Syncing with Other Computers

Moneydance 2019+ allows you to sync your files seamlessly and efficiently across computers and mobile devices using our fully encrypted incremental syncing engine. Moneydance can now use any shared folder (such as Dropbox) to quickly sync your financial data conflict-free, using end-to-end encryption to maintain your privacy.

You should make sure you're running the same version of Moneydance on both systems. You can check the version and build number by navigating to Help --> About Moneydance (or Moneydance menu --> About Moneydance on a Mac).

It is very important that you ensure the data files you'd like to share are not already located in any shared folder (like Dropbox, Network Share, etc) before syncing is setup. We strongly recommend that your main data file (the .moneydance file) is stored locally. In newer versions of Moneydance, you'll be prompted to move the file to your local system, if Moneydance detects the file is being shared.

We recommend that you do not rely solely on Dropbox for backing up your data.
We'd always recommend backing up your main desktop data set regularly, and with whatever backup method you use to protect your financial information. Automatic backups can be enabled within Preferences --> Backups, and manual backs can be created using File --> Export Backup

Open Moneydance to view the file you'd like to share, then navigate to File --> Syncing.
You can choose from three options -

Dropbox Folder - Sync using the Dropbox folder on this computer. This will allow Moneydance to process synced data even if you're not connected to the Internet at the time.

Dropbox Connection - Sync by connecting to your Dropbox account. Moneydance will communicate with the Dropbox service if you authorise it to access your files.

Shared Folder - Sync using a folder that you specify that is shared across computers or devices

If you also wish to share your data with the mobile app, you'll need to ensure you select either Dropbox Folder or Dropbox Connection as the sync method.

You must choose Dropbox Connection if you purchased Moneydance from the App Store.

iCloud Drive - (available with Moneydance 2022) This sync method is Mac specific and it can only be used with one iCloud account at the time.

You'll then be prompted to create an Encryption Password if you haven't already.
The encryption password should be a unique password and something you should choose. It is not your Dropbox account password, and should not be the same as any other passwords for your own security.

On your second system you should open Moneydance and navigate to File --> New (or 'Create New Account Set' from the Welcome to Moneydance window).

Then select "Open Synced File" and proceed to select the same sync method as selected on the first system.

You'll then be prompted to select the data set you'd like to sync. Enter the same encryption passphrase on the second computer in order to start syncing with the file.

It may take a moment for the file to initially sync after completing the last step of the sync setup process. Please wait for the syncing to complete and do not close or force quit the program.

When you share the file between systems in this way - the Master Password on the original system will not be transferred. The password that you set to open data, is a password just for the specific computer or mobile device. These passwords cannot be transferred as it's a matter of local security on each system. You’ll need to setup passwords for each system you’re syncing with.

The preference settings won't be transferred to your new system - this is by design. You will need to configure your preferences on the systems you are syncing with. You may wish to refer to the 'Preferences' section for more information.

For example - Two members of a household share a data file, but have different computers. Each has their own preferences related to theme, font size etc. If the preferences were synced, each computer would be forced to use the same preferences, not what the individual user needed.