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Level 2

Question

Turbotax deleted my return - I hate it!

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
May 28, 2021
4 replies
0 views

I had my nearly 10 years tax returns in the same directory.

Now I see all versions of Turbotax (2020, 2019, ..) are gone and so are all tax files including PDF files. No entry of app in the start menu any more. No trace of directories!!

This is insane.

How is it even possible? Weirdest thing ever noticed in my life that files and turbo tax apps for all years are all gone by themselves. Is it a bad update of hacked Turbotax? Every other app or files other than turbotax files works fine - no issues at all with any other app or data file on the system. How come ??

I searched Internet and it seems this has been reported by many other users and there are several threads like this on this forum. So , it looks like I am not alone. Intuit cannot ignore this as an isolated problem.

Here are other threads with similar problems:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/turbotax-data-is-mis[product key removed]e/00/2159723

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/re-all-my-turbo-tax-information-is-missing-where-did-it-all-go/01/1990791/highlight/true

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/all-my-turbo-tax-information-is-missing-where-did-it-all-go/00/778966/page/5

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/turbotax-data-is-mis[product key removed]e/00/2159723

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/all-my-turbo-tax-information-is-missing-where-did-it-all-go/00/778966

I need immediate help!!

PS: This is a serious issue since I lost all my files before I could even back up!!. Need to go to its root cause and need to widely advertise it or it could affect others too. I am quite tech savvy - so basic file search and looking for hidden files etc. has already been tried. Some thing is very nefarious with Turbo-Tax 2020 forced updates..

VolvoGirl

Level 15

Are you on Windows? Did you make any backups?

See this post. This user found his files in the Administrator account

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/all-my-turbo-tax-information-is-missing-where-did-it-all-go/00/778966/page/5

SteamTrain

Level 15

Windows 10 ?

They (Microsoft) issued a new Rev this week rev: 21H1.

1) If that Rev has started on your computer, but is only partially installed on your computer, you may need to do a full Computer re-boot.

2) Windows 10 updates don't normally lose the TTX programs, but I have been putting off the 21H1 update, so I don't know what it does this time....maybe I'll try it on my laptop this afternoon to see what happens to my TTX files there, since my Desktop is the one that has all my critical files.

3) Windows 10 PRO versions have historically "seemed" to have more issues with W10 updates and problems with TTX , than when the W10 Home and Student versions get updated (but that's just my impression from previous problems posted here in the public forum)

____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*

SteamTrain

Level 15

Just Installed W10 Rev. 21H1 on my MS Surface Pro laptop with no issues.

1) Existing 2016 to 2020 TTX Premier versions all operational and files all intact.

2) 2020 TTX (Premier) already had the latest version installed, so it wasn't an issue for that software update

3) the only other thing I can think of as long as the main TTX software starts up, but just for missing files ), is that some people have reported that issue in the past too....BUT either..3a) they were storing their files on MS's cloud drive (OneDrive) and they had to log back into their MS cloud account first to reconnect with the files. or 3b) their files were in an external usb-connected drive whose system address had changed.

____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*

fanfare

Level 15

Look for subdirectories under your My Documents folder.

Also check the Recycle Bin.

Linda1533

Level 2

Well, today is March 28, 2022. I have spent hours with Turbo tax, and Nothing has helped. My 2020 tax data is gone. I used it on a Mac Pro. I spoke with four agents they all knew something I didn't know. It's not coming back. All years are gone. I don't use it online. Mine is desk top. It happens With the updates, I think. Not sure if they are Hacked or don't know how to fix what's broken.

CarissaM

Level 15

If you do not have physical copies of the return , you can use one of these two options below to get a copy of your prior submitted return:

Order a free tax return transcript online or by mail from the IRS that has a lot (but not all) of the information from the return. Some people may not be able to do this.
Pay the IRS $50 for an exact copy of your return.

@Linda1533

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post. **Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

bk9001Author

Level 2

I started this thread last year - so would like to update it. Thank you to those that helped.

It seems that somehow tax files folder became hidden due to some inadvertent name change. Since I didn't have a memory of the folder name, I had no idea where to look for a year later. I don't know what caused that folder name change as PC is a shared between multiple users. But, I did manage to get old tax files back after spending a lot of time searching for them one folder at a time with some file explorer tools. That was a big relief.

However, the lesson learnt is that one should always print your taxes. I now keep a printed copy too. Secondly, I also started backing up my tax files and a pdf version to online cloud drive (Google/Microsoft).