topic Re: Saving Files in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Saving Files

superman23 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:32:43 GMT

Every time I make a change on a return I save it. So let's say I prepared a return on 4/5. I save the file when I leave the return. Then, on 4/10, I update the return. I save it. In my TurboTax folder, should the 4/5 return be replaced by the 4/10 version, or should it leave me with both?

Also, this may be meaningless, but on one version, the file that is saved has a curvy hyphen before the file name.. So if I've save 4/5 and 4/10, the hyphen will precede one of those returns - sometimes the earlier one and sometimes the later one.

Note that I also save a PDF of the return.

My intention is to delete the earlier file which has been superseded. But before I delete a file, I was wondering if the hyphen means anything.

I'm also curious if you save the "key calculation" worksheets in the PDF - many of which are quite meaningless. Or do you only check "official government forms"?

Thanks.

Re: Saving Files

Bsch4477 — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:03:19 GMT

If you save a file with the same name and directory the new one overwrites the old one. The files with a tilde are temporary files and can be ignored. You can choose not to print any worksheets you don’t want included in your pdf.

Re: Saving Files

SteamTrain — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:16:48 GMT

@superman23

1) I save as a PDF, and then, actually print the "official" forms to put in my yearly tax file folder, along with the W-2 and 1099-xxx forms sent to my by the various Payer's/Brokers etc,

2) Then I do s second save...just to a PDF, the Tax return and ALL calculation worksheets. Generally I don't sue that one, but occasionally people start wondering, 5 or 10 years down the road, what they entered in the softwar for some incoem item.....and having the worksheets helps to seee waht they entered. That far away, you'd be on a ne computer and may not be able to load the software to see those forms anymore without the PDF copy.

3) Then I copy those files to a rotating USB flash drive, that I put in my Bank safe deposit box. The USB Flash drive (even if just in your file drawer) is critical to keep every year....without fail...because computer disk drives & SSD's do fail. We get quite a few folks begging to somehow get copies every year when it's too late, and they had never backed them up off-computer.

Re: Saving Files

Opus 17 — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:42:46 GMT

When you save a file in TurboTax, it overwrites the previous version. If you want to save multiple versions, you have to use the "Save as" or "Save a copy" command and give the file a different name.

The file with the ~ in front of the name is a temporary file created by the operating system when the main file is opened. It should automatically be deleted when you quit the program. If you have old files with ~ in their name, they can be deleted.

Re: Saving Files

TuTaxRon — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 03:53:07 GMT

Why doesn't the program just routinely delete the ~prefix files?

Are they in fact a renamed version of the last copy saved? Even o, all other Intuit programs delete the prior versions when the program is closed.