What is a QIF file? Format, example and how to open one
A QIF file (.qif, Quicken Interchange Format) is a plain-text file of financial transactions that Intuit created for Quicken. Each line starts with a single letter that says what it holds — D for the date, T for the amount, P for the payee — and every transaction ends with a caret (^). Any text editor opens it; Quicken, GnuCash, Moneydance and other finance apps import it.
Key TakeawayQIF is the simplest finance file there is: readable, easy to write, and accepted almost everywhere outside QuickBooks. What it lacks is a transaction ID, so importing the same file twice usually creates duplicates.
QIF format example
Here is a complete QIF file for one checking account and five transactions: a salary, a numbered check, a card payment, a utility bill split across two categories, and a transfer to savings. It is plain text; save it with a .qif extension and a finance app can import it.
The !Account block names the account; !Type:Bank says the records below are bank transactions. Each record ends with ^.
A file produced from a bank statement is simpler than this: the statement has dates, payees and amounts but no categories, checks marked as cleared or splits, so a converted QIF holds D, P and T lines under one !Type header.
QIF line tags
Every line inside a record starts with one character that names the field. Only D and T are needed for a transaction to import; the rest are optional.
Tag
Field
Example
D
Date of the transaction
D03/01/2026
T
Amount — negative for money out, positive for money in
T-120.00
U
Amount again (newer Quicken versions write both T and U)
U-120.00
P
Payee
PAcme Insurance
M
Memo
MPolicy 4471
N
Check number or reference
N1043
C
Cleared status: * or c for cleared, X or R for reconciled
CX
A
Payee address, up to six lines
A12 High Street
L
Category, or a transfer account in [brackets]
LGroceries, L[Savings]
S
Split: category of one part
SUtilities:Water
E
Split: memo of that part
EWater
$
Split: amount of that part
$-65.00
^
End of the record
^
The header above the records says which kind of account they belong to:
Header
Account type
!Type:Bank
Checking or savings account
!Type:CCard
Credit card
!Type:Cash
Cash account
!Type:Oth A / !Type:Oth L
Other asset / other liability
!Type:Invst
Investment account (with its own tags for securities and prices)
!Account
Names the account the following records go into (N name, T type)
How to open a QIF file
Open it in any text editor — Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code — to read it, or import it into a finance app to use it. Because it is text, there is nothing to install just to look inside.
To read it: a text editor shows the lines exactly as above.
To use it: import it into Quicken, GnuCash, Moneydance, KMyMoney or another app that reads QIF.
As a table: convert it to Excel or CSV (below).
As a PDF: a QIF file cannot be opened as a PDF, because it is data rather than a document. Convert it to Excel, then print or save the sheet as a PDF.
How to convert a QIF file to Excel
Upload the .qif to the QIF converter, choose Excel or CSV in the format menu instead of QBO, and download the file: one row per transaction with date, description and amount in their own columns. Each QIF file counts as one page, so the first 3 files of your first upload are free.
Opening the .qif directly in Excel gives you one column of raw lines (D…, T…, P…, ^) that you would have to reshape by hand.
How to create a QIF file from Excel
Excel has no “Save as QIF”, so either build the lines with a formula or save the sheet as CSV and convert that. Both take a few minutes.
With a formula. With dates in column A, payees in B and signed amounts in C, put this in D2 and fill it down:
Copy column D into a text editor, add !Type:Bank as the first line, remove any quotation marks Excel added around the cells, and save it as a .qif file.
From CSV. Save the sheet as CSV, upload it to theCSV converter and choose QIF in the format menu. Date, payee and amount columns are found from their headers, so the sheet needs no special layout.
How to import a QIF file into Quicken
In Quicken for Windows choose File › File Import › QIF File; on a Mac, File › Import › QIF File. Pick the .qif, choose the account the transactions belong to, and review them before accepting.
Back up your Quicken data file first — a QIF import cannot be undone in one step.
Make sure the !Type header matches the account: !Type:Bank for checking and savings, !Type:CCard for a credit card.
Import each period once. QIF has no transaction ID, so an overlapping file creates duplicates.
Quicken for Windows imports QIF into cash, asset and liability accounts only, not into checking, savings or credit card accounts. For those, use Quicken’s CSV import: bank statement to Quicken writes that file. A Web Connect (.qfx) file has to come from your bank; seewhat is a QFX file.
QuickBooks Online does not import QIF at all. Convert the file with QIF to QBO and upload the .qbo.
Where QIF falls short
QIF is old — it dates from Quicken’s early years — and its simplicity is also its weak point. Three things it does not carry:
No transaction IDs
OFX and QBO give every transaction a <FITID>, so a re-import is recognised. QIF does not, so the app cannot tell that a line is already there.
No account number
The file does not say which bank account it came from; you choose the account on import.
No opening or closing balance
QIF lists movements only, so reconciling against the statement balance is up to you.
If your bank only gives you PDF statements, the bank statement to QIF converter reads the statement — scans and phone photos included — and writes one QIF record per transaction under the right !Type header, with card statements as !Type:CCard. The first 3 pages of your first upload are free; after that it is $0.20 a page with a $3.90 minimum, and there is no subscription.
Frequently asked questions
What is a QIF file?
A QIF file (Quicken Interchange Format, .qif) is a plain-text file of financial transactions that Intuit created for Quicken. Each line starts with one letter that says what it holds — D for date, T for amount, P for payee — and each transaction ends with a caret (^).
Is QIF still used?
Yes. Many banks have moved to QFX/OFX downloads, but QIF is still read by GnuCash, Moneydance, KMyMoney, Banktivity and other personal-finance apps, and by Quicken for some account types. It is also the easiest finance format to write by hand or from a script.
Can you open a QIF file in PDF?
No — a QIF file is text, not a document, so a PDF reader cannot open it. Open it in a text editor to read it, or convert it to Excel or CSV and print or save that sheet as a PDF.
Can Excel open a QIF file?
Excel opens it as one column of raw text lines (D03/01/2026, T-120.00, ^), not as a table. Convert the QIF to Excel or CSV first to get one row per transaction.
How do I convert a PDF bank statement to QIF?
Upload the PDF to the bank statement to QIF converter, keep QIF as the output and download the .qif file. Scans and phone photos work too, and the first 3 pages of your first upload are free.
Why does a converted QIF file have no categories?
A bank statement does not print your categories, so there is nothing to carry across. The L line is left out and the categories are assigned in your finance app after the import, by hand or with its rules.
What happens if I import the same QIF file twice?
Usually you get duplicates. QIF has no transaction ID (OFX and QBO have <FITID>), so most apps cannot tell that a line is already in the register. Import each period once, or use OFX/QFX where duplicates are caught.
Which date format does QIF use?
There is no single one: QIF dates are text in the writer’s locale, such as 03/04/2026, 3/4'26 or 2026-03-04. 03/04 can be March or April, so check the import preview if your app asks for a date order.