Changing many transactions at once

You can change or delete many transactions in one step on Transactions. Check the ones you want, or select everything the list matches, then press Edit selected or Delete selected. Either every selected transaction changes or none does, and one step covers up to 10,000.

The same tools are on each account, category, payee and template page, which show the same list narrowed to that one thing.

Select the transactions#

1. Narrow the list until it shows what you want to change: the dates under Viewing, Search transactions, the type menu and the account menu. Adding and editing transactions covers each one.
2. Check the box at the start of each row you want. The box in the heading checks every row on the page, up to 50.
3. A bar appears above the list saying how many are selected, such as “3 transactions selected”.

When the list has more than one page, the bar also offers a button such as Select all 312 matching. It selects every transaction that matches the dates, search and filters, not only the 50 on screen, and the bar then reads “312 transactions matching this view selected”.

• Uncheck a row to leave it out. The bar counts those, such as “2 excluded”.
• Select only this page goes back to the rows on screen.
• After Select all … matching with Show deleted on, the bar says how many of the selection are deleted, such as “300 active · 12 deleted”.
• Clear selection unchecks everything.

Changing the dates, the search, a filter or Show deleted clears the selection, because it no longer describes the same list. Turning pages and sorting keep it.

Change the selected transactions#

1. Press Edit selected.
2. Edit selected transactions opens and says how many it will edit, such as “312 transactions matching this view will be edited.”
3. Check the box beside each field you want to change, and fill it in. A field you leave unchecked keeps whatever each transaction already has.
4. Press Apply changes.

When it’s done, a line such as “60 transactions updated.” says how many changed. A transaction that already had the new value is left alone and isn’t counted, so the number can be lower than the selection.

Each changed transaction is listed under Activity. Activity history covers that screen.

What can’t be changed together#

A field that can’t apply to the whole selection has its checkbox grayed out, with the reason under it. When the app refuses a change after you press Apply changes, nothing in the selection changes.

• Transfers. A selection with a transfer in it can’t use Change account or Change type, because a transfer has two accounts and isn’t a deposit or a withdrawal. The dialog says “You can change common details, but Account and Type are unavailable for transfers.”
• Splits. A selection with a split in it can’t use Change category, because a split already files its money under several categories, or Change type, because each of its categories was chosen for the direction the money runs. Edit splits one at a time.
• More than one currency. Change account needs every selected transaction to be in one currency. Use the account menu to narrow the list to accounts in one currency first.
• Changes that would make refunds. Giving deposits a spending category, or withdrawals an income category, turns each one into a refund. That’s refused across a selection, with a message such as “That category runs against the direction of 4 of these transactions, which would make each one a refund. Change those individually.” Change type is refused the same way when the new direction runs against the categories the transactions already have. Use the type menu to select only deposits or only withdrawals, or change those few by hand.
• Duplicates. If the change would make two selected transactions match each other exactly, or make one match another transaction you have, it’s refused with “Two selected transactions appear to be duplicates” or “A selected transaction matches another transaction”. Press Apply anyway if they really are separate payments.
• Frozen accounts. If a selected transaction touches an account the free plan has frozen, Edit selected and Delete selected are off, with the reason, or the change is refused with it. Your account and plan explains freezing.
• Something changed in the meantime. If a selected transaction changes before you apply, from another tab or an AI assistant, nothing is changed. Rows you checked by hand are let go, and you’re asked to look at the refreshed list and select again. After Select all … matching, the selection stays and you’re asked to check the refreshed count and apply again.
• More than 10,000. One step covers at most 10,000 transactions. Selecting more says “That covers more than 10,000 transactions, which is the most one request may change at a time. Narrow it and repeat.” Narrow the dates and do it a range at a time.

Deleted transactions in the selection are changed and stay deleted. The dialog says so when the selection might include any.

A category can disappear. If the change moves every transaction off a category, and no budget, template, recurring transaction or staged row uses it, that category is removed along with the edit.

Delete the selected transactions#

1. Press Delete selected.
2. Delete these transactions? says how many will stop counting toward balances and reports, and that nothing is erased.
3. Press Delete transactions.

Deleted transactions stop counting straight away. Any already deleted in the selection are left as they are.

Example: recategorize everything from one store#

Say every purchase at Corner Market went under Dining out and belongs under Groceries.

1. Open Transactions and set Viewing to All time.
2. Type Corner Market in Search transactions.
3. Check one row. If there’s more than one page, press Select all … matching.
4. Look down the list, page by page. The search also matches descriptions and notes, so uncheck anything that isn’t a Corner Market purchase.
5. Press Edit selected, turn on Change category, and choose Groceries.
6. Press Apply changes.

Clicking Corner Market’s name in any row opens its payee page instead, which lists only that payee’s transactions and has the same tools.

If Dining out is left with nothing in it, and no budget, template, recurring transaction or staged row uses it, it’s removed.

Fixing rows before they count#

Staged, where imported rows wait, has the same tools, plus Commit selected. Editing there changes nothing in your books, so it’s the cheapest place to fix a mistake an import made across many rows. Say an import filed every row under the wrong category:

1. Open Staged and set Viewing to All time.
2. In the menu that starts on All batches, choose the import. Each one is listed by file name, when it arrived and how many of its rows are still waiting.
3. Check one row, and press Select all … matching if there’s more than one page.
4. Press Edit selected, turn on Change category, choose the right category, and press Apply changes. Nothing is committed yet: the rows are changed in the queue and checked again.
5. Look over the rows, then press Commit selected.

A category the import created is removed by the same edit once nothing uses it anymore, so a wrong column doesn’t leave a pile of stray categories behind.

Staged transactions covers the queue, and Templates covers editing many templates at once, which works the same way.