[GNC] Is it possible to run one GNUcash database with 2 different programs?

[Megan Tilley]

That's good to know, thanks, Gyle and Richard.

I am aware of the frailty (read "insecurity") of cloud storage and do have
copies on my own server.

I will give the USB suggestion a try!

Thanks!
Megan in Sydney
*GnuCash -- **Version: 5.13 -- **Build ID: 5.12+(2025-06-28) -- *
*Finance::Quote: *1.66  (2025-10-02)
*Windows 10 Home -- **Version: 22H2 -- **OS Build: 19045.5011*


On Tue, 28 Oct 2025 at 04:29, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:

> The short answer is that yes, you can do this, as long as you don't run
> GnuCash simultaneously on multiple machines.
>
> However, you may want to consider the following things:
>
> 1) How secure are files stored in the cloud? Could someone at Dropbox
> access them? Do you REALLY want your financial information at the potential
> mercy of others?
>
> 2) Cloud storage is at the mercy of the cloud - witness the recent AWS
> problems. It is far better to store critical data in a place that you have
> control of.
>
> If you just want to enter expenses while traveling, you could get a USB
> drive, copy your main data  file to it, and use that while traveling to
> enter expenses.  Upon return, you'd just copy the gnucash data file back to
> you regular location.
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 11:42 PM Megan Tilley <megan.tilley at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I use Dropbox for all my important data.
>> I have one instance of GNUcash installed on one machine. This is the
>> Version 5.13 and Finance::Quote 1.66.
>>
>> I am about to go travelling, and my question is: can I run another
>> instance
>> of GNUcash on my travel laptop without including F::Q?
>> By that, I mean that I install GC without the F::Q addition.
>>
>> I only want to track my travel expenses and do not need to update my
>> investments while travelling, so I thought I could have a second GC
>> accessing the 'datafile' synced on Dropbox.
>>
>> When I return home, my travel laptop is turned off, and I would hope the
>> syncing of the travel laptop while travelling would sync with DB, and I
>> could then access the updated data on my usual main computer.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Megan in Sydney
>>
>> *GnuCash -- **Version: 5.13 -- **Build ID: 5.12+(2025-06-28) -- *
>> *Finance::Quote: *1.66  (2025-10-02)
>>
>> *Windows 10 Home -- **Version: 22H2 -- **OS Build: 19045.5011*
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>
>
> --
> _________________________________
> Richard Losey
> rlosey at gmail.com
> Micah 6:8
>