I had to have a recent interaction with Quicken to fix an issue with my local installation of the software. The interaction could have been avoided if the documentation on their site was correct.
I searched Google to find an uninstaller in the Intuit support documentation and kept getting taken to the page on Using QcleanUI to resolve issues installing or uninstalling Quicken for Windows. I followed the instructions but it was missing a key component: Where you put the files is essentially absolutely important but they don't tell you where that is, exactly.
So what do you need to do, exactly, to uninstall Quicken for Windows completely?
Follow the instructions from the aforementioned website below until you get to the spot where I break out and explain what else you have to do.
First: Download and use QCleanUI
- Back up your Quicken data. If you're unable to open Quicken to do so, you can skip this step and continue.
- Uninstall Quicken with the Add/Remove Programs feature through your computer's Control Panel. If you don't see Quicken in the list of programs, continue to Step 3.
- Create a new folder on your desktop (right-click on your desktop and select New > Folder).
TechNote: This is the part where the instructions aren't that clear. The tech in me says that there is no way that the actual folder location or name matters at all. Putt he files in the same folder, run the first app, run the second app and boom, done... right? RIGHT? Wrong.
The folder must be named "Q". That's right. Create the folder named "Q" on your desktop and drop the 2 files mentioned below in that folder. Also, DO NOT rename them. If they're not exactly the same spelling as the original filename, it won't work.
- Click MSICLEAN.exe and save the file to the new folder.
- Click QcleanUI.exe and save the file to the SAME new folder.
- In the new folder, double-click QcleanUI.exe.
- Select Clean all versions, and then click Clean. Note: QcleanUI may take several minutes to complete its task. When finished, you may see the error message highlighted below. You can disregard this error and continue with the process.
- Select Quit to close QcleanUI.
After this portion is completed, you move on to the second set up steps:
Second: Rename Quicken Shared Folders
- Follow the steps to Show hidden files and folders. In some cases, some of the folders that need to be renamed in the following steps do not appear even after selecting to Show hidden files and folders. If this occurs, continue through the steps and rename the folders that do appear.
- In the C:\Program Data\Intuit folder, right-click the Quicken folder. Select Rename, give the folder a different, unique name (example: "Troubleshooting"), then press Enter.
- In the C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\Intuit folder, right-click the Quicken folder. Select Rename, give the folder a different, unique name (example: "Troubleshooting"), then press Enter.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each user on your computer.
- In the C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) folder, right-click the Quicken installation folder. Select Rename, give the folder a different, unique name, then press Enter. Note: Depending on system settings, this folder may not be created. If you do not see this folder in this location, you can continue to the next step.
- Restart your computer and install Quicken again.
If you need help reinstalling from a CD copy, you can find it here.
If you need help downloading a copy and reinstalling it, you can find it here.
Note: Upon successfully installing Quicken, you may see the initial prompt pictured below. Rest assured your data hasn't been lost. If you had an existing data file, you simply need to open it manually. Select Open a data file located on this computer and locate your data file. If you need more information on finding data files, see How to find a Quicken data file.
