Quicken Report Categories Selection: Is there a fix? Why Is This?

I think it would be easier for users to understand the way the current system works and facilitate discussions about how to address this issue, if a common terminology was agreed upon. I suggest using terminology that is explicitly (or perhaps sometimes implicitly) the same terminology that Quicken uses.

I would start by noting the clear distinction between accounts and categories.

A new account is created using the Add Account process. The name assigned to each new account appears in the Account List.
A new category is usually created using the New Category button in the Category List, where each category appears.

When each new account is created, Quicken automatically creates a new "category", which is the name of the newly created account surrounded by square brackets. This is one of several categories created by Quicken (such as the Investment categories whose names have an underscore as their first character).

I believe that the new category automatically created by Quicken when a new account is added to the file, can best (most informatively) be called a "transfer category". See the list in the column to the left of category names in the Category List - where a basic Quicken file starts with "Income" categories and "Expense" categories, and gains "Transfers" ("transfer categories") as soon as the first account is added to the Quicken file. 

A "transfer category" is definitely a category, much like every other category. A "transfer category" appears in the Category List, in the Category dropdown in register transactions, and in the Category tab of report/graph/widget Customization dialogs ... just like other categories. If "transfer categories" are included in any report, they will display in the "Category" column, and if that report can subtotal by category, the "transfer categories" will be subtotaled just like any other category.

While a "transfer category" has a special property (the ability to cause the "transfer" of funds from one Quicken account to another when recorded in a Quicken transaction), it is nevertheless still a category.

If I create an account named "My Checking Account", a "transfer category" named "[My Checking Account]" will be automatically created by Quicken. While the account name text ("My Checking Account") appears in the category name text, the two names are clearly different. "My Checking Account" <> "[My Checking Account]".

Not only are the two names different, but one is the name of an Account, the other is the name of a Category. I know of no legitimate reason why "hiding" an account should always hide its associated "transfer category".

While I understand that some users want the hiding of an account to cause the hiding of its associated "transfer category", I don't understand the assumption that hiding an account MUST hide its "transfer category". Some users (I am one) have at least one hidden account, to and from which funds are regularly transferred. I would not want the "transfer categories" for my hidden account(s) to be forced to be hidden when their namesake accounts are hidden.

Which leads me to the conclusion that the hiding of "transfer categories" should be an option, not a requirement.

But as I (and others) have noticed, that leaves users with a dilemma: the logical, the ideal, place to hide "transfer categories" would be in the Category List, where all other categories can be hidden; but the Category List specifically prevents that, as all "transfer categories" are grayed out in the List.

[My theory for why those "transfer categories" are grayed out in the Category List is that I think those categories are not physically stored in the Category List: I suspect they are simply displayed there each time the Category List is displayed. My guess is that this approach eliminates the need for Quicken to do maintenance on the Category List for every Account List change that would affect a "transfer category". "Transfer categories" in the Category List will always be "correct", if they are pulled directly from the Account List each time they are displayed.]

The question posed here has been raised many times over many years, yet there has been no change to Quicken. I assume that means Quicken is well aware of user's desires on this subject, but has specifically chosen not to grant the wishes expressed so far. It's hard to believe that there is no good reason for Quicken not addressing this issue.  

No matter what the reason is that "transfer categories" cannot be hidden in the Category List, it seems to me continued requests to offer the option to hide "transfer categories" in the Category available may be futile - so I would suggest. some other approach may be necessary. I certainly understand that Quicken has likely thought about alternate approaches too, so they my thoughts may fare no better than what's been proposed here.

For users who always want "transfer categories" hidden when their namesake account is hidden, perhaps a Quicken Preference could be set to that effect
- that Preference would be global (to the file), so it would not satisfy all users.

For those who never (or only sometimes) want "transfer categories" hidden when their namesake account is hidden, a new option on the Edit Account Details, Display Options tab might be able to handle that. If the option can't be put in the Category List, this might be the next best approach.

[I also support removing the separate treatment of "transfer categories" for hidden accounts in newer Quicken files; because that approach makes the assumption that the "transfer category" for a hidden account should automatically be hidden too.]

-JP