On Windows or Mac? Here's a couple posts that users figured out.
2023 FILE MISSING LOST
Try this, one post says…..
For some reason the update to Turbo Tax 2023 starts you back as if you have not started your 2023 taxes. If you open Turbo Tax 2023 again and browse for your file you will see in the bottom right hand part of the screen it only includes the 2022 extension. It does not give you an option to see 2023 tax files. Choose your 2022 tax return and say transfer then before saving click open return. It will ask you if you want to save the newly begun 2023 tax return, change the name on it so you don't copy over your 2023 return. After this, click open return and you can click on find a file and you will see now at the bottom right hand corner it does have the 2023 tax file option. It will take you to both you old file and renamed file. Select your original file and you will have the file you are looking for. Works for all 2023 files you have worked on but you will have to open and resave for them to pop up in the program.
2020 FILING MISSING
One user said….
When you install the program I recall it asks for Admin rights. So I logged off my account that I WAS in when I installed the program and logged in as administrator. I started TurboTax under the Admin account and my files were there. In the C:\Users\Admin\Documents folder. I NEVER USE THIS ACCOUNT!
I exited the program and account and went back in using my normal user ID. I then restarted the program by Right-Clicking the icon and selecting Run as Administrator. The files were there...made my day. I opened them and did a "Save As" to the file folder that has all my past returns and matches the User ID I was in when I set it up.
In short TurboTax is saving them in the default C:Drive Admin account document folder and if you are not starting as an Administrator they are invisible. Hope this helps.
Another user said……Some people have discovered their files were under their administrator username. They didn't remember that they had to log in with administrator privileges at some point when installing the desktop version, so they started their returns and saved them while using their admin user account. (In this case, people were returning and logging into their usual, non-admin user account, not realizing what happened and not finding their files under their primary "user".)
Also for Windows, DISABLE UPDATES
You can try booting your computer and first then turn off your WiFi or unplug the internet before you start the program and open the return. Don't know if that will work.
In the Windows program you would have needed to disable the updates before closing the last time. That's the first thing I do when I install the program.
You can only disable the Updates in the Windows version. As soon as I install the Windows Desktop program and it updates the first time then I go to Online-Updater Preferences and select Ask me before getting updates.
