Jan, The creation oof Backup lock and log files in the sme directory as your data file is explained here https://code.gnucash.org/website/docs/v1.8/C/gnucash-guide/basics_backup1.html however I noticed that this may be out of date as at least on Linux systems the formatof the backup a files no longer has the extension ".xac" but uses the extension ".gnucash", the same as the main data file but preceded by the date time format extension.
So if your main data file is myfile.gnucash then the backup files will be myfile.yyyymmddhhmmss.gnucash where yyyymmddhhmmss is the date timestamp created when the main data file was saved. Similarly the log file myfile.yyyymmddhhmmss.log will have a record of any new transactions entered during the session. You can use these files to recover from data crashes during a session. If GnuCash exits improperly there will be a file myfile.LCK created in the directory with the main data file. It is created when you start a session with GnuCash and is normally deleted when GnuCash is exited properly. You can also clear it with the "Open Anyway" option in the popup dialogue which comes up when you restart GnuCash after it has exited incorrectly. It also serves to indicate that an instance of GnuCash has the data file open for read/write access while you have a session open and serves to warn a user trying to open another instance operating on the same data file. On Fri, 2025-11-21 at 10:41 -0500, Jan via gnucash-user wrote: > Hi guys! > > For a few days now, I have a persistent problem with my gnucash file > that's being stored on my iCloud Drive (GunCash 4.13 on Win11; file > size is 498 KB): Instead of ABC.gnucash, ABC xx.gnucash is being > stored and "rebuilt" automatically when I manually remove the "xx" in > the filename. I've had this before every once in a while, usually > after an improper computer shutdown, but the manual fix removing "xx" > always worked. Now GnuCash regularly starts up with the "... > ABC.gnucash could not be found" error which makes sense as the > ABC.gnucash file is still in "sync pending", not the normal > "available on this device". It seems this delayed sync is limited to > my GnuCash folder on the iCloud Drive, i.e. if I copy ABC xx.gnucash > to a different folder and remove the "xx", it syncs right away. When > I move ABC.gnucash from that different folder to the GnuCash folder, > the long and often unsuccessful syncing starts, often leaving me with > another ABC xx.gnucash in the end. Same with copying ABC.gnu > cash from that different folder to the GnuCash folder. My temporary > solution is to create a new GnuCash folder on my ICloud drive, copy > ABC xx.gnucash to that folder and remove the "xx". If I start GnuCash > from there, all is good again - for now. > > What could be going on here? > > Thanks for any help, Jan > > _______________________________________________ > gnucash-user mailing list > [email protected] > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > ----- > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. -- David Cousens _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list [email protected] To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
