Categorizing Transactions - AutoCat and Data Validation

I updated my transactions in my Tiller Money today after being idle for last 90 days, and noticed that it is not categorizing each transaction and the drop down list for categories is blank. In the Help section I found instructions that ssay to copy the transaction description and going to the Autocat page, paste the description copied andassign the category. However, all the categories and descriptions appear on the Autocat page correctly but have a small red triangle on each cell with a message that says: Invalid: input must fall within specified range.
I have not been able to find any other troubleshooting on this matter and find myself stuck.

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Sounds like something happened to your ā€œCategoriesā€ sheet. The Category drop downs you get in your ā€œTransactionsā€ sheet uses something called ā€œData Validationā€, which in this case, points to your ā€œCategoriesā€ sheet and grabs the list it finds there. Do you see a ā€œCategoriesā€ sheet, and if so, are all your categories listed in column A?

I think @jpfieber is onto the scent. It sounds like maybe your data validation reference has broken in the Transactions sheet. If you arenā€™t seeing your categories (from the Categories sheet) in the dropdown (in the Transactions sheet), youā€™ll want to select all of the categories cells (cell 2 to the bottom) in the Transactions sheet and then go to Data / Data validation to link the data validation range back to your categories in the Categories sheet.

I was having a similar issue in that all of my categories were not showing up in the drop down choices in the transaction sheet or in autocat. I recently moved over to using a Foundation Sheet and created many new autocat instances within Autocat Beta. Is this, possibly, a bug within Autocat Beta? I did what @randy suggested and re-validated the (now longer) data range. Hope this helps!!

So it is working for you now, @Jeff_G?

Yes it is! It seems like the data validation reference in my sheet was also broken. I followed your suggestion for my fix -

" I think @jpfieber is onto the scent. It sounds like maybe your data validation reference has broken in the Transactions sheet. If you arenā€™t seeing your categories (from the Categories sheet) in the dropdown (in the Transactions sheet), youā€™ll want to select all of the categories cells (cell 2 to the bottom) in the Transactions sheet and then go to Data / Data validation to link the data validation range back to your categories in the Categories sheet."

Thanks so much.

Glad to hear it, @Jeff_G.

Iā€™m currently having the same issue as the OP. I am not seeing all of my categories in the dropdown menu on the Transactions sheet, but they do appear on the Categories sheet. For example, I have a category called ā€œDues and subscriptionsā€ and I want to assign that to my Google storage charge. All previous instances of ā€œDues and subscriptionsā€ are marked with a small red triangle with a message that says: ā€œInvalid: input must fall within specified range.ā€

I did follow the steps @randy mentioned - I selected all of the categories cells in the Transactions sheet and went to Data/Data validation. That might have been where I got tripped up because I wasnā€™t sure what I was supposed to do with the Data validation settings and simply clicked on ā€œSaveā€. That had no effect on the error message though; Iā€™m still seeing the red triangles. Is there something I need to change on the Data validation tab to make this work? Thanks in advance!

Ok, I see what the issue is. Iā€™m using the Foundation template, and apparently had copied some of the categories over from another Foundation template Iā€™m using because on the new template, Iā€™m not seeing the green arrow in the Type column of the Categories sheet which brings up the dropdown menu (Income, Expense, Transfer). I had copied ā€œExpenseā€ etc. from the Categories sheet in the first Foundation template, but those entries donā€™t have the dropdown arrow and donā€™t show up in the dropdown list in the Transactions sheet of the newer template.

Anyone have an idea about how to fix this? Iā€™m stuck at this point so all input is appreciated.

Select all the cells you want to fix in the Type column (eg. C2:C100)
Select ā€˜Data Validationā€™ from the ā€˜Dataā€™ menu
For ā€˜Criteriaā€™, choose ā€˜List of itemsā€™ and in the box enter ā€˜Income,Expense,Transferā€™
Click ā€˜Saveā€™
You should then see those items in a drop-down in each of the selected cells

Thanks @jpfieber. That was the missing info I needed for the data validation thing. I followed the steps and now I do see a green arrow in the upper right corner of all of my Type entries. However, those items are still not showing up in the dropdown menu on the Transactions sheet. I tried closing and reopening the template but no change. Any ideas?

The Transaction sheet ā€˜Categoryā€™ column has itā€™s own data validation, so youā€™ll need to go through a similar process.
Select the cells you want to alter. In my case D2:D6366
Select ā€˜Data Validationā€™ from the Data menu
For Criteria, this time choose ā€˜List from a Rangeā€™ and in the box enter =Categories!$A$2:$A$200
Click Save and you should see your categories show up in the dropdowns

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As always, everything @jpfieber said is spot on. The only thing Iā€™d add is that, in Sheets, you can usually not specify the end row and your range will extend to the bottom of the sheet. So, rather than D2:D6366, just use D2:D. Wish Excel did this too.

As @jpfieber mentions, make sure the column letters match up to the right headers in your spreadsheet

I can follow up until hitting the data validation from the drop down menue. I keep seeing you guys referenceā€™criteriaā€™ but I see no such promp when I hit the data validation - in fact nothing happens for me.

I donā€™t understand most of what you guys are talking about. Itā€™s pretty frustrating not knowing how I was even able to mess something up. Only some of the categories in my transactions sheet and auto cat sheet have these red triangles that give that ā€™ `Invalid:
Input must fall within specified rangeā€™.

I just tried to add a transaction and those categories are unavailable from the drop down, I need help.

I apear to have solved it. Not sure how it got like that though. The Categories reference was going from =Categories!$B$8 not =Categories!$B$2

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That sometimes happens if you add new rows above the first data row that anchors many queries in other sheets. Good sleuthing and apologies for the hassle. :male_detective: