Can I change categories from year to year w/o losing historic data?

Question

I have too many categories and would like to start anew next year with a more workable number of categories.  I do not want to lose the historic data.

Jon · Answer

Yes. Category names are unique to each file, so a new file is going to start with the default categories Quicken creates and you can make changes from there. Those changes won't affect your existing file.

Richard Laird · Answer

If I start a new file, can I start from scratch, creating/naming categories with the same name as my current file?  If so, I assume that the historic data will stay in my current file and I would be starting at zero with the new file.

Jon · Answer

If you rename or delete categories those changes will be applied to your entire file including past transactions. There's no way to have a bunch of old categories that no longer show up in your category list; you'd have to start a new file.