Moving Microsoft Money to a new PC

As the 14 October 2025 deadline for Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 approaches, I am beginning to get people contacting me for advice on moving their Microsoft Money files to a different computer.

I did this myself a few months ago. I moved my Money file from a faithful 14-year-old Windows 10 desktop computer to a shiny, new Windows 11 box.

Thankfully, even after 20 years, Microsoft Money 2005 still runs successfully under the latest version of Windows 11.

Option 1: Copy your .mny file

By far the easiest method of migrating Microsoft Money to a new PC is to locate your existing Microsoft Money file (which has a .mny file extension) and copy it to the new machine.

To locate your existing Money file, when you open your existing Microsoft Money file, Money shows you the path to the file that it’s opening.

As you can see from this example, I’ve stored this test account file in Dropbox. So all I need to do is install Dropbox on my destination machine and I have already migrated it.

But if you are not using cloud storage (such as Dropbox or OneDrive) for your Microsoft Money file, use the path in Money to help locate your .mny file.

Then use Windows Explorer to copy this file to a USB drive and then save it your destination of choice on your new machine. For example, in a new subfolder in My Documents called Money.

One benefit of storing it in My Documents is that it should then be backed up to the cloud in your OneDrive.

You can move the file before or after you install Microsoft Money on your new computer. You can grab a copy of Microsoft Money 2005 here.

Once Microsoft Money 2005 is installed, simply start the program, go to File > Open, navigate to your saved .mny file and you are good to go. Money will want you to set up your backup location at that point, but you can always skip the backup and set it up later.

Option 2: Restore from a backup

Another method would be to find your Microsoft Money backup file (.mbf), copy that to your new machine and restore from the backup (File > Restore Backup…).

However, this is a bit of over-engineering, in my humble opinion. The Microsoft Money backup restore feature simply takes a .mbf and builds a new .mny file from it.

But if you already have the source .mny file, simply copy that across – job done! Then create a new backup routine from your new location.

Again, if you follow this option, you can do this before or after you install Microsoft Money on your new computer. You can grab a copy of Microsoft Money 2005 here.

I hope that helps.

Published by

Gareth Saunders

I’m Gareth J M Saunders, 54 years old, 6′ 4″, father of three (including twins). Enneagram type FOUR and introvert (INFJ), I am a non-stipendiary priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, I sing with the NYCGB alumni choir, play guitar, play mahjong, write, draw and laugh… Former Scrum master at Safeguard Global, Sky and Vision/Cegedim. Former web architect and agile project manager at the University of St Andrews and previously warden at Agnes Blackadder Hall.

15 thoughts on “Moving Microsoft Money to a new PC”

  1. Thank you very much, Gareth, what would we do without you!
    I have been dreading changing to Windows 11 for this very reason.
    But do I have to download MS Money first before moving the file?

    Reply

    1. Good point, Anne. I have just updated the post.

      You don’t need Microsoft Money on the destination machine to copy the .mny file across. You are simply copying a file from one machine to another.

      You will need to install Microsoft Money on the destination machine to be able to open it.

      When I migrated to a new machine, I installed Microsoft Money 2005 on the new machine before I copied the .mny file across. That way, I could open the Money file as soon as I had copied it across to test that it was working as expected.

      I hope that helps.

      Reply

      1. I have tried both with one drive and a USB drive. Try to open and I get “c:/program files(x85)/Microsoft money plus/mnycorefiles/msmoney.exe The specified path does not exist.
        Check the path and try again.
        (I do not have the other direction slash on my keyboard)

        Reply

  2. Gareth – I took your download when my previous copy of Money disappeared with a damaged Seagate HDD. I took the download directly to a new HP laptop that was running Windows 11. This was done just over two years ago and I am happy to report to anyone who has concern that Money works very well on Windows 11.

    Reply

  3. So I love Microsoft Money and have been using since 2007
    Had to get a Windows 11 machine to work at home.
    I installed Money 2007 to new machine from CD. But when I try to open my last saved file I get the file is a newer version that what you are using (apparently updated since I installed) or wants me to log into Windows Live which isn’t taking my Microsoft password (even though I reset it purposely).
    I can launch Money from my zip drive, start a new file but it saves it as a mbf and it won’t open. The file is mny from zip drive
    Any suggestions? So I love Microsoft Money and have been using since 2007
    Had to get a Windows 11 machine to work at home.
    I installed Money 2007 to new machine from CD. But when I try to open my last saved file I get the file is a newer version that what you are using (apparently updated since I installed) or wants me to log into Windows Live which isn’t taking my Microsoft password (even though I reset it purposely).
    I can launch Money from my zip drive, start a new file but it saves it as a mbf and it won’t open. The file is mny from zip drive
    Any suggestions?

    Reply

  4. When I attempt to open the my money.mny file on the windows 11 pc (where I have installed Money from my 2005 CD) it always requires a password. No matter what I do, it won’t accept it. I’ve tried removing the password from my existing program, I’ve tried changing it so I’m sure of what it is, I’ve rebooted and restarted. But no matter what, the Money 2005 program won’t accept the password and I can’t bypass it.
    I’ve read where the versions of Money must be the same, so I need to install the 2010 Sunset edition I think, but there again, I’ve been unsuccessful. Wherever I download it, when I start it up it says I need to run setup.exe, which I don’t have. Does anyone know where I can get a fully installable version of the Sunset edition that works?

    Reply

  5. It’s great to see that so many people still use this programme. I have been using since the 1990’s. Sadly with my setup I used a Microsoft passport which no longer exists. So I can’t take advantage of the stock price get around, so that gives me a monthly job once a month updating manually. Anyway the point of my post today is to put on record that today I have put ms money on my new apple macbook. It’s working in windows 11, that is being run by parallels software, by using a virtual machine on the MacBook. It’s very clever the programme runs alongside everything else ruining in Mac OS. It runs much faster than it has been on my old surface pro running windows 10. The only downside is that parallels is a subscription service, or you can purchase it but then not get the annual software which I will probably do, because this is the only windows programme I will want to run. So it’s relief I have switched to Mac and managed to keep my old friend into my old age. That is until they throw something else at us with a new windows system in the future.

    Reply

  6. I had MMoney on a 12 year old PC, still had my original disc (haha) so loaded it, found most recent file, have been using it but it wants me to activate for online services with my product key. I do that but it says “This program must contact an Internet server to verify your serial number and obtain a key. May it contact the server now?” When I click yes it responds “The program you are attempting to license cannot detect a connection to the Internet. Please verify that you are able to connect to the Internet and try again.
    Note: Some firewalls and proxies may be configured to deny access to programs other than your browser. Please adjust your settings if possible or contact us at (+1)952-646-5047 or microsoftmoney.cs@digitalriver.com for alternate methods of licensing your program.” Of course I am connected, and the listed phone number is disconnected. It says if I don’t activate in 4 days i won’t be able to enter transactions.
    What do i do?

    Reply

    1. Hi, did you get a reply to your question, we are getting the same message. What happened after the 4 days? Were you still able to manually update transactions?

      Reply

  7. I was a long time user of MS Money but had great difficulty getting it to run on Windows 11 (I managed to download an American version but many features don’t work as they used to ). I was wondering how I can convert .mny files so that I could buy a new personal finance package and start over? Current packages seem to want files in .qif or .csv format.

    Reply

        1. What was the latest version and what source do I go to to download it from? Thanks in advance for any assistance and knowledge sharing!!

          Reply

    2. Good luck finding one Rosemary, and would be interested to know what you find.
      I keep thinking I need to find a replacement for Money: It has done me well for many years, I can download statements from most banks I use (.ofx files work, as do .qif) and with a bit of checking the reconcilation still keeps me in line.
      When I start looking I find that either the programmes insist on storing everything on the web, or they do not look forward and only tell you your balance at the current time.

      Has anyone else had any better luck?

      Reply

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