Ken, You're right. This has been discussed many times, and there are many different ways to accomplish it.
I have not done this (I'm carrying 19 years of data at this point)--and I am not at my machine to confirm specifics--but I believe that another way to accomplish it is: 1) Export the account structure of your current file. There is, I believe, an entry under File->Export that does this. 2) Print a Balance Sheet that shows all your account balances as of your preferred date. 3) Open the account structure created in step one, and enter the values derived in step two as the opening balances for all accounts. Proceed with the new file going forward. David T. On March 23, 2026 7:38:55 PM EDT, Ken Pyzik <[email protected]> wrote: >OK - this has been discussed many times. Several people will recommend you >NOT to do it. Others will tell you it is possible, but not advisable. >Finally, there are others, like me, who will say this it is doable, a little >cumbersome, but it can be done and you can have exactly what you want. BUT - >only you can decide if it is worth it. > >Please read this whole e-mail before attempting it! Also, in the second part >of this e-mail is a keyboard shortcut to help delete multiple entries quickly. > First - a few questions you need to answer for yourself: > >1 - How comfortable are you with the system? Do you feel you have a good >comfort level with understanding the affect of removing old transactions >(i.e., for every transaction you remove, you are actually removing a single >transaction from two accounts - one transaction from each affected account)? >If you have a clear understanding of how this works - you will be in good >shape. > >2. - Do you know what you want for your "starting state"? What I mean by >that is this: If you want all transactions for the last two years, what is >the date you want this to start - 1/1/2025 or a different date? This is >important because you need to know what the balances "were" on that starting >date. You need to jot down what those balances are - because that will be >your starting balances for your new file. > >3- Finally, what is the scope of this (i.e., do I have a few hundred >transactions to get rid of or multiple tens of thousands to get rid of)? This >will help you decide if you want to do this. > >Once you know the answers to these three pieces, the rest is simply mechanics. > Make TWO copies of your current file. Once you do this you are ready to >begin. > >Start with copy one. Jot down the balances of all your accounts as of today. >Now go delete all transactions prior to the start date. You now have a file >with the last two years of transactions (or all transactions for your "start >date"). Enter the beginning balances for each account that it was on the >start date. The file should now be you balances as of today. You have your >file. Name it current file. > >If all is well - you are basically done. However, if you want history of your >old transactions, open file copy two. In this file, delete all transaction >AFTER your start date. Make sure the balances are what you believe they >should be. If they are, you now have a file will all transactions from >beginning up until your "start date" of you new file. Call this file history >file year xx - year xx. > >Now, let's assume you did all of this and it all mucked up (which it could >be). Delete copy one and two. Make two new copies of your current file and >try again. Sooner or later, you should get to where you want to be. > >Let me know if this makes sense. > >IMPORTANT NOTE & CAVEAT - if you have only a few hundred transactions to >delete, this process can be fairly easy. I did it in 10 minutes. HOWEVER - if >you have several thousand transactions or tens of thousands of transactions to >delete, this process may not be worth it. Only you can make that >determination. > >Last note: If you want to attempt this - this is one REAL key item below that >can help tremendously. BELOW is an e-mail I sent about 7 years ago: > >For me I made a copy of my current file. Then on the copy I wanted to delete >any transaction after 1/1/2018. This file now become an archive >file. Now re-open my current file. Delete any transactions in it prior to >1/1/2018. Before deleting, make note of account balance amounts so I can >make sure I am balanced once I delete. Enter new "Opening balance amounts" as >needed to ensure balances are current and balanced. Now I have a file with >just the last 2 years transaction. Did a search on the net and found this: > >" I made a shortcut key for deleting transactions. I modified the >C:\Users\username\.gnu-cash\accelerator-map file (with gnucash closed) >by changing the line > >; (gtk_accel_path >"<Actions>/GncPluginPageRegisterActions/DeleteTransactionAction" "") > >To: > >(gtk_accel_path >"<Actions>/GncPluginPageRegisterActions/DeleteTransactionAction" >"<Primary>Delete") > >Now I could delete transactions by pressing ctrl+delete. Pressing and holding >this key combination allowed continuous deleting at a predictable >rate so it was quite easy to delete a few hundred transactions quickly. Might >not be the best solution if you have many thousands of transactions >that you want to delete but for a few hundred it was quite painless. As a >follow-up to this very useful info, on a Windows PC, the file is >located in: > >C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\GnuCash\accelerator-map > >The way the edited line is displayed in the above answer is correct but it may >not be immediately obvious to everyone that like some other languages, the >semicolon needs to be removed as well. The semicolon is a comment tag that >disables the line it is on. > >Notes: > ><Primary> is the same as "Command" on macs and "Ctrl" on Windows. Other >modifiers are <Shift> and <Alt> and they can be combined so to make it a bit >more difficult to do accidentally, my new line is: > >(gtk_accel_path >"<Actions>/GncPluginPageRegisterActions/DeleteTransactionAction" >"<Primary><Shift>Delete") > >AKA: Control + Shift + Delete > >This works in version 3.6 (and also works in version 4 and 5) of Gnucash - >and I am using it in Windows. If you need or want to delete multiple >transactions - this is very handy. Thanks to all. > >Ken > > >------ Original Message ------ >From "Joseph Hesse" <[email protected]> >To "GNU Cash" <[email protected]> >Date 3/23/2026 9:21:26 AM >Subject [GNC] Deleting old entries > >> My gnucash data is about 7 years old. I only want the last two years worth >> of data. 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