[GNC] Possible to Set and Save an Individual Register's Default Style?

[David Carlson]

Tom, you did it backwards.  Leave the register open and close GnuCash.
Then re-open Gnucash.



On Mon, Dec 15, 2025 at 3:14 PM Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Mark,
>
> That's the first thing I tried.  I figured if I was able to set and save
> Column Widths, then the same technique would also work for the Style/View
> setting.  But no.  It doesn't work.  It's easy to confirm.  Try setting one
> of your registers to a different Style setting than what your Register
> Default Style is.  And for good measure change one of your Column Widths in
> that register.  Keep the account register open, and close GnuCash.  Then
> reopen GnuCash.  Yes, you'll see that the register is still like you left
> it.  It will have the same Style and Column Widths just as you had set it.
> Perfect.
>
> But now, go ahead and close the register.  You can leave GnuCash open (no
> need to close it).  Then reopen that same register.  You'll see that yes,
> the Column Widths are exactly as you last left them.  That's great.  But
> you'll also see that the Style setting has reverted back to the Default
> Style.  And that's my issue.  GnuCash doesn't save the Register Style
> setting.  It only saves the Column Widths.
>
> So is there any way to get GnuCash to save the Register Style just like it
> saves the Column Widths?
>
> Tom
>
>
> On 12/15/2025 1:14 PM, Mark Itzcovitz wrote:
>
> I know David talked about column widths but the rule for the register view
> is similar - you need to set the view(s) as you want, do NOT close the
> account register(s), and close Gnucash.
>
> Mark
>
> On Mon, 15 Dec 2025 at 20:01, Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi David,
>>
>> I know that the column widths can be set and saved for individual
>> registers.  But my question is about the Register Default Style, not the
>> column widths.  Is there a way to set and save the STYLE setting for
>> individual account registers?
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> On 12/15/2025 8:48 AM, David Carlson wrote:
>> > Yes, but not for for all accounts of a particular account type vs
>> > other account types.  Each individual register can be set with
>> > particular column widths and left open while shutting down GnuCash to
>> > memorize the column sizes for that individual account register. This
>> > information is saved individually for each particular data file name
>> > in a file named [datafilename]dot gcm.
>> > Once saved,  the settings for that account register become persistent
>> > for following use even if the register is closed before closing GnuCash.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > David Carlson
>> >
>> > On Mon, Dec 15, 2025, 7:18 AM Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >     Hi all,
>> >     First up, my apologies here for asking a minor nit-picky kind of
>> >     question.  But here goes.  I know that GnuCash lets you go and edit
>> >     Preferences to set a Register Default Style to one of three -- Basic
>> >     Ledger, Auto-Split Ledger, or Transaction Journal.  And once you set
>> >     that it becomes the default for ALL registers.  And for my EXPENSE
>> >     registers (food, clothing, etc. where I have lots of splits) I
>> >     default
>> >     to the Transaction Journal style.  But ...
>> >
>> >     ... for my LIABILTY registers (mainly credit cards) it's much
>> >     easier to
>> >     reconcile those accounts when they're viewed as Basic Ledgers. And I
>> >     know how to go into each register and select View -> Basic Ledger.
>> >     Pretty easy and straightforward.  But ...
>> >
>> >     ... (here's the nit-picky part) every time I open one of those
>> >     Liability
>> >     registers, I have to do those two extra mouse clicks to set the
>> >     register
>> >     view back to Basic Ledger.  Yes, it's only two extra mouse
>> >     clicks.  But
>> >     each and every time?  It's annoying.
>> >
>> >     So, here's the question.  Is there any way to override the GnuCash
>> >     Register Default Style either for ALL LIABILITY registers, or
>> >     possibly
>> >     for EACH register individually?
>> >
>> >     What I'd like is for my EXPENSE registers to default to Transaction
>> >     Journal, and my LIABILTY registers to default to Basic Ledger.  If
>> >     there's some hidden setting or preference that I just haven't
>> >     found yet,
>> >     I'd really appreciate any help locating it.
>> >
>> >     Thanks,
>> >     Tom
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>
>

-- 
David Carlson