How to open a .QIF file (Quicken, Xero, GnuCash, Excel or no Quicken)

A .QIF file is a Quicken Interchange Format file: plain text that Quicken and a few other money programs use to move accounts and transactions around. It isn't a spreadsheet, and double-clicking it usually opens nothing useful. This guide covers every way to open one: in Quicken for Windows and Mac, in Xero or the free GnuCash, in Excel or Google Sheets, in a text editor, and as a PDF, with or without Quicken installed.

1. What a .QIF file is (and what opens it)

QIF is Quicken's original export format, older than OFX. Each transaction is a few lines, one field per line, each starting with a letter: D date, T amount, P payee, L category, S/$ split lines, and ^ to end the transaction. Banks still offer it as a download, and Quicken, Banktivity and Moneydance export it. Every letter is explained on QIF file format.

Have a .QFX or .OFX instead? That's a different format; see how to open an OFX or QFX file. A .QBO or .IIF is a QuickBooks file: open a .QBO, open an .IIF.

2. Open in Quicken for Windows

"Opening" a QIF in Quicken means importing its transactions into an account in your data file. Quicken's steps:

1. Back up your Quicken data file. Quicken lists this first, because an import adds every transaction in the file.
2. Make sure the account exists. A QIF import goes into an account already in your data file; create it first if it's missing.
3. Choose File → File Import → QIF File (some versions show it as File → QIF File).
4. Browse to the .qif, pick the account under Quicken account to import into, tick Transactions under Include in import (and the account or category list only if you want those too), then click Import and follow the prompts.
5. Open the register and check the dates, the number of transactions and the balance against the statement.

Quicken's current Windows help says a QIF can go into any account type, checking, savings and credit card included; one of its older support articles limits QIF to cash, asset and liability accounts. The Quicken account to import into list in your copy settles it. A QIF import has no duplicate check, so importing the same file twice adds every transaction twice. More on the route from a PDF statement: import bank statements into Quicken.

3. Open in Quicken for Mac

Quicken for Mac uses QIF to start a data file, not to update one. Quicken's Mac help: choose File → New, then Start from a .QIF file exported from another application, and follow the prompts. The same help says incremental import of QIF files into Quicken is not supported, and that data exported from other apps (it names Banktivity and Moneydance) may need cleanup afterwards, especially investment transactions.

So on a Mac, a QIF is the way to move a whole history into a new Quicken file. To add a month of transactions to the file you already use, Quicken points you to your bank's QFX download, or a CSV in the Mint layout (File → Import → Mint.com File (CSV)); QIF to CSV gives you the rows, and the Quicken for Mac CSV template the layout.

4. Xero, GnuCash and QuickBooks

• Xero: Accounting → Bank accounts, the menu next to the account, Import a Statement, select the .qif, confirm the date format if Xero asks (QIF dates can be read as day-first or month-first), review and Complete import. Xero says it skips transactions already imported from other QIF files, and recommends OFX or QFX over QIF when your bank offers them.
• GnuCash: File → Import → Import QIF… opens an assistant: select the file, load it, then match the QIF's accounts and categories to GnuCash accounts. GnuCash is free and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, so it's the no-cost way to open a QIF in real accounting software.
• QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop don't import QIF. Convert it: QIF to QBO writes a Web Connect .qbo (QuickBooks Online and supported Desktop versions), QIF to IIF an .iif for Desktop without Web Connect, QIF to OFX an .ofx for software that wants OFX.

5. Open in Excel

Excel can open a .qif, but not as a table. Choose File → Open, set the file type to All Files, pick the .qif and finish the Text Import Wizard: there are no tabs or commas in a QIF, so every line lands in column A on its own row, about six rows per transaction. The start of the sample looks like this:

!Account
NBusiness Checking
TBank
DSAMPLE FILE - FICTIONAL DATA FOR TRYING GETUTILLY.COM - NOT A REAL BANK OR ACCOUNT
^
!Type:Bank
D9/ 1'26
U12,418.36
T12,418.36
CX
POpening Balance
L[Business Checking]
^
D9/ 1'26
U-6,420.18
T-6,420.18
PACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912
LPayroll
^

You can read it, but you can't sort, total or pivot it, and Quicken's date style (9/ 1'26, with a space and an apostrophe) isn't one Excel recognises. Don't save it from Excel: Excel can rewrite the lines and add quotes, and the file may no longer import. For a real spreadsheet, convert it (next section).

6. Google Sheets, Numbers and a clean list

For one row per transaction with the date, description, signed amount and Quicken category, convert the file instead of opening it raw:

1. Upload the .qif to QIF to CSV (or QIF to Excel, the same file with Excel-first steps). The preview lists every transaction before you download.
2. Download the Clean CSV and open it in Excel, Google Sheets (File → Import → Upload) or Numbers.

The sample's records above become:

Date,Description,Amount,Balance,Category
2026-09-01,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912,-6420.18,,Payroll

The account header and the Opening Balance record are left out, because they aren't transactions. Dates come out year first, amounts keep their sign (money out is negative), a split becomes Split: Office Expenses -50.00; Postage -36.43, and Balance is empty because a QIF holds no running balance. The whole sample comes out as 31 rows: 11 deposits totalling 29,597.43 and 20 payments totalling 28,575.27.

7. Read it in a text editor

A QIF is plain text, so Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on a Mac (in plain-text mode) opens it with right-click → Open With. It's the quickest way to answer "what's in this file?":

• !Type:Bank, !Type:CCard, !Type:Cash, !Type:Oth A or !Type:Oth L: transactions for that kind of account. !Type:Invst means investment transactions, which most converters (Utilly's included) don't read.
• !Account blocks name the account; !Type:Cat or !Type:Class mean a category or class list, not transactions.
• D lines: the date format tells you the region. 9/ 1'26 is US Quicken's month-first style.
• One ^ after every record. The sample has 203 lines and 33 records: the account header, the opening balance and 31 transactions.

Don't edit it in Word, which adds smart quotes and wraps lines.

8. Open without Quicken (Windows 10/11, Mac, online)

You don't need Quicken to see what's in a QIF. From most to least useful:

• Online, in the browser: QIF to CSV or QIF to Excel, then open the CSV in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. Works on Windows 10 and 11, Mac and Chromebook; nothing to install.
• Free software: GnuCash imports QIF on Windows, Mac and Linux (above).
• Your bookkeeping app: Xero imports QIF; for QuickBooks convert to QBO or IIF.
• Read the text in Notepad or TextEdit.

Utilly doesn't ship a separate "QIF viewer" app; the converter preview, which lists every transaction before you download, is the closest thing.

9. QIF to PDF

There's no direct ".qif to PDF" step, because a QIF has no page layout. Convert it to CSV, open it in Excel or Google Sheets, then use File → Print → Save as PDF (Windows: Microsoft Print to PDF; Mac: the PDF button in the print dialog; Sheets: File → Download → PDF). The result is a list of transactions, not a copy of anyone's bank statement; for that, download the statement PDF from your bank.

10. Why it won't open

11. Convert your own .qif

Have the .qif and want the transactions somewhere useful? Pick the output. Only have PDF statements? Start from the PDF instead.

Utilly isn't affiliated with Quicken, Xero, GnuCash or Intuit. Menu names change between versions; the paths above are from each vendor's help, checked November 9, 2026. Sources: Quicken, How do I import data into Quicken for Windows? and Windows help on accounts missing from the QIF import list; Quicken Mac help, Getting started (Start from a .QIF file; incremental QIF import not supported) and Converting your data; Xero Central, Import a QIF bank statement; GnuCash manual, Importing transactions (Import QIF). The sample file is fictional.

FAQ

Related guides

• QIF file format explained: every field, with a real example
• How to import bank statements into Quicken (including PDF statements)
• How to import a CSV file into Quicken (Windows, Mac and Simplifi)
• How to open an OFX, QFX or QIF file (Excel, Quicken, text)
• QBO vs IIF vs QIF: which file QuickBooks and Quicken actually need
• How to open a .QBO file (QuickBooks Desktop, Online, Excel or no QuickBooks)

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