[GNC] Copy and paste account into a new account

R Losey rlosey at gmail.com
Mon Sep 8 23:22:38 EDT 2025 

Sorry, I thought you knew about Unix-based stuff.  If you open a Terminal
(a CMD like this for the Mac), you will be in your home directory (probably
"/Users/YOUR_USER_NAME".  If you enter the command "echo $HOME", it will
show you the value of HOME, which is automatically set by MacOS to be your
login directory.  The command "cd" (by itself) always takes you to your
home directory.

So, start a terminal window, enter "cd" at the prompt to ensure you are in
your home directory, and then use the "cd" command to change to the proper
directory.  You can use the "tab" key to autofill file and directory names.
So, when I went there, I entered "c" "d" "<space key", "L", "i", and "<tab
key>", which filled in "Library/". I continued typing "A", "p", "p" and
then "<tab key>", which filled in an "l" - it didn't fill the whole thing
because multiple files matched, so I entered "i" and then "<tab key>"
again, which filled out "Application\ S" -- as before, I had to enter "u"
and then "<tab key>" to get "Support/" to autofill. Then I entered "G" and
"n" and then "<tab key>" and "GnuCash/" was auto-filled. Since that's where
I wanted to go, I pressed the enter key to go to that directory.

I hope this helps you.

Just for information, because there is a space in the directory name
"Application Support", the space must be escaped by a backslash, which is
why the autofill added that character.

On Mon, Sep 8, 2025 at 1:13 PM Edwin Booth <elybeedle at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you for the iMac info. I’d like to know how to get to that screen
> level on my MacBook. I’ve only recently switched from a PC to this MacBook
> and I don’t yet know how to get down to the level where I am able to get to
> the $HOME file. Sorta basic I know, but… Google isn’t helping me right now
> because I guess I don’t even know the right questions to ask.
>
> On Mon, Sep 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On my iMac, the .gcm file is in $HOME/Library/Application
>> Support/GnuCash/books
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM Edwin Booth <elybeedle at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> 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
>>> >>>
>>> >> _______________________________________________
>>> >>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>> >>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
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>>> >>>
>>> >>
>>> >
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>>
>>
>> --
>> _________________________________
>> Richard Losey
>> rlosey at gmail.com
>> Micah 6:8
>>
>

-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8

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