Update investment transactions, balances, and holdings
Before you can download transactions into an account, you need to activate it for online services. After an account has been activated, it's easy to keep its transactions and balance up to date.
Update a single account
- Open the account you want to update.
- Click (the Account Actions icon), and then choose Update Now.
Note: If you don't see Update Now in the menu, it's probably because the account is not activated for online access yet. Choose Set up Online instead.
- Enter your password.
Note: Depending on how you manage your financial institution passwords, this may be the password for just this account, or the password for the Quicken Password Vault. - In the One Step Update Settings dialog, verify the account to update and bill payments to send (if any). Select or deselect items, as necessary.
- Click Update Now.
- A progress window provides status while your account is updated, and the One Step Update Summary window displays when the update completes.
- Click Close in the One Step Update Summary window when you finish reviewing it.
Update multiple accounts at the same time
- Choose Tools menu > One Step Update. One Step Update is the centralized access point for almost all connected services in Quicken. It makes it easy to:
- Download the latest cleared transactions and balances for all your online-enabled bank, investment, 401(k), and credit card accounts.
- Send or cancel online payments (not supported by all financial institutions).
- Transfer money between accounts at the same financial institution, if you are connected via Direct Connect.
- Sync your data to the Quicken Cloud and use Quicken on your phone or tablet.
- Download security quotes, download currency exchange rates, export some of your Quicken account information to Quicken.com, and obtain product updates for your Quicken software.
- Enter your password(s).
Note: Depending on how you manage your financial institution passwords, this may be the password for each account you want to update, or the password for the Quicken Password Vault.
- Choose what to update. (Optional)
If you are using the Password Vault, click Settings immediately after typing your password to display the One Step Update Settings dialog.
Under the Download Transactions and Balances heading, choose the accounts to update and bill payments to send (if any). Only online-enabled bank, investment, 401(k), and credit card accounts appear in the list.
Under the Online Services heading, choose the connected services and features to update:
- Click Update Now.
- A progress window provides status while your accounts are updated, and the One Step Update Summary window displays when the update completes.
- Click Close in the One Step Update Summary window when you finish reviewing it.
Set up scheduled updates
Check for free software updates
Each time you start a One Step Update session, Quicken checks to see if there is an update to the Quicken program. If an update is available, Quicken asks if you'd like to download the update.
Determine if (and how) an account is connected
Permanently exclude an account from One Step Update
To permanently remove an account from One Step Update, deactivate the online account services.
Update an account by downloading and importing a file
This isn't the best way to update an online-enabled Quicken account. It's often time-consuming, and any of the standard Quicken connection methods provide a much faster and easier experience. However, downloading and importing a file can be useful if you are having connectivity problems, or if you want to update an account that isn't online enabled. Here's how:
- Log in to your financial institution's website.
- Navigate to the download page and click the Quicken logo or Download to Quicken. The exact location of the download page is determined by your financial institution. It is frequently in an area of the website identified as the Download or History area.
- Your browser will download a Web Connect file that contains your account transactions (you can recognize such a file by the .QFX extension in its file name).
- Return to Quicken and choose File menu > File Import > Web Connect File.
- Navigate to, and then select the Web Connect file you just downloaded.
- Click OK.
- Give the account a name. Or, if you already have an account in Quicken for these transactions, choose Link and the account name in the dialog that follows.
- After Quicken finishes importing the file, open the account. Quicken will either automatically add them to your register, or you can review and accept the imported transactions, depending on your downloaded preferences.
About Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, and Web Connect
The connection methods available to you depend on your financial institution and your account type.
Express Web Connect (Free)
Express Web Connect provides an integrated way to update transactions and account balances for financial institutions that do not currently connect directly to Quicken. With Express Web Connect, you can use One Step Update to update multiple accounts, and you no longer have to go to a financial institution's Web site to retrieve transactions.
Direct Connect (Fees may apply)
Direct Connect is a service some banks use to connect to Quicken. You will know if you have Direct Connect if you specifically signed up for it and/or your bank sent you a special user ID and password to use with Quicken. Some financial institutions require Direct Connect to use services such as bill pay, or transfers via Quicken.
Web Connect (Free)
Many financial institutions offering Web banking also let you download your Web transactions into Quicken. If you already have a password, and if the website displays the Quicken logo or contains a button or link that says Download to Quicken, this means that your financial institution supports the Web Connect protocol for downloading and importing transactions into Quicken.
To learn more
See Tell me about the connection methods used by online services.