Can Quicken still import QIF files?

Newer Quicken versions limit QIF imports for bank and credit card accounts and prefer QFX (Web Connect) files. QIF is still accepted for some account types and by most other finance software.

How do I open a QIF file in Excel?

Convert it to CSV first. Each transaction becomes a row with date, amount, payee, memo and category, which Excel and Google Sheets open directly.

QIF File Format: Quicken Interchange Format Explained

QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) is a plain-text format from Intuit for exchanging transactions between finance programs. It dates from the early 1990s and is older and simpler than OFX.

Newer versions of Quicken restrict QIF imports in favour of QFX, but GnuCash, Moneydance, Banktivity and many other apps still read QIF, and some banks and tools still export it.

Example: A QIF file with two bank transactions

!Type:Bank
D01/15/2024
T-42.50
PCoffee Roasters
MCard purchase
LDining
^
D01/16/2024
T2500.00
PACME Corp
MSalary January
LIncome:Salary
^

Convert QIF files

Convert QIF to CSV— Convert a Quicken QIF bank export to a CSV spreadsheet
Convert QIF to JSON— Convert a Quicken QIF bank export to a JSON array of transactions
Convert CSV to QIF— Convert a CSV of transactions to Quicken QIF format for import into Quicken or Moneydance
Convert CAMT.053 to QIF— Convert an ISO 20022 CAMT.053 SEPA bank statement to Quicken QIF format

How a QIF file is structured

The first line declares the account type, for example !Type:Bank, !Type:CCard (credit card), !Type:Cash or !Type:Invst (investments). After that, each line starts with a one-letter code and every transaction ends with a line containing only ^.

D: date
T: amount (negative for money leaving the account)
P: payee
M: memo
N: check or reference number
L: category, with subcategories separated by a colon
C: cleared status (* for cleared, X or R for reconciled)

Common QIF problems

Ambiguous dates: QIF has no fixed date format. Files contain 01/02/2024, 2/1/24 or Quicken's 1/15'24 style (an apostrophe for years after 2000), and importers have to guess whether the day or the month comes first
No transaction IDs: unlike OFX, QIF has no unique ID per transaction, so importing the same period twice creates duplicates
No account details: a QIF file does not say which bank account it belongs to; you choose the account during import

QIF vs OFX

OFX is the better choice when your software supports it: it includes account numbers, balances and unique transaction IDs that prevent duplicates. QIF is simpler, easy to edit by hand and supported by older and open-source tools, which is why converting CSV bank exports to QIF is still common.

How to open a QIF file

Import it into GnuCash, Moneydance, Banktivity or an older Quicken version
Open it in any text editor
Convert it to CSV to view the transactions in Excel or Google Sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Quicken still import QIF files?: Newer Quicken versions limit QIF imports for bank and credit card accounts and prefer QFX (Web Connect) files. QIF is still accepted for some account types and by most other finance software.
How do I open a QIF file in Excel?: Convert it to CSV first. Each transaction becomes a row with date, amount, payee, memo and category, which Excel and Google Sheets open directly.