tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/general-questions/105401-removing-unused-and-no-longer-used-categoriesInfinite Kind: Discussion 2021-02-15T15:30:23Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/488313112020-11-16T01:40:01Z2020-11-16T14:34:51ZRemoving unused and no longer used categories<div><p>just a user,</p>
<p>Currently MD prefers that you maintain all your transactions. There are ways to clear old transactions, but there are many steps involved and it's not recommended. But if you just want to clean up your category list, I would just create a new top category named something like "Archive", and move the unneeded categories below that new "Archive" category. You probably don't want the new "Archive" category at the top of the list so you could add an underscore prefix to "Archive" as "_Archive" and then it would be at the bottom of your category listings. To move the old categories, just edit each one and show the "Parent Category" to be your new "_Archive". That way you don't mess up any of your transactions and can always include them in a report if you want.</p></div>mhoggietag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/488313112020-11-16T01:44:43Z2020-11-16T14:34:51ZRemoving unused and no longer used categories<div><p>I'm a fellow user.</p>
<p>If you delete a category you delete every transaction that uses that category in every account. You cannot have a transaction without a category. Moneydance is based on double entry accounting principles so every transaction has two sides the other side of a transaction is either a category or an account (for a transfer) Delete one side of a transaction and both sides are deleted.</p>
<p>In other words it you delete a category that contains transactions you are destroying data and your data integrity is destroyed.</p>
<p>So do not delete any used categories, if they are no longer required go into the category and set it as inactive.</p></div>dwgtag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/488313112020-11-16T04:45:40Z2020-11-16T14:34:51ZRemoving unused and no longer used categories<div><p>To mhoggie and dwg</p>
<p>Thank you both for your comments and suggested solutions. I looked at setting categories to inactive an easy, but tedious, process. And I really like the idea of moving all the disused categories into a folder that holds them as the last item in the category list.</p>
<p>The comments about double-entry possibly explains why a couple of categories have really weird amounts in them. Fortunately all my active bank accounts and credit card accounts are correct to the penny so those transactions that seem out of kilter can be moved to archive too.</p></div>simontag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/488313112020-11-16T05:01:11Z2020-11-16T14:34:51ZRemoving unused and no longer used categories<div><p>Hi. Don’t do it! Categories are really accounts under the covers. If you delete one, then it deletes all associated txns (it asks you to type yes to confirm). If you want the history then you have to keep the categories.</p>
<p>(A fellow user)</p></div>Stuart Beesley (Mr Toolbox)tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/488313112020-11-16T15:22:54Z2020-11-16T15:22:54ZRemoving unused and no longer used categories<div><p>(Just another user) Can I share an odd trick? It might be totally irrelevant, it might only work in Windows, idk.</p>
<p>I wanted a list of all categories, but reports only show ones that have been used. Still, it's amazing what Ctrl-C does sometimes. So - open a report like "Income and Expenses", click Edit, on the right above the category selection box click "By Individual", click anywhere in that, press Ctrl-C and paste the result into the text editor or spreadsheet of your choice.</p>
<p>In this case, you could compare that listing to an I&E report for all dates and quickly see which categories were never used.</p></div>Ben