Hi Michael,
I hear what you're saying about the convenience of AutoComplete. And if
your typical transaction only involves a single split (e.g.,
Expenses:Groceries), it's not that bad. In my case though, my typical
transaction might have 10 to 20 splits or more. (Don't ask why.) And
the problem with that is that for some reason it takes GnuCash a really
long time before it's able to pull up the most recent transaction for
the AutoComplete operation.
I'm using GnuCash on a fairly high-powered gaming desktop system. Yet
when I let AutoComplete try to pull up one of those detailed 20-split
transactions, I might have to wait 8 to 10 seconds or more before the
system responds to let me edit that transaction. If it was just a
single transaction like that now and then, it might not be a big deal.
But if you're entering multiple transactions one after another -- and
having to wait 10 seconds or so each time for each transaction before
you can even start to edit it -- that gets real old real quick.
For comparison, when I was entering these kinds of transactions into an
old version of Quicken (not that long ago) it would AutoComplete entries
as well. But for whatever reason, the AutoComplete operations on
Quicken happened almost instantaneously with almost no lag at all. So
coming from that kind of responsiveness to what I'm seeing with GnuCash
is really annoying. That's why I think having a Preference setting to
enable or disable AutoComplete would be a nice user-friendly program option.
Tom
On 11/25/2025 5:09 PM, Fross, Michael wrote:
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
>
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