Is there a way to disable automatic categorization of downloaded transactions? (Q Mac)

smali

Is there any way to stop Quicken Mac from automatically assigning categories to all downloaded transactions? I understand that having categories automatically assigned may be good for some users, but is there a way to disable it? I want to add all the categories to the downloaded transactions myself, not have Quicken add them for me.

This started to happen in Quicken Mac 5.12.x, and then went away for a while, but seems to have come back in recent updates. In older versions other than 5.12.x, downloaded transactions came in as "Uncategorized". I use the "Uncategorized" default as my way of knowing which transactions I still need to enter details into. When Quicken does it automatically, I find that a lot of them are not categorized the way I would like and it is difficult for me to identify which ones I entered and which ones were entered by Quicken.

For example, if I make a purchase at a grocery store, many times the automatic categorization of "groceries" is correct, but sometimes I may have bought dish soap and want to categorize it as "household" so I can track it with my house expenses. If Quicken automatically assigns "groceries" to all those transactions, it makes it harder for me to remember which ones I actually entered that way versus which ones were auto-populated and need to be reviewed.

For me, having all new, unmatched transactions come in as "Uncategorized" allows me to filter by "Uncategorized" so I can quickly work through just the newly downloaded transactions.

I have unchecked the Quicken Preferences > Connected Services > "Automatically improve the quality of downloaded payee names and categories" check box, but it still automatically adds categories to downloaded transactions.

Just to be clear, I am not talking about the auto-complete feature when you are manually typing in a payee. This also isn't the automatic "clean up" of payee names that is associated with the improve quality of payee names checkbox I mentioned earlier. I'm talking about Quicken automatically adding a category to every transaction that is downloaded before you have a chance to review or edit it.

jacobs

I understand the issue you're raising. Have you checked your Preferences > Connected Services to see if "Automatically improve the quality of downloaded payee names and categories" is checked or not? If it is checked, uncheck it and see if that stops the auto-categorizations you're experiencing. Sometimes through various updates, some preference settings like this get inadvertently changed.

You should also check Window > Payees & Rules > QuickFill Rules to make sure you don't have any saved QuickFill rules which auto-categorize transactions for specific Payees.

If you have the "Automatically improve…" checkbox unchecked and you have no QuickFill rules, but new transactions are still coming in auto-categorized, then it;'s a mystery why that is happening or whether it should be happening; it's never been clear whether the "Automatically improve…" checkbox is supposed to function as a complete on/off switch for auto-categorization. Post back here if that's what you're finding. But you're only recourse would be to pursue this with Quicken Support to see if you can get a representative to screen share with you, verify what's happening, and escalate this issue to the development team.

I'll also bring up a suggestion that you might try to solve your problem with a different workflow…

Instead of relying on "uncategorized" transactions to guide you through downloaded transactions which you haven't reviewed, consider using the blue dots in the Status column for that purpose. The blue dots are present on downloaded transactions which have not been reviewed. Once you've reviewed a transaction, and possibly updated the category, Control-click it and select Set Status of selected transaction > To Reviewed. You can select multiple transactions and set this status for all of them at once. You can also use the command key shortcut of Option-R, which is less work. 😉 And if you want to change the status back to Not Reviewed you can do so and restore the blue dot. These statuses are intended to do exactly what you want to do: help you keep track of which transactions you have and haven't reviewed. (I'd note that the way the status field works was improved over an earlier implementation where the dots appeared for awhile but disappeared on their own after some time passed.) I'd encourage you to try using the Status column to keep track of your reviewed/unreviewed transactions. This way, you can also get the benefit of letting Quicken auto-categorize transactions, so you don't have to edit them when it gets the category right.

smali

Jacobs-

Thank you for your response.

I have the "Automatically improve…" shut off and do not have any QuickFill rules set, so I'm not sure what's going on.

I appreciate the workflow suggestion. Right now, after a download, I select all the new transactions and do a multi-edit to remove the category. It takes an extra minute, but it works. I tried using the blue reviewed dots years ago, but it really messed me up when they went away before I got a chance to reconcile my accounts.

Maybe I'm more particular with my Quicken file than other people, but I don't want to run the risk of an erroneously auto-populated category creating mistakes in my financial reports. I would rather have all transactions default to Uncategorized until l manually enter a category for that specific transaction, so I know that my reports are accurate. Maybe that's just me.

The windows version has an option to turn off automatically adding downloads. I was hoping the Mac version had a way also, but it doesn't sound like it. Too bad.

jacobs

The windows version has an option to turn off automatically adding downloads. I was hoping the Mac version had a way also, but it doesn't sound like it. Too bad.

We've previously been under the impression that unchecking the "Automatically improve…" checkbox should turn off auto-categorization. I don't know if it should be doing that, and thus there's a bug, or if the checkbox isn't supposed to be an absolute shut-off. You could try contacting Quicken Support to see if they can answer that question.

I tried using the blue reviewed dots years ago, but it really messed me up when they went away before I got a chance to reconcile my accounts.

Yes, that's what I'm saying: the original approach was problematic, but when they revised it, I think it's become rock solid for doing exactly what you're trying to do. You might want to give it another try.

Another possible approach which doesn't require youth do anything with auto-categorized transactions, if you reconcile your accounts monthly: edit the category of each transaction, as needed, as you check off each transaction in reconciling with your monthly statement.

smali

Jacobs-

I sincerely appreciate your prompt and thoughtful response.

I do have "Automatically improve…" unchecked and do not have any QuickFill rules, which is why this is such a mystery to me.

I understand that the Windows version has a check box specifically for automatic categorization of downloaded transactions, but I don't see one in the Mac version.

I've been using Quicken since the late 90s and tried using the reviewed dots in the past, but it didn't work for me since they disappeared on their own and sometimes I wouldn't get around to going through my transactions in time, which is why I fell back to using the Uncategorized method. I guess I'm a little gunshy of trying that again.

Also, I might be more particular with the accuracy of my data than some other folks, but I don't want to risk having an incorrectly auto-populated category create a mistake in my reports. For that reason, I think I'm more comfortable using the Uncategorized method of knowing which transactions I have addressed.

Right now, my workflow is to download, then select all the newly downloaded transactions and to a multi-edit to erase the category, which takes a little more time, but seems to be a sufficient work around for me.

I was just hoping that there was a setting that I had missed that could correct this.

photojon

Great thead. Smali, I was in a similar situation and thought I might add some clarity to Jacob's recommended work flow. You have control over the "blue dot". By default the blue dot shows newly downloaded transactions and as soon as you change accounts, that blue dot dissappears. Unter the Sidebar Settings, you can change the "Account Activity Indicators" (ie Blue Dot) to "Highlight accounts with unreviewed transactions". That way the blue dots stay persistent next to an account until each of the blue dots within an account have been "cleared" by doing an "option-R" (keyboard shortcut) to mark them as reviewed. I also set the view feature to only show "Not Reviewed". I hope you can find a workflow on the Mac that works for you. It has taken me a few years….

Best…

jacobs

I might be more particular with the accuracy of my data than some other folks,

More particular than some, but not more particular than many! 😂

I guess I'm a little gunshy of trying that again.

They re-designed the blue status dots directly in response to users like you who couldn't rely on them for reviewing transactions. As @photojon confirms above, this is now designed as a way to do exactly what you're trying to do: identify transactions you have not yet reviewed and categorized. By turning every transaction to uncategorized and then categorizing them one at a time, you're actually swimming upstream against Quicken; if you used the blue dot status to tell you which transactions you have reviewed, you'd likely find that a significant percentage of the auto-categorized transactions are what you'd want, so you don't need to edit them.

I understand we all use Quicken a bit differently, and we find ways to get it to do what we want, so if you want to continue doing it the way you have been, you can certainly do so. I'm just trying to show you how the program was changed in order to help you do it with less friction than your current process. Best wishes!

P.S. Still unanswered is whether the "Automatically improve…" checkbox is supposed to completely disable sever-based renaming and auto-categorization and isn't working correctly. I'll try to look into that to see if we can get any more information.