How can I open TurboTax Desktop without updating it?

[Steve_E]

I bought TurboTax Deluxe 2022 with State on a CD for my desktop PC. I have already filed my federal and state returns. Today, I need to save a pdf file of my combined federal and state returns. However, when I launch TurboTax 2022 desktop, it insists that I update TurboTax. I do not want to do that. If I get audited, I want to have the exact version of TurboTax Desktop that I used when I filed, not an updated TurboTax that might produce a different tax return and get me in trouble.

I have used TurboTax for over a decade. I have always been able to open a tax return after filing without having to update TurboTax. This year, it does not allow that. How can I open TurboTax 2022 for the purposes of printing to pdf file without updating TurboTax?

Thanks!

[CarissaM]

You can try the suggestion by @Dopus17 here, as it may help you bypass the update. @Steve_E 

[Steve_E]

@CarissaM When I click on the link in your reply, all I see is a Member Profile for Dopus17. There is no post. There is no reply. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

[MichelleLO]

You can change the Updater Preferences in your software to keep the software from updating automatically. 

• Launch your TurboTax software and click the  Online tab at the top of your screen. 
• Scroll down and select Updater Preferences 
• Now you can select either Ask me before getting Updates or I do not have an internet connection. I want to get updates on my own. 

[Steve_E]

I could not even launch TurboTax to get to that Online tab without allowing an update.

My solution was to unplug the Ethernet cable. Even then, TurboTax said it had updates to install. It must have cached them somehow. I was forced to let them start, then cancel them. I got a message that updates were canceled by user, so I hope my TurboTax is intact with only the updates from the time when I filed the tax returns.

Once I got to that point, I was able to follow your instructions.

If someone else has this issue, I suggest you add two items to your instructions:

A) unplugging the Ethernet cable or turning off Wi-Fi

B) cancelling the cached updates.

Thanks,

Steve

[jamesjenkins5313]

Neither of those solutions (disconnecting from internet or cancelling the update) worked for me. I'm trying to open a previous year's version and not having it update and goon everything up. Since it is for a previous year's version I can't use the online version and change my preferences about updating there. There should be an officially sanctioned way to do this without having to be a hacker.

[mesquitebean]

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@ jamesjenkins5313 wrote:

Neither of those solutions (disconnecting from internet or cancelling the update) worked for me. I'm trying to open a previous year's version and not having it update and goon everything up. Since it is for a previous year's version I can't use the online version and change my preferences about updating there. There should be an officially sanctioned way to do this without having to be a hacker.

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People may need to know if you are using the Windows or Mac version of desktop TurboTax.   

What are you trying to achieve in regards to the past-year return?   Did you already file that previous year, and now you want to review it in the past-version program, or do you need to amend the past return, prepare a PDF, or what?   What happened when you disconnected from the Internet before launching that previous TurboTax program?

BTW, before you re-open the past *.taxYYYY data file you should make a backup copy and archive it somewhere.  Then in case anything goes wrong you'll always have a copy of the official data file "as filed."   I realize you can't do the following unless you can successfully get in, but I also make 2 PDFs to backup in my records--one that is the return "as filed", and one that is the return with all the extra pages and TurboTax worksheets.