Turbotax deleted my return!

[budherre]

I had a 1040 all ready to file. I printed it and closed Turbotax, intending to file it later. When I tried to open it again, it was gone. There is no trace of it on my computer. What happened? How can I get it back?

[MichelleLO]

Were you prompted to save your return before closing out of the program?

[budherre]

I honestly do not remember. The really strange thing is that when I went to the recycle bin and attempted to restore the deleted tax2019 files to the Turbotax folder they disappeared too! Would Turbotax have anything to do with that?

[MichelleLO]

Did you by chance run a search for your .tax file? If not, you may want to try that. Please see Find your tax data file (.tax file) in Windows for more information.

If you are still unable to find it, please reach out to TurboTax Customer support via the Contact Us link below for further assistance:

https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact/

[weagled]

I filed my return  and saved it. Turbo tax deleted my return and and possibly replaced it .I have a pdf copy how do I restore it

[Critter]

You cannot restore from a PDF ... but using the PDF you can rebuild the return. 

And the TT program cannot delete any files since it doesn't house them ... they are stored in your hard drive. If you did an upgrade to WIN 10 that program sometimes hides files in the trash ... look thru your entire computer's hard drive.

This is my mini version of  a tutorial  that should be in the downloaded program: 

 

What is Forms Mode?

Forms Mode lets you view and make changes to your tax forms "behind the scenes."

If you're adventurous, you can even prepare your return in Forms Mode, but we don't recommend it. You may miss obscure credits and deductions you qualify for, and you may forget to report things that will come back and haunt you later.

Forms Mode is exclusively available in the TurboTax CD/Download software. It is not available in TurboTax Online.

Related Information:

• Why would I use Forms Mode?
• How do I switch to Forms Mode in the TurboTax for Windows software?
• How do I switch to Forms Mode in the TurboTax for Mac software?

If you want to play around with different figures and tax scenarios without affecting your original return you can ….

• >>>In the TurboTax CD/Download software by creating a test copy: 
• 1.  Open your return in TurboTax. 
• 2.  From the File menu, choose Save As. 
• 3.  Give the copy a new name to distinguish it from the original (for example, by adding "Test" or "Example" to the file name). 
• 4. Click  Save. You are now safely working in the test copy and anything you do here will not affect the original. 
•  https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900642-how-to-make-a-test-copy-of-your-return

• >>  use the WHAT IF tool: 
• - Click Forms Icon (upper right of screen) or Ctrl 2 (forms view) 
• - Click on the Open Form Icon 
• - In the “Type a form name.” area type What-If (with the dash), click on the name of the worksheet - click on Open Form 
• - You will see the worksheet on the right side of the screen; enter the information right into the form 
• - To get back to interview mode - click on the Step-by-Step Icon (upper right of screen) or Ctrl 1

It's always a good idea to make a backup copy of your tax data file, in case your original gets lost or corrupted. Here's how:

1. From the File menu in the upper-left corner of TurboTax, choose Save As (Windows) or Save (Mac).
2. Browse to where you want to save your backup.
   • Tip: If you're saving to a portable device, save it to your computer first to prevent data corruption. Then, after completing Step 4, copy or move the backup file to your device.
3. In the File name field, enter a name that will distinguish it from the original tax file (for example, add "Backup" or "Copy" to the file name)
4. Click Save and then close TurboTax.
5. Restart TurboTax and open the backup copy to make sure it's not corrupted. If you get an error, delete the backup and repeat these steps.

If you make changes to your original tax return file, repeat these steps to ensure your original and backup copies are in-synch.

Related Information:                             

• Retrieve a Tax File from a Portable Device
• What's the difference between the tax data file and the PDF file?

AND save it as a PDF so you have access to a copy even if you don’t have the program still installed and operational :

• How do I save my return as a PDF in the TurboTax software for Windows?
• How do I save my return as a PDF in the TurboTax software for Mac?

AND protect the files :

• How can I protect the tax files on my computer?

[null111]

Same thing happened to me!  I was almost finished and now I only get the option to start over. I have used TT for YEARS and now this will be my last time.  I am not sure if it had to do with the 'CRITICAL' updates I was flagged to install before accessing it but in any case I HAVE LOST ALL MY HOURS OF WORK.  Judging by the comments below, TT cannot fix it and is not admitting to any error on their part.  Not a vendor I will work with going forward.

[Critter · Accepted solution]

When using the downloaded/CD version you are prompted to save the return everytime you close the return.  You also have the option to save the return anytime you wish ... I always suggest you do so when you finish a section since only the online version autosaves automatically.

Program updates do not lose saved tax files ... do a system wide search for anything ending in *.tax if you did indeed save your progress at some point.  

And if the update was to WIN 10 then those have a tendency to put things in the trash so look there as  well.  

[Carl]

Assuming you are using the CD version of TurboTax that you physically installed on your computer, it is absolutely impossible for anyone but you or someone with physical access to your computer to delete anything from your computer. It's also possible (and highly probable) that you did not save your return before closing the program.

With the CD version of TurboTax, your .tax2019 file is saved by default in the documents/turbotax directly unless you take physical action to change that location.

[TO_123]

This just happened to me for a return I started in February. I opened up TurboTax to print and it prompted me to update. After update I opened TurboTax it asked me to enter in my License Code again. Now it tells me I need to enter Mandatory Personal information and my returns are gone.

Searching my computer for a .Tax file only shows previous years. I had a 2019 file saved on my laptop but now my 2019 returns are not on file.

[kniyer]

Happened to me today.. I spent hours putting all the details for my Tax Return for the past few months and I tried opening my return today. I was prompted for an update and I confirmed it and when it restarted I was left with an empty Tax return that was back dated to 29th November 2019. All data is gone..!!! I tried all the tricks and nothing worked. Never experienced anything like this with HR Block or TaxACT. I would assume the software before updating something should atleast make a backup of the files. I got a good deal and decided to try turbo-tax only to get a nightmare experience. Now I have only three days to start entering data from scratch. Thank you Turbo TAX.

[rrr7]

This just happened to me.  I have searched my entire PC and cannot find my tax file anywhere.  I know that I saved every time I exited because I was able to return and re-open it often when I first worked on it in June.  

To echo the above, I have lost hours of work.  I cannot believe this.  I have used TurboTax for years but cannot continue to use a product that would do this.  I am also wondering if the critical update I just downloaded somehow deleted my tax file. 

Just registered for help which provided me a phone number to try.  It said the wait time is currently 1 hour and 18 minutes.  Of course I'm not going to get in queue for that.  Argghh!  

[Silverfoxy]

It did the same to mine I tried to access my tax return this year that I already got payed for but it was missing and its asking me for another w-2 I don't understand this even if it's done they should keep it in thier systems 

[decatom]

So there is no solution for this other than to make sure you don't accept updates and check your Recycle folder? 

I thought I was losing mind until I found multiple support threads with the exact same problem I experienced. I even have my email from TT on the efile status which proves that I actually did have a tax file at one time. I needed to amend the return but now I have to go collect all of my supporting docs again and re-enter everything. Seriously considering a lawsuit here.

For the so called 'experts' on this forum that have commented that this cannot happen, you are totally wrong. It has happened across multiple product lines (Business Tax in my case). Still stunned that this could happen at all and just angry that there seems to be no resolution for this. 

[Critter-3]

If you are using WIN 10  then make sure all updates are installed by rebooting the computer at least 3 times ... then open the program and search for any .tax2019 files to open  ... make sure to look in the trash/recycle as WIN 10 has a habit of putting the file there and a search will not find them.