[GNC] Recent changes regarding transactions

[Tom Route36]

Hi Mark,

I find AutoComplete useful also -- but mainly for completing the 
Description, not the whole transaction.  In my case, the Description 
field gets repeated extensively.  But the actual transaction is usually 
radically different each time.  That's why I'd like to see a user option 
to AutoComplete the Description field ONLY.

But that leads me to a question about your suggestions here.  If you 
select an item and press Enter to complete just the Description, you're 
correct that the rest of the transaction remains unfilled -- at least 
initially.  It's also correct that pressing Escape will cancel the 
AutoComplete.  And that's great.  But then here's my question:  How do 
you go about entering the rest of the transaction after you do that?

If I press Enter to complete just the Description (as you suggest), I 
then typically hit Tab to enter an amount, or to select a Transfer 
account.  But if what I just entered into the Description field (with 
Enter or Escape) happens to match a previously entered transaction, 
GnuCash still insists on AutoCompleting the transaction.  So how would 
you stop that from happening -- and be able to enter the rest of the 
transaction manually?

Tom


On 2/20/2026 4:46 AM, Mark Bourne wrote:
> Apologies for resurrecting a thread from a couple of weeks ago, but 
> I've just noticed that in GnuCash 5.14, when I start typing in the 
> description and a list of autocomplete suggestions comes up, I can 
> either:
>
> - Select an item and press Tab to fill the whole transaction
> - Select an item and press Enter to complete just the description 
> (leaving the rest unfilled)
> - Press Escape to cancel autocomplete and just keep what I've typed
>
> Not sure if that's something that's changed in recent versions, but 
> thought it might help those who don't like the whole transaction being 
> autocompleted.
>
> I'm using GnuCash 5.14 on Linux Mint 22, but installed from the 
> GnuCash PPA since there's a bug in the version from the Ubuntu/Mint 
> repositories that makes scheduled transactions unusable.
>
> Personally I find autocomplete quite useful for entering transactions 
> similar to previous ones, but not on a fixed schedule (so not suitable 
> for scheduled transactions).  Unlike "Duplicate Transaction", I don't 
> need to find a previous example to copy, I just start typing the 
> description and autocomplete it.
>
> Mark.
>
>
> Tom Route36 wrote:
>> I'm not a fan of AutoFill actually filling in the whole transaction. 
>> But I kinda like having AutoFill fill in JUST the Description field 
>> -- and leaving the rest of the transaction blank. The way I do that 
>> is by entering something (anything at all) into the Notes field 
>> BEFORE typing anything into the Description field. Then when I do 
>> start typing into the Description field, AutoFill will fill in ONLY 
>> the Description field, rather than the whole transaction.  It seems 
>> kinda stupid to have to do things in that order; but it's the way I 
>> work around the AutoFill issue.  Just FYI.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> On 2/7/2026 4:01 PM, Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) wrote:
>>> On 2026-02-07 14:11, Liz wrote:
>>>> This autofill feature remains contentious. Suggestions on how to
>>>> improve it would help overall.
>>>>
>>>> Personally I would turn it off if that option was available.
>>> I agree wholeheartedly. If I want to duplicate a transaction, I can use
>>> the Duplicate button.
>>>
>>> The annoyance of the mandatory autofill, when it's not actually wanted
>>> the majority of the time, is enough to keep me, reluctantly, from
>>> upgrading to 5.x.
>>>
>>> Stan Brown
>>> Tehachapi, CA, USA
>>> https://BrownMath.com/
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