Hello Tom, I think the autocomplete is one of the best features of GnuCash. When I go back to the grocery store, after starting to enter the name, it completes it. It remembers that the split is "Expenses:Groceries". Sure the amount is wrong, but I just update that, along with the notes, as I tab between fields.
Perhaps this is just one of those "you need to get used to it" type of thing. I had a bunch of those when I started to use GnuCash about 10 years ago. Now it's all just second nature. Best of luck. Michael On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM Tom Route36 <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Sherlock, > > Thanks for the advice as to pressing Esc or selecting Don't AutoComplete > before hitting Tab. That's pretty much what everyone has been > suggesting here. It's also what I've been trying all along to get > around this issue. Unfortunately, that method isn't working. If I type > in anything for the Description that GnuCash has seen previously, that > earlier entry will appear in the drop-down list. And whether I hit Esc > at that point, or select Don't AutoComplete from the top of the list, it > doesn't seem to matter. Once I try to continue the entry by hitting the > Tab key, GnuCash still insists on AutoCompleting the entry with the most > recent transaction it finds for whatever I typed into the Description > field. > > The way that GnuCash is behaving here seems like something I'd call a > bug; since it certainly seems like hitting Esc should stop the > AutoCompletion. But that's not happening. > > For David who asked about the GnuCash release and OS version, I'm > running Windows 11 Home Version 24H2 OS Build 26100.6584. And I've > confirmed this problem with the two latest stable versions of GnuCash: > with both v5.12 Build ID: 5.12+(2025-06-28) and with v5.13 Build ID: > 5.13+(2025-09-27). > > I have come up with a fairly reliable workaround for this problem; > although I have to say it's not something I really like. My workaround > is to leave the Description field completely BLANK. And I just go ahead > and enter all the amounts and details in the Splits. Once all those > details are entered, I go and save the Transaction -- yes, with a BLANK > Description field. After saving the Transaction that way, then I go > back and edit the Transaction to type in whatever the Description field > should actually be. And since I'm only editing an existing Transaction, > GnuCash is happy to leave things alone and no longer try to AutoComplete > anything. This solution of mine does work; but as noted above, it's not > something that I really like. I think the proper solution would be for > GnuCash to recognize the Esc key up front as a flag to stop doing the > AutoCompletion. Or, even better, have a Preference setting in GnuCash > to let the user decide whether or not they want to enable AutoCompletion. > > Anyway, that's where things stand right now for me. If you need any > additional details, or would like me to try some other solution for this > issue, just let me know. > > Tom > > > On 11/25/2025 11:56 AM, Sherlock wrote: > > Hi Tom, > > > > There is no preference setting to disable autocomplete. If you don't > > want GnuCash to match the earlier transaction, press the Esc key (or > > select Don't Autocomplete in the pull-down menu) before you hit the > > Tab key. > > > > Regards, > > > > Sherlock > > > > On 11/25/25 1:22 AM, Tom Route36 wrote: > >> Hi. I'm still learning my way around GnuCash; so forgive this > >> beginner question. When I go to enter a new transaction into a > >> register and what I am entering into the Description field matches an > >> earlier transaction, GnuCash will automatically fill in the amount > >> and the split details exactly as it was recorded previously for that > >> earlier transaction. > >> > >> For example, let's say my earlier transaction had the Description > >> "Walmart - Sacramento" with a Tot Charge amount of $154.26, and the > >> Split consisted of 9 entries. If a couple weeks later I go to enter > >> a new transaction with the same Description ("Walmart - Sacramento") > >> and I hit the Tab key to type in whatever new Tot Charge amount I > >> want to record, what happens is that GnuCash will automatically > >> fill-in that same earlier $154.26 amount before I have any chance to > >> enter my new Tot Charge amount. Worse yet, it fills in the 9 Split > >> entries for the new transaction to match that earlier transaction as > >> well. > >> > >> Not only is this annoying; but GnuCash gets bogged down and slows my > >> system down while it tries to recall the Split details of that > >> earlier transaction. Is there a preference setting somewhere to stop > >> GnuCash from trying to AutoComplete my new transactions with the > >> details of my earlier transactions? > >> > >> Tom > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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. > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > _______________________________________________ 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. 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