[GNC] How to Disable AutoComplete?

[R Losey]

Curious; I have the 5.12 build on my iMac and both Esc and "Don't
AutoComplete" work flawlessly for me: I typed "Ama" and it pulled up Amazon
stuff, but hitting Esc left it as "Ama" (as did selecting "Don't
AutoComplete").

I assume that it works the same on Windows... I have Windows 10 with a
(relatively) recent build of 5.13... I can try it there if you like.



On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com> 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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-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8