[GNC] Recent changes regarding transactions

Sun Feb 22 19:14:19 EST 2026

Mark,

Essentially, the solution is to continue what I'm currently doing, like 
I described back on Feb. 7th:
=====
"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."
=====
But I still think it would be more user-friendly to have an AutoFill 
preference setting so that the user could select the default behavior -- 
either the whole transaction, or just the Description field by itself.

Tom

On 2/22/2026 12:30 PM, Mark Bourne wrote:
> Having pressed Enter to complete the description, I can then press the 
> down arrow to move into the notes and transaction details (I usually 
> have the view set to double-line and transaction journal).  I'm not 
> sure how to do it (if there is a way) with both single-line and basic 
> ledger views set, but in that case I wouldn't have thought it that 
> difficult to just type over the autocompleted values in the other 
> fields - particularly as the content of each field is selected as you 
> tab through them, so just typing will replace whatever is already there.
>
> Mark.
>
>
> Tom Route36 wrote:
>> 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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