Recategorize many transactions at once

Ask your AI to put every transaction that matches a description into one category, and it changes them all in one pass. You see a preview first, and nothing is saved until you confirm. To change a single transaction instead, see change a transaction's category.

How to do it

1. Describe the transactions. A merchant name works, and you can narrow it with a date range, an amount, an account or the category they have now.
2. Name the new category. Say whether you want a one-time change or a rule, so your AI doesn't have to ask.
3. Your AI runs a preview and shows you how many transactions match, with a few examples.
4. Check the preview and tell your AI to go ahead. It saves the change and tells you how many transactions it updated.

What you'll see

For the first prompt, your AI says how many Metro Transit charges it found and lists a few of them with dates or amounts. It asks before saving. After you say yes, it reports that the charges are now under Transportation and how many changed.

For the second, your AI finds the FreshMart charges that have no category, moves them to Groceries and tells you how many changed.

Good to know

• The preview comes first. Your AI gets a one-time code with the preview. The code lasts 15 minutes and works once, and the save needs it. See why your AI shows a preview before saving.
• The preview shows up to 20 examples. It also lists any transactions where the change would undo a category that you, a rule or your bank set in the last 90 days. One confirmation covers all of them. Categories that came from an import aren't flagged.
• Pinned merchants aren't checked. A bulk change doesn't stop for a merchant your AI has pinned to a category, and the preview doesn't mention the pin.
• One pass changes at most 500 transactions. The preview doesn't tell you when more matched. For a bigger set, ask your AI to work through it by date range or by account. See clean up a year of transactions.
• It works in your active ledger unless you name an account or another ledger. See workspaces and ledgers.
• The result counts as your decision. Rules never change those transactions afterwards, including rules you create later. See who wins: you, your rules, or the bank.
• Your AI may suggest a rule. When you name a merchant, or 20 or more transactions match, the preview prompts your AI to offer a rule instead. A rule also sorts that merchant's new transactions as they come in. New bank transactions get it at your next session, when you open the web app or ask your AI something. A new rule leaves existing transactions alone until your AI applies it to the transactions you already have. Rules or a one-time cleanup? helps you choose, and create a rule has the steps.
• Categories and tags only. A bulk change can set a category or tags. Notes and merchant names are changed one transaction at a time. See tag transactions and add notes.
• Every change has a reason. Your AI records why it made the change. The reason is kept on each transaction and in your audit trail.
• Transfer categories link the other side. If you choose a transfer category such as TRANSFER, Pennyweight looks for each transaction's match on another account after saving. A batch with more than 200 transfer transactions isn't linked. See transfers aren't spending.