topic I bought a new computer, thought I transferred everything to the new one, but can not find last years data on the new one. How do I get last years data? in After you file

I bought a new computer, thought I transferred everything to the new one, but can not find last years data on the new one. How do I get last years data?

melwms49-gmail-c — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:54:24 GMT

I no longer have the old computer.

Re: I bought a new computer, thought I transferred everything to the new one, but can not find last years data on the new one. How do I get last years data?

Critter-3 — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 01:32:44 GMT

Oh boy ... did you not back up all your files before you got rid of the computer ? Did you back them up in the cloud ? If you used the online program you can log in and download all the PDF and tax files again.

Re: I bought a new computer, thought I transferred everything to the new one, but can not find last years data on the new one. How do I get last years data?

xmasbaby0 — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 02:03:55 GMT

If you used desktop software downloaded/installed from a CD to your own computer, then the tax files are stored locally on your own hard drive or any backup device you used like a flash drive. They are not stored online. If you cannot recover them due to a hard drive failure, etc. you can get a free transcript from the IRS or for a fee of $43, an actual copy of your tax return.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506.pdf

Re: I bought a new computer, thought I transferred everything to the new one, but can not find last years data on the new one. How do I get last years data?

VolvoGirl — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 02:17:39 GMT

If you used the Desktop program your data is in a file ending in .taxyyyy, like .tax2019, .tax2020, .tax2021. Search the whole computer for all files ending in .tax or .tax2021. Or look for the pdf files, hopefully you saved the pdf each year. Are you on Windows or Mac? For windows they should be in Documents then in a Turbo Tax folder.

If you don't have the main .tax file you might have one that starts with a Tilde sign ~ like "~your name.tax2021". That file is if your computer crashes or your real file gets lost or deleted or corrupt so you can restore it.

You only need the .tax2021 file to transfer into 2022. You don't need the prior year programs installed unless you need to amend the prior year.