What Is a QFX File? (And How to Import One on a Mac)

Short answer: a QFX file is a bank transaction export — a text file your bank gives you so you can pull a statement into a finance app. It is Intuit's take on the OFX format, the one Quicken's "Web Connect" and "Direct Connect" features use.

If you already have one and just want the transactions in a Mac app, skip to importing it. If you're deciding between a QFX and a CSV download, the difference matters more than it looks.

What's actually inside a QFX file

A QFX file is structured text, not a photo or a database. Open it in any text editor and you'll see bracketed tags with your account details and a list of transactions: date, amount, description, and a per-transaction ID.

That ID is the important part. It's the FITID — the financial institution's transaction ID. Because every transaction carries one, an importer can compare what it already has against what the file contains and skip the duplicates. That is what makes re-importing the same statement safe in an app that understands QFX.

QFX vs OFX vs CSV

The practical upshot: QFX and OFX are the same idea, CSV is not. If your bank offers both, prefer the QFX/OFX download for anything you might import more than once. A CSV is fine for a one-off look in a spreadsheet; it's the format most likely to double-count when you import the same month twice.

How to open a QFX file

You don't need special software to read one. It's text:

• On a Mac, right-click the file and choose Open With ▸ TextEdit. You'll see the OFX tags and your transactions in plain form.
• Don't double-click expecting an app to launch. .qfx usually has no default handler, and the "no application can open this" dialog is normal.

Reading it by eye is a debugging move, not a workflow. The point of the file is to import it.

How to import a QFX file on a Mac

Where your bank puts the download link varies, so look for Export, Download, or Account activity and choose the Quicken/QFX option. Most Canadian banks that can export QFX file it under one of those labels.

Once you have the file, you have a few ways to use it:

• Quicken for Mac — the native home for QFX. It's a paid subscription.
• GnuCash — free and open source. It imports OFX/QIF/HBCI; QFX is an OFX variant, so it generally lands there too.
• A spreadsheet — you can paste transactions in, but you lose the FITID and you'll be de-duplicating by hand forever.
• Chord — a local-first Mac app that imports QFX directly, de-duplicates on FITID, and never asks for a bank login. Download it here.

Whichever you choose, the workflow is the same: download the file, import it into the account it belongs to, review the lines, and confirm.

If your bank only offers CSV

Some accounts only export CSV, or you may prefer it. That's fine for a one-time import, but plan for de-duplication: without a FITID, the same statement imported twice will duplicate. Either import each statement exactly once, or use an app that matches on date, amount, and description as a fallback.

FAQ

Is a QFX file safe to open? Yes. It's a text file containing your own statement data. Nothing executes when you open it. Treat it like a bank statement — it's private, so don't email it around.

Can I convert QFX to CSV? You can, by reading the tags and writing a table. Just understand you're dropping the FITID, so keep the original QFX file if you ever need to re-import cleanly.

Why does Quicken sometimes refuse a QFX file? Quicken only accepts QFX from institutions it recognises (and, historically, only with an active subscription). That restriction is Quicken's, not a property of the file. Other importers read the same file without it.

Does QFX include my bank password? No. A QFX file is a download you requested. It carries no credentials — which is the whole appeal of importing a file instead of linking an account.

Sources

Accessed 2026-10-23.

• Wikipedia — QFX (file format)
• Wikipedia — Open Financial Exchange
• Quicken — Importing files from your bank
• GnuCash — Feature list, including QIF/OFX/HBCI import