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New Member
posted Jun 6, 2019 9:37:30 AM

After upgrading my turbo tax software I lost all of the data previously entered. How do I correct this?

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1 Best answer
New Member
Jun 6, 2019 9:37:32 AM

You can find your data on your computer. You will want to find your tax data file.  This article attached will explain to you how to go about finding your return.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900721-find-your-data-file-on-your-computer-in-windows

If you are using a Mac computer, please follow these instructions:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901659-find-your-tax-data-file-in-mac

24 Replies
New Member
Jun 6, 2019 9:37:32 AM

You can find your data on your computer. You will want to find your tax data file.  This article attached will explain to you how to go about finding your return.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900721-find-your-data-file-on-your-computer-in-windows

If you are using a Mac computer, please follow these instructions:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901659-find-your-tax-data-file-in-mac

Level 3
Jan 29, 2021 2:49:05 PM

No, the steps described for mac do not work. Turbotax 2021 lost all data after software update. Turbotax did not save the file before starting the update. Turbotax replaced the previously open/started file with a blank unsaved file. This is infuriating. Hours of work lost. Please fix this asap! 

Intuit Alumni
Jan 29, 2021 3:57:14 PM

Please contact TurboTax support for assistance.

What is the TurboTax phone number?

Level 3
Feb 1, 2021 7:56:27 PM

Support said data could not be recovered. Weeks of work lost!! I see that many other customers have experienced this bug for the past years. How can you not fix the bug now?? Why should people pay over $100 for a software that does not save a copy before updating, what kind of software company neglects that part, hello?!

 

#madcustomer

Intuit Alumni
Feb 2, 2021 8:19:49 AM

Please contact TurboTax support and explain what happened as they can assist you with your account. For contact information please click the link below. 

 

What is the TurboTax phone number?

 

Level 3
Feb 2, 2021 12:18:48 PM

2021, I called Support who said that once data is lost it cannot be recovered. Support advised me on saving the file prior to updating, however Turbotax does not give that option. In fact, I started a new file and worked on it yesterday. Now, Turbotax prompts me to update the software, and does not give me option to decline or save the file. Turbotax won't let me work on my file or save it, unless I update the software. I worry that I will lose all my data again if I update without saving the file. What should I do??

 

Can't Turbotax save the file automatically? I lost all my data, that should never happen if Turbotax was automatically saving.

 

Intuit Alumni
Feb 2, 2021 1:22:08 PM

It looks like you need a software update. Please the instructions below to manually update your software.

Manually Update TurboTax for Windows Software (Bas...

 

CD/Download

How do I update my TurboTax CD/Download software p...

New Member
May 16, 2021 11:04:21 AM

I had same issue today.  Lost tax information after TurboTax updates.  Called Turbotax they are of no help.  They are asking to contact computer manufacturer for my PC when their update cleared all my data. And files for tax return

 

any help is appreciated

New Member
May 17, 2021 2:00:10 PM

I lost all my tax info after upgrade. I have the download home and business version.  Support said they did not have access to delete.  I told them their software does. Months of work gone.

Level 2
Feb 19, 2022 9:17:45 AM

If you only lost this year's data, you are lucky. I installed turbotax premier 2021 last month, and did the update recommended at that point. Program worked as expected and retrieved the data from my 2020 returns and populated the 2021 form. Then I got back to turbotax 2021 this week to add my data. The program updated again and it had not only deleted the data I had already entered this year, but it also deleted all of the turbotax data, records, software, and pdfs for the last several years. Actually everything from Intuit/turbotax was gone from this computer. Even the directory structure for turbotax was changed. Customer service was totally useless over the course of a one hour session. That stuff is all just completely irretrievable. As far as I am concerned the "update" acted like malware rather than something I paid for. Now I am faced with days of entering data from old printed pdfs. And no, turbotax will not retrieve anything from the pdfs it created. After almost 20 years of using turbotax without problems, I am stunned by the extent of the damage done to my records.

Level 2
Feb 19, 2022 9:19:16 AM

Support can only tell you what is already in the FAQs.

Intuit Alumni
Feb 19, 2022 9:57:33 AM

Please check your recycle bin to make sure the files did not get moved there, as they may be recoverable. 

 

You can view more in this thread here

Level 2
Feb 19, 2022 10:22:39 AM

That was the first thing I did. Even the previous intuit directory structure is missing.

Intuit Alumni
Feb 19, 2022 5:33:51 PM

Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall the software, to see if this changed anything !dml2021tx ?

Level 15
Feb 19, 2022 5:48:44 PM


@ dml2021tx

 wrote:

That was the first thing I did. Even the previous intuit directory structure is missing.


Are you using the Windows version or the Mac version?    If using Windows, do you have more then one Windows user account?    If so, sign into each Windows user account and look for your TurboTax data files, and also check the Recycle Bin in each Windows user account. 

Level 2
Feb 20, 2022 3:20:20 AM

CarissaM I'm certainly not going to try that. I'm almost done entering my taxes this year and I don't want to start over again. Plus, I don't believe in magic and the idea that uninstalling and reinstalling turbotax will bring back the deleted folders is far-fetched at least.

Level 2
Feb 20, 2022 3:25:52 AM

mesquitebean - Windows 10. I have already looked at the only other user account and its directories, one drive, and recycle bin. Nothing.

Level 15
Feb 20, 2022 3:15:55 PM


@dml2021tx wrote:

mesquitebean - Windows 10. I have already looked at the only other user account and its directories, one drive, and recycle bin. Nothing.


 

If it were me and found no solution, the first thing I'd do is ask for my money back for the current-year software under the unconditional 100% Satisfaction Guarantee--even if you intend to keep using the current product.

 

FAQ:  TurboTax Satisfaction Guaranteed Refund Policy

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/charges-and-fees/help/our-turbotax-satisfaction-guaranteed-refund-policy/00/25544

and

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/how-do-i-request-a-refund-for-my-turbotax-product/00/964034

 

Although uncommon, I've seen horror stories like this occasionally in the forum, and for that reason, every time I work on my tax data file I save a copy of it to a flash drive which also houses copies of my previous year data files and PDFs (I even back up that flash drive occasionally).    

NOTE:  I don't work on the data file while it is on the flash drive (not recommended due to possible data corruption), but I copy the *.tax2021 data file from my computer to the flash drive at the end of each work session.

New Member
Apr 18, 2022 7:58:56 PM

Same thing happened to me.

 

Hours of work last month. Went on today to finish. It asked to update and erased everything.

 

Doesn't seem worth it to call. I have had no problems up to now with TurboTax but I will rethink for next year.

 

Level 15
Apr 18, 2022 9:33:15 PM


@GSim wrote:

Same thing happened to me.

Hours of work last month. Went on today to finish. It asked to update and erased everything.

Doesn't seem worth it to call. I have had no problems up to now with TurboTax but I will rethink for next year.

 


Search your entire computer system for any file ending in the *.tax2021 file extension.   Also look in the Recycle Bin.

 

If you are using Windows and have more than one Windows user account, log into each user account to do the search and Recycle Bin check.

New Member
Mar 12, 2023 10:41:38 PM

just happened to me, around 4 hours of work digging through the papers and e-bills ... gosh.

 

intuit, r u for real? just fire your outsource QA department and hire some people in silicon valley instead.

 

Returning Member
Apr 16, 2023 2:26:39 PM

Same just happened to me. My 2021 turbotax files are deleted and missing after installing turbotax 2022 and updating. They are nowhere to be found. I even opened turbotax 2021 to review last year's return, but it also updated and can not find any history of a return. Very maddening!!! So many hours and years of lost data. Because I use the PC software, last year I filed by mail and not electronically through turbotax online, so turbotax online doesnt have it either. Of course, i have the PDF versions but turbotax 2022 can't import anything other than personal names and very basic information form its own PDFs!  

Intuit Alumni
Apr 17, 2023 8:19:34 AM

Try searching your computer for the file. Search on the entire C: drive (just for filenames, not file contents) for *.tax, if that is the drive you saved your tax files on before. Let the Search run, it may take a bit depending on the number of files.

When your tax file is found, be very sure to note the exact directory that it is in - Windows uses a lot of User\ and My Notes and My Documents and other folders so that the tax file isn't always where you (or TurboTax) thinks it is.

Once you have the exact file location, you can click on File in TurboTax, then Open Tax Return and click on the hard to see link Find a Tax File. On the next screen, enter the full path and filename. Once you have pulled up your tax return this way, TurboTax should remember its location. Also, check the recycle bin and your backups. 

You can also try the solution offered in this Turbo Tax help article. 
Error 102345 or Error 1932147737 occurs while opening a tax file.
 

Returning Member
Apr 17, 2023 11:41:22 AM

Yeah I've tried that. Tried .tax, *.tax, .tax2021, *.tax2021. I tried searching entire PC all directories indexed and not indexed. Also there are no tilde files. I tried running as administrator, but never use any other profiles so didn't think that would help. I tried running the old 2021 software again but it starts new like I've never used it, and doesn't find any files either, even though when i was using it originally last year I constantly save and saved the files as save and save as, having multiple copies. 

 

No one else uses this computer. The update is all I can imagine that may have done this, as some other users reported. One user suggested that TurboTax after the update changed the .tax2021 filenames and may have stored them elsewhere with a different filename extension. 

 

Yesterday I spent 10 hours manually re entering schedules and depreciation schedules using the PDF copy. Unbelievable that TurboTax can only import a very primitive amount of information from their own pdf. Unfortunately TurboTax won't be able to make good year-to-year reports now because it doesn't have last year's information