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How do I Import transactions from my bank?

Before you begin the import process, you’ll first need to download a file to import from your bank.

Learn about file formats and how to download from your bank.

Step 1: Import the file into the appropriate account.

Click on the Import button at the top of the account register and a pop-up will appear:

Find the downloaded file on your computer and import it.

If you click on the Import Preview button, you'll be able to see the transactions you are about to import. If you need YNAB to reverse the order of Payees and Memos that appear in the preview, check the box at the bottom left of the preview window.

Check and make sure you are importing into the correct account.  You can change which account you are importing to by selecting a different account in the dropdown menu.

Click on the Import button to import the file. A new window appears that tells you the import was successful, and exactly how many transactions were imported to the register.

Did you import transactions into the wrong account? No problem!  Select all the transactions that are in the wrong account by checking the tick box to the left of the transactions.  Then go to edit transactions, or right click on one of the transactions (CTRL-click on a Mac), and select "Move to Account".  Then choose the account you want to move them to.  Problem solved!

What should I do after I import?

After you import transactions, you’ll need to review them to categorize and resolve any transactions that were matched against manually entered transactions.

Some transactions will need to be categorized first before being approved. To categorize an imported bank transaction, highlight the transaction then select the appropriate Category from the drop-down choices in the Budget Category field.

If you approve a transaction before categorizing it, a yellow warning will appear. Learn more about warnings.

Some transactions will simply need to be approved. To approve a transaction, look it over and if it looks all right to you, simply click the blue Reminder icon and click Approve.

YNAB will help you match transactions from your bank if you have already entered that transaction manually.

Sample scenario: You go to McDonald's for lunch and you spend $7.81 using your debit card. When you come home, you enter that into YNAB manually. A few days later, you download transactions from your bank and that same transaction is imported into YNAB, thus entering it a second time.

Here is what we see upon import:

YNAB is showing the bank transaction info and what we entered manually. From here, you have three options.

• Click the Reminder icon to approve the transaction, as described above.
• Click the Reminder icon to delete the transaction.
• Click on the transaction to edit it. 
• If YNAB was incorrect and the transactions should not be matched, click UNMATCH and they will be separated.  

Once you categorize a transaction, if you import from that Payee again in the future, YNAB will remember how you categorized it. You'll also notice that once approved, YNAB selects your Payee over the bank.

You may import some transactions that are a transfer to another YNAB account.  To change that easily, highlight the transaction that you want to change to a transfer and double click in the payee field.  Scroll down to the bottom of the payee list where the transfer account options are listed and choose the account you wish to transfer to.  Click done to complete the action.

How often should I import?

If you choose to import transactions as your main entry method (we actually recommend some manual entry, especially when you're first getting started since it helps you stay in close touch with your spending), we recommend importing at least once a week to make sure your file stays up to date and to make sure all transactions are accounted for.

Learn how to control how things are imported.

Some of my imported transactions are transfers to other accounts, but they aren't being imported as transfers. What should I do?

Edit the payment transaction so that it's a transfer transaction.  Double click on the transaction in the payee field and then start typing the word transfer.  Select the account the payment is being transferred to.  That will make the payment show up in the other account.

In Payee Settings you can teach YNAB to recognize that payee as a transfer, so in future imports YNAB will recognize this payee as a transfer transaction.