[GNC] Copy and paste account into a new account

[Edwin Booth]

Thank you so much!!! Not sure if I’m savvy enough to do that but I shall
try.

Thanks again,

Edwin

On Sun, Sep 7, 2025 at 2:01 PM Stephen M. Butler <kg7je at arrl.net> wrote:

> Looks like the Down Arrow is only on the ACCOUNTS register -- sorry about
> that.  My mistake.
>
> You need to located GNC_DATA_HOME for your box and edit the file in
> books/your-book-name.gnucash.gcm.  For me on Ubuntu that is in
> $HOME/.local/share/gnucash/books.
>
> Look  for a liine:  balance_width=0 and change that to something like
> balance_width=94.
>
> You can find this info at:
> https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/151095/gnucash-checkbook-columns-shrunk-too-far-cannot-get-them-back
>
> I did a search for:  gnucash zero width column
>
> Following info came from
> https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#GNC_DATA_HOME
> (while looking for GNC_DATA_DIR referenced in above article).
> GNC_DATA_HOME
>
> *Versions:* 3.x and more recent
>
> This is the subdirectory in USER_DATA_HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#USER_DATA_HOME>
> that GnuCash uses exclusively for its *user specific* data. The default
> locations:
> Linux pristine USER_DATA_HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#USER_DATA_HOME>
> /gnucash Flatpak $HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> /.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data/gnucash Windows %APPDATA%
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#Environment_variables_LOCALAPPDATA_and_APPDATA>
> \GnuCash macOS HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>/Library/Application
> Support/GnuCash
>
> Note that on Windows the base directory is *APPDATA
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#Environment_variables_LOCALAPPDATA_and_APPDATA>*
> and on macOS this is *HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>/Library/Application
> Support*. The base directories will be different for the next relevant
> directory:
>
> USER_DATA_HOME
>
> This directory can be used by *applications* to store data that can't be
> stored in the user's data file for some reason. For example gnucash will
> store saved reports here, or some metadata such as which register tabs were
> open for your books last time you closed them. The default locations:
> Linux pristine $HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> /.local/share Flatpak <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Flatpak> $HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> /.var/app/org.gnucash.GnuCash/data Windows On this platform there are
> actually two directories for this kind of data: Local—machine specific
>
>    - The machine is no member of a Windows domain *or*
>    - the user has choosen a (machine) local profile on login:
>
> HOME <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> \AppData\Local, often referred to as %LOCALAPPDATA%
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#Environment_variables_LOCALAPPDATA_and_:APPDATA> Roaming—domain
> wide
>
>    - The machine is member of a Windows domain *and*
>    - the user has choosen a domain wide profile on login:
>
> HOME <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> \AppData\Roaming, often referred to as %APPDATA%
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#Environment_variables_LOCALAPPDATA_and_APPDATA>
> macOS On this platform there are actually two directories for this kind
> of data: native current HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>/Library/Application
> Support OS X 10.6 and older HOME/Library/Applications Defaults by ported
> software HOME
> <https://www.wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#HOME>
> /.local/share The former is native to macOS (and will be used by
> GnuCash), the latter is often used by software that's ported from linux
> (like GTK3). The difference will get clearer further down.
>
> It's important to understand this directory is shared by all applications
> you run on your system. So aside from GnuCash, applications like Firefox,
> Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and so on will also write here. To avoid
> clutter, most applications have the courtesy to create their own
> subdirectory here and only write in that subdirectory. This leads
> seamlessly to the next couple of important directories:
>
>
> On 9/7/25 11:38, Edwin Booth wrote:
>
> Thank you! I have tried your No. 2 suggestion countless times and just
> does not reappear. I’m not sure what you mean by the down arrow on the
> column headers (I’m using a MacBook). I only get the side-to-side arrows as
> well as the regular cursor. I’m keen to try your No. 3 but have no idea how
> to do that.
>
> Thanks so much for the reply!
>
> Edwin
>
> On Sun, Sep 7, 2025 at 1:17 PM Steve Butler <stephen.m.butler51 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Create the new account.
>>
>> Delete the old account and check the box to transfer all transactions to
>> the new account.
>>
>> It may be that your balance column was either:
>> 1.  Turned off -- check the down arrow on the column headers.
>> 2.  Pushed off the page by wider columns.  Double click the Description
>> column headers to see if columns suddenly appear(and description column
>> shrinks)
>> 3.  Width of Balance column set to zero pixels.  There is a file you need
>> to edit to fix that.  Not sure which one nor where it is located.
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 7, 2025, 11:11 Edwin Booth <elybeedle at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi. I’m having trouble with one of my accounts. I have lost the Balance
>>> column and I think I need to make a new account. Is it possible to copy
>>> and
>>> paste a whole account into a new account window?
>>>
>>> Thanks, Edwin
>>>
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>