File Seems to Have Disappeared (YourName.tt22)

[mwittman]

Posting this problem and how I got it resolved in case it helps someone else.

Problem: Running the TurboTax Windows desktop (this 2022 tax year) application, I …

• Finished filling out the return (but planned to complete the Netfile portion on another day)
• Saved the return (which has a file like YourName.tt22)
• Closed TurboTax
• Tried to find the “.tt22” file in the Windows file explorer to back it up and it was missing – it seemed to just disappear. Yikes.

I confirmed that file was supposed to be in: “This PC\Documents\TurboTax\2022” as it was displayed as such in the Recent Files listing.

This is an alternate way of saying the folder is at: “C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\TurboTax\2022”. I checked using the real path and no files appeared to be there.

However, I discovered the file did exist but was not visible to the user account I was logged into (a non-admin user). I suspect when TurboTax created the file the wrong permissions were applied, and the current user was not permitted to see it even exists.

Solution: How I found and copied the file to make it accessible:

In Windows search (type: cmd) - the “Command Prompt” app search result will appear—right click on it and choose Run as Administrator (you will probably immediately have to type in the Administrator password for your computer).

Now in the Command Prompt app (has black background).
Type:
cd c:\
(and hit enter key)

The prompt should now be:
c:\>

Type:
dir /s *.tt22
(and hit enter key – it may take a minute or two to search)

If the file really exists (this is only checking if it exists on your C:\ drive, mind you) then it will show something like:

-----------------------------

Directory of c:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\TurboTax\2022

2023-03-24 10:27    PM 147,385    YourName.tt22
1 File(s)

-----------------------------

We’ll now copy this file to another folder (which seems to resolve the permissions issue) like this:

Type:
copy "c:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\TurboTax\2022\YourName.tt22" "c:\Users\Public"

(and hit enter key)

Now you should see it with Windows file explorer at: c:\Users\Public\YourName.tt22 and be able to open it in the TurboTax application.