How do I delete an investment?

[Ivan]

Hi Mark,

I entered some investments in a subportfolio incorrectly and want to delete them entirely and start over. I removed them from the portfolio, but I see the .dat files are still there and that they can be reopened. How do I delete them entirely so I can start the subportfolio fresh?

Thanks,
Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

From within FM you can only close them. The investment files are not deleted off your hard drive, but since they aren't open, they aren't being used. If you want to delete them, you have to do this from within Windows, using Windows Explorer or something to go delete the files.

[Ivan]

Thanks Mark. I was afraid to do that because I thought I might break some linkage in the Portfolio file which pointed to the investment files.

Ivan

[Mark]

Hi Ivan,

Yes, if you delete an investment file that is open in your portfolio file, you will get an error message the next time you open that portfolio file, if it cannot find the investment.

If you aren't sure what investment files you have open, you can create a custom report at your top-most sub-portfolio, and turn off sub-totals. Add the field "Path and filename", and then you can sort the report by that field, from the top level "Sort" menu.

Also, if you want to be extra sure, just move the .dat investment files out of the normal location, into a temporary place, open your portfolio file, and if you don't get any errors, then you know they are safe to delete.

It doesn't hurt to leave extra investment files on your hard drive, other than taking up some small amount of space. If you aren't comfortable, it may be just as well to leave them alone.