[Bug]: Category Column not populating #2071

New Issue

2026-02-28T20:02:34-06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:02:34 -06:00

Originally created by @no1etal on GitHub (Apr 25, 2025).

Verified issue does not already exist?

I have searched and found no existing issue

What happened?

Category column shows nothing when importing a .csv regardless of what I choose as an input (category, sector, currency, date)

How can we reproduce the issue?

Import .csv with ; delimiter and populate selection boxes - but Category doesn't read anything

Where are you hosting Actual?

Docker

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Firefox

Operating System

Linux

Originally created by @no1etal on GitHub (Apr 25, 2025). ### Verified issue does not already exist? - [x] I have searched and found no existing issue ### What happened? Category column shows nothing when importing a .csv regardless of what I choose as an input (category, sector, currency, date) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a4b26953-94be-42b8-a453-0a35d3be70bf) ### How can we reproduce the issue? Import .csv with ; delimiter and populate selection boxes - but Category doesn't read anything ### Where are you hosting Actual? Docker ### What browsers are you seeing the problem on? Firefox ### Operating System Linux

GiteaMirror added the bug label 2026-02-28 20:02:34 -06:00

GiteaMirror closed this issue

2026-02-28 20:02:34 -06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:02:35 -06:00

@alecbakholdin commented on GitHub (Apr 25, 2025):

@no1etal I believe what you're running into is that Actual does not create import categories for you by design, and if it doesn't find a category, it will show up blank. You have to make sure the categories that you're importing matches an existing category.

@alecbakholdin commented on GitHub (Apr 25, 2025): @no1etal I believe what you're running into is that Actual does not create import categories for you by design, and if it doesn't find a category, it will show up blank. You have to make sure the categories that you're importing matches an existing category.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:02:35 -06:00

@no1etal commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2025):

Right, so I tried it manually: I named the first row of .csv as Date, payee, Category, Amount. I hope I understood correctly what you've said.

Still not possible to get Category to show.

But if I select Categories to be shown under notes, it works.

There is a chance that it is me who is doing something wrong, I mean I had Actual just for couple of days and so far, it has not been going well for me.

@no1etal commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2025): Right, so I tried it manually: I named the first row of .csv as Date, payee, Category, Amount. I hope I understood correctly what you've said. ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/02b33240-67a6-4ea3-b167-4ea9862b7d79) Still not possible to get Category to show. ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/462a1039-43f9-4fd7-9b2e-1648598234b6) But if I select Categories to be shown under notes, it works. There is a chance that it is me who is doing something wrong, I mean I had Actual just for couple of days and so far, it has not been going well for me.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:02:36 -06:00

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2025):

Are "Grocery stores", " Digital goods", etc already categories in your budget? Like was said above Actual will not add categories to your budget, it will just ignore categories that don't already exist.

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2025): Are "Grocery stores", " Digital goods", etc already categories in your budget? Like was said above Actual will not add categories to your budget, it will just ignore categories that don't already exist.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:02:36 -06:00

@no1etal commented on GitHub (Apr 30, 2025):

Thank you both!

@no1etal commented on GitHub (Apr 30, 2025): Thank you both!