Today, I installed TurboTax Deluxe 2021 on my Windows 10 PC. I did last year's (2020) return on the same PC using TurboTax. After installation, TurboTax could not find the .tax2020 file from last year's return. Indeed, the Documents/TurboTax folder is now empty. I tried the recommended things like checking the Recyle Bin, checking One Drive, logging in as admin, restoring the PC as it was prior to installing Turbo Tax 2021 --- but to no avail. Are others experiencing the same issue? Is there a solution? Thanks!
Sorry if you don't have a backup and can't find the .tax2020 file then it is gone.
Do you have the 2019 tax file .tax2019? You could transfer that into the 2020 program and try to recreate 2020 to get a file to transfer into 2021. That might bring forward any carryovers and depreciation, etc.
You need the file ending in .tax2020 to transfer into this year. It should be in Documents in a Turbo Tax subfolder. Or Search your computer for all files ending in .tax or .tax2020. And check the Recycle Bin. The PDF file should be saved there too. If you have Windows 10 check the OneDrive. Or to Drop Box. Check your backups. Could it be under a different user on your computer?
If you don't have the main .tax file you might have one that starts with a Tilde sign ~ like "~your name.tax2020".. That file is if your computer crashes or your real file gets lost or deleted or corrupt so you can restore it.
Find your Tax file in Windows
Here's an idea. Do you still have 2020 installed? Try opening 2020 program and see if you can get your 2020 return to show up in it. Go to FILE - OPEN. Then save it again with a name and place you can find. Go to File - Save As.
Thank you for your reply, but the .tax2020 file is nowhere to be found. I opened the 2020 version but it also could not find the .tax2020 file. I am the only user of the PC (I also confirmed by checking for the file in Users/Default, Users/Public as well as my own username). I do not use OneDrive, but I checked it anyhow and found no files. I did backup the pdf of the 2020 return but that is of little help for reviewing last year's tax calculations and worksheets. Any other ideas?
Sorry if you don't have a backup and can't find the .tax2020 file then it is gone.
Do you have the 2019 tax file .tax2019? You could transfer that into the 2020 program and try to recreate 2020 to get a file to transfer into 2021. That might bring forward any carryovers and depreciation, etc.
OK -- thanks for the suggestion. I do have the .tax2019 file and may go that route if needed. I'm curious if others are having the same issue.
Anyhow, thanks, again for your quick reply and thoughtful concern. I appreciate it.
You're welcome. Good luck. You can use the Forms mode to recreate 2020 from the pdf.
I think you didn't understand the question. The same thing happened to me last year and now again this year. Installation of current year turbo tax deletes the previous year's tax file, leaving only the pdf file (not sure how many previous years).
I have the program loaded on the C: drive. I save my data files on another hard drive (D: data drive); each year is listed on my D: drive in folders such as Tax2015, Tax2016, Tax2017, etc. In each folder is the TurboTax tax. file2015 (etc.) and the similar 'saved to pdf' file. All the name. tax2015 etc. files have been deleted but the pdf files are still there. Last year I noticed the previous year's tax file was missing and upset that everything had to be hand entered instead of glommed over from the prior year file. This year, same thing happened and now I know it was deleted upon installation of Turbo Tax 2021. Google the thread "Installing TurboTax 2021 deleted the name. tax2020 file" (or similar iteration of this search title) and you will see how rampant this is. It wasn't misplaced, it wasn't lost.... it was deleted upon installation of the new tax program. My question is why and why doesn't TurboTax address this?
Please reach out to TurboTax Customer Support to discuss your concerns regarding this issue.
My problem is nearly identical to this person: I installed TurboTax Deluxe 2021 on my Windows 10 PC. I did last year's (2020) return using TurboTax. After installation, TurboTax could not find the .tax2020 file from last year's return. Indeed, the Documents/TurboTax folder is now empty. I tried the recommended things like checking the Recyle Bin, checking One Drive, logging in as admin, restoring the PC as it was prior to installing Turbo Tax 2021 --- but to no avail. Are others experiencing the same issue? Is there a solution? Is TurboTax addressing this problem? Thanks!
It would be best to click here, so we can speak with you by phone. @lenzoman
So have you found out what is wrong with TurboTax installations that it seems to delete prior "name.taxyear" files, even when they are placed in another drive in their own storage folder? I would have thought perhaps if they were left in the same directory that the program puts them in, perhaps on installation of the new program, it may delete what was left in the older slot (should be easy to fix), but this is completely another level of severity where it is deleting previous years' tax files when they are purposely placed in a separately designated folder on another hard drive. This happened last year and I was upset and thought perhaps I did something, but before I installed, this year, I made sure I placed the files (both name.tax2020 and the related name.pdf file) in a folder on another drive, but the program tax file was deleted /missing after installation. I am finding many many people online that this has happened and Intuit has to be aware of this (otherwise they are just pretending it doesn't exist to escape culpability).
Volvogirl, you have posted a distorted response...it's not a matter of 'backup' unless you mean backing up to something external to the computer drives. I had the same thing happen as the poster you responded to.
I DID HAVE A BACKUP.... I saved the name.tax2020 file and appropriate name.pdf file on another harddrive on it's own manually named folder. This happened the prior year and I could not believe the installation did this. So this year, i made sure I placed them in another hard drive in their separate folder and installed....and when I checked back to the other hard drive, the dam file was again missing....deleted....search of the entire computer (every hard drive) could not find it again. THIS IS A DEFECT IN THE PROGRAM. I have never seen anything like this. I have seen where installation of a program will delete the prior years' program, leaving generated files in the folder.... but this not only deletes the prior years' generated files, but it finds them even if in another folder on another drive. I build computers (about 50 to date), so I have some computer background.
This has also happened to me as well. I have been a Turbo Tax user for over 10 years. This started when I installed 2020, my 2019 disappeared. When I installed the 2021, the 2020 disappeared and the 2019 showed back up! How do I obtain my 2020 to use for my 2021 taxes! This is a software glitch. I need to know how this was and must be resolved to file my 2021 taxes. I have had to file an extension for now. Thanks.
You can only have one version of Turbo Tax software installed on your computer at a time. If you need to utilize a prior year program, the current year cannot be installed.
If you need further assistance in recovering a tax file, please contact us by phone by following the instructions here. @ptalbot10
@CarissaM That is not true. You can only have 1 version of the same year installed BUT you can have multiple years installed at the same time. I have several years all still installed.
@ptalbot10 Are you saying the prior programs disappeared or the tax returns? Do you still have the prior tax returns? You don't need the prior programs to transfer from the prior year. You just need the tax file. Sounds like maybe just the desktop icon disappeared? Did you check the whole directory for the programs?
You need the file ending in .tax2020 to transfer into 2021. Are you on Windows or Mac?
The tax files (and PDF files) should be in your Documents then in a Turbo Tax subfolder. If you can't find them do a search for all files ending in .tax or .tax2020 or .tax2019, etc. And check the Recycle Bin. For Windows 10 check the One Drive. Did you make any backups? Like DropBox.
If you don't have the main .tax file you might have one that starts with a Tilde sign ~ like "~your name.tax2020". That file is if your computer crashes or your real file gets lost or deleted or corrupt so you can restore it.
Here's an idea. Do you still have 2020 installed? Try opening 2020 program and see if you can get your 2020 return to show up in it. Go to FILE - OPEN. And see if that is the right one.
Then in the 2020 program do a File-Save AS and give it a easy name you can find or search for. And note where it saves it or select where to save it so you can find it again. The file will end in .tax2020. Then close the 2020 program. Then start a new 2021 return and transfer from the 2020 file.
TO FIND 2020 TAX FILE
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.