging in with your new
Quicken ID), the program should ask if you have an existing file you
want to open. That's where you specify your Quicken 2007 .qdfm file.
I would avoid any requests or options to cloud sync your data.
Once you've opened the .qdfm file on your Mac computer with the
latest Quicken Classic desktop software, don't try to change
anything. Just immediately go and export the data (all accounts and
categories) to a .qxf file. Be sure to save that .qxf file somewhere
where you can access it from a Windows PC.
Next, go to your Windows PC (or borrow one if needed), and go back
again to the Quicken website, this time on the Windows PC. Login to
your Quicken account (using the same Quicken ID you just created
earlier on the Mac). And download and install the same Quicken
Classic software that you previously installed on the Mac. Your
subscription should allow multiple installations of the software.
Once the Quicken software is installed on the Windows PC, select the
option to create a new empty Quicken file. Once you've got the new
empty Quicken file open, then go and import the .qxf file that you
previously created on the Mac.
Now that you've imported the .qxf file to create a Quicken database
on the Windows PC, you can finally export the data from there (on the
Windows PC) into a .qif file. And be sure to save it someplace safe.
That's the file that you need to get the data into Gnucash.
So you're finally done. Uh, not quite. Remember what I said about
doing this for free. Well, this is where you go back and contact
Quicken customer support. You tell them you tried their software and
didn't like it. And so, you'd like to take advantage of their
"30-day Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee". You should be able to
get a full refund of all your money.
Anyway, I think this is probably the most straightforward way of
getting the .qdfm file converted for Gnucash.
Hope this helps,
Tom
On 09/30/2026 04:04 AM, Kalpesh Patel wrote:
In that case MacOS is the only way in Virtual Box instead of Windows
OS it sounds like. Two possible routes instead of one – 1) Older
MacOS running an older Quicken version in Virtual Box and then export
it out as QIF, or 2) let newer version of Quicken on MacOS upgrade
that version into modern format, and then either export to QIF
directly from there or bring it over to Windows and export. Note that
Windows has been using QDF proprietary format to store Quicken data.
I found number of Vagrant boxes for older MacOS that can run in
Virtual Box
athttps://portal.cloud.hashicorp.com/vagrant/discover?query=macos.
In either case, though, you will end up with export-import cycle
which is the best route.
From: Tom Route36 <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2026 12:08 AM
To: 'Stephen Lee Phillips' <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Cc:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> ; Kalpesh Patel
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]>; 'David T.' <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [GNC] Download assistance sought...
Hi Steve,
After I saw Kalpesh's advice, it got me curious about those old
versions of Quicken, and I decided to run a few tests. If you did
get a Windows instance up and running, you wouldn't need to worry
about which version of Windows it was. For my testing here on a
current Windows 11 system, I was able to successfully install and run
both Quicken 2014 and Quicken 2007.
The bad news though is Quicken Windows can't open a Quicken Mac
(.qdfm) file. So I don't think doing that will help in your case.
As David mentioned already, you need Quicken (specifically a Mac
version of it) to open that .qdfm file so that you can export it in
one of those generic formats.
A piece of good news for you though is that newer versions of Quicken
(post-2007) can most likely open your .qdfm file. I tested and
confirmed that Quicken 2014 can open a Quicken 2007 file. At least
it worked for me on Windows. So even if you don't have a Mac system
with Quicken 2007 anymore, I think if you can find someone with a Mac
system that has *any* version of Quicken, there's a good chance it
will be able to read your old .qdfm file -- which would then allow
you to export it as a .QIF file.
Hope this helps,
Tom
On 09/29/2026 07:25 PM, Kalpesh Patel wrote:
Your only and, one and only one real option is run a Windows instance
in a VirtualBox (Vagarant can provide a lot of plumbing if you know
how) where you can install Quicken 2006 and export it out as a QIF
format (OFX and CSV formats for export are not available in Quicken)
to import into GNC. Even that is not strait forward as semantics of
two system differ in many ways. I would venture to think that you
would probably need either Windows XP or Windows 7 as a compatible OS
to possibly run that old of a Quicken version. You should be able to
get a copy of it from the archive machine
(https://archive.org/search?query=quicken<https://archive.org/search?query=quicken&tab=all
<https://archive.org/search?query=quicken&tab=all>> &tab=all).
I remember writing up good hints to minimize pain to this group many
years ago from my experience of migrating over two decades of data
from Quicken 2017 into GNC inn 2020 (and I am still fixing up some of
that data).
-----Original Message-----
From: David T. <mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2026 2:32 AM
To:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> ; Stephen Lee Phillips
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [GNC] Download assistance sought...
I'm pretty sure you won't find any success getting at that data from
outside the Quicken universe. Your only option, I believe, is to open
the data file in Quicken and export your data in a generic format
like OFX, QIF, or csv and then importing that into another accounting
program.
David T.
On September 29, 2026 7:16:35 AM GMT+05:30, Stephen Lee Phillips
<mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
<[email protected]> wrote:
Trying to find conversion for .qdfm (Quicken Data for Mac) file from
2007 and was directed to GnuCash, however I've been unsuccessful in
finding, downloading, and extracting/opening the correct iteration to
run on Intel Mac OS Sonoma 14.8.9: Any suggestions would be most
gratefully appreciated...
Thank you!
Steve
*Advocacy • Legislation & Ordinance Preparation*
*Education • Intervention • Transport • FosteringPre-adoptive Home
Visits • Avocational Bodhisattva*
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>>
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
David T.
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>>
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
David T.
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
[email protected]
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
