What Is an MNY File?

This is a Microsoft Money file, but it also opens with Quicken

By
Tim Fisher
Photo of Tim Fisher, Lifewire GM and Writer
Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on July 12, 2022

What to Know

  • An MNY file is used by finance software to store finance-related records.
  • Open one with Microsoft Money if you have it, or Money Plus Sunset.
  • Convert one to Quicken's QIF format with Money Plus Sunset.

This article explains what an MNY file is and how to open or convert one on your computer.

What Is an MNY File?

A file with the MNY file extension is used with the now-discontinued Microsoft Money finance software. The program can store financial accounts for checking, savings, and investment accounts, so multiple account data can exist in a single file.

Microsoft's financial app also uses files with the .MBF (My Money Backup) extension, but that one is used to indicate an MNY file that has been backed up for archival purposes.

MNY files in Windows 10 that open with Microsoft Money

How to Open an MNY File

Microsoft Money was discontinued in 2009, but you can still open your MNY files with Money Plus Sunset, Microsoft's own replacement for the program that not only supports this format but also similar ones like MNE, BAK, M1, MN, MBF, and CEK.

Money Plus Sunset is limited to opening Money files that originate from the U.S. versions of the software.

Some other financial programs, like Quicken, will also open MNY files but only for converting to that program's file format. The steps for doing this are pretty straightforward and explained below.

The file can be protected behind a password. If you can't open it because you've forgotten the password, try the Money Password recovery tool. It's not free, but there's a demo that may prove to be helpful. We haven't tested this.

How to Convert an MNY File

Most file types can be converted using a free file converter, but the MNY format isn't one of them. The best way to convert one is with a financial/money application that recognizes the format.

If you're currently using Money Plus Sunset but are in the process of transferring your data over to Quicken, you can use the former's File > Export menu to save your financial information to a Quicken Interchange Format (.QIF) file, which can then be imported into Quicken.

If you don't want your MNY file to remain in the QIF format, you can use the QIF file with QIF2CSV to convert the data to the CSV format, which you can then use in Excel or another spreadsheet program. This tool can also save the QIF file to PDF and Excel's XLSX and XLS formats.

Quicken can convert an MNY file to a file that works with its software through Quicken's File > File Import > Microsoft Money file menu. Doing this will create a new Quicken file with the information that's in the MNY file.

Still Can't Open It?

If Microsoft Money or Money Plus Sunset aren't opening your MNY file, be sure you're not misreading the file extension. Some files have a very similar file extension but have nothing at all to do with each other.

MNB files, used by MuPAD, is one example.

Was this page helpful?