Support Topics
We've had a recent bug that is causing some people's budget to go blank due to a "Broken Diff Chain" error. Not to worry though as your budget data is safe and this can be fixed.
Please follow the instructions on the following page to get your budget data back into YNAB 4 on your desktop:
http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/blank-budget-and-the-message-broken-diff-chain
You can upgrade to YNAB 4 by using our Upgrade Tool. It should take care of everything for you!
It's likely that we have a different email tied to your previous order (maybe a spouse's email, old work email, etc.). On the upgrade page, please try all other emails that you may have used for the purchase.
If you still have trouble, please contact us with your full name, any previous email addresses, and a guess on the date of your previous YNAB purchase.
If you're running into any trouble with your activation key, this guide should walk you through it step by step.
If you are having troubles getting YNAB 4 to download to your computer, please try one of the direct links below. Please note that you may have to copy/paste the one you need into the address bar of your browser in order for it to work.
Windows → https://www.youneedabudget.com/CDNOrigin/download/ynab4/liveCaptive/Win/YNAB%204_4.1.281_Setup.exe
If the above links still don't work, please try the following:
Error Checking is now turned on by default (it really is a good thing) in YNAB 4. We have a comprehensive Error Checking Guide to help!
If you have OS X 10.5.8 or below, you can still purchase YNAB 3. If you ever upgrade your operating system, you can upgrade to YNAB 4 for free.
This article will walk you through exactly what Cloud Sync is, and how to set it up with multiple computers and devices, step by step.
If you've followed the Cloud Sync setup steps and you're still having issues, we have an exhaustive troubleshooting guide that should set you straight within a few minutes.
Here’s a quick tip before you head off to the trouble shooting article:
99.9% of the time, CloudSync doesn't work because you are not linked to the same Dropbox account that the desktop is using. It’s very easy to do without realizing it, especially if the Dropbox app is installed on your phone.
To be sure, we recommend de-authorizing the YNAB app from the Dropbox account you’ve linked to and relink it.
Also, as a quick checklist, please be sure that:
You can install YNAB on as many computers as you need for your personal/household use. This includes Windows PCs and Macs, so your same license key will work on both operating systems.
2. Paste your activation key (retrieve it here).
3. Activate Cloud Sync and open your budget OR manually move your budget to your new (or additional) machine.
If needed, more in-depth instructions can be found here. If you're upgrading to YNAB 4, this will help.
If you purchased YNAB on Steam, you can retrieve your key by way of 'Help>About>Copy Activation Key to Clipboard' in the YNAB menu of the Steam copy after you've run that copy at least one time. Once you have it, you can use it to activate a copy of YNAB that you can get directly from us by way of the link below.
If you have further Steam-related questions, see this article: http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/using-ynab-on-steam
You can install YNAB on as many computers as you need for your personal/household use. This includes Windows PCs and Macs, so your same license key will work on both operating systems.
If you're running into any trouble with your activation key, this guide should walk you through it step by step.
You can look up your activation key whenever you need it.
If you are having troubles getting YNAB 4 to download to your computer, please try one of the direct links below. Please note that you may have to copy/paste the one you need into the address bar of your browser in order for it to work.
Windows → https://www.youneedabudget.com/CDNOrigin/download/ynab4/liveCaptive/Win/YNAB%204_4.1.281_Setup.exe
If the above links still don't work, please try the following:
Since you did not give us your credit card number or make any sort of payment when you downloaded the trial you are all set to walk away as we dont have any way to charge you. ツ
Yes. YNAB 3 and 4 are Mountain Lion-ready.
YNAB 4 currently lacks the ability to directly password protect your budget.
The reason for it is due to the complexities of Cloud Sync in that the many files of your budget need to talk to each other continually and any added layer of encryption would serve to slow it down or break it entirely. This isn't to say that we've shelved password protection at all but more that it will be a while before we can develop a system that works.
Until that day arrives both Windows and Mac computers have the ability to setup individual user accounts to not only prevent access to YNAB but other software you'd like to keep private as well.
For more details on this, as well as how to get started with it please check out the links below.
http://ynab.me/windowsuseraccounts
Make sure your transactions are accurate, and categorized correctly.
Step 1: Make sure there are NO warnings, errors, or reminders in the left hand column. Click on "All Accounts". Click on the reminder and warning boxes at the top of the screen to see the transactions that need to be categorized. Click on the error box to see the transactions that have categories that shouldn't. Select them all, right-click, Bulk Categorize, and choose "No category."
Step 2: Scroll to the bottom and make sure there are no FUTURE transactions entered in the register. These transactions haven't happened yet. Sometimes people do these in order to forecast, but you should only enter transactions that have occurred.
If you want to add future transactions to your budget, use the Scheduled Transactions window. You can learn more about that here.
Step 3: Reconcile your accounts. Click on each of your accounts, starting with your checking account. Click the reconciliation button at the bottom of the screen and reconcile it to yesterday's bank balance. If you don't have access to online banking where you can verify yesterday's balance, reconcile against your most recent statement.
Step 4: Add your Total Category Balance to the “Available to Budget” number. This will match the sum of your Budgeted Accounts.
Remember, if you have any transactions associated with a future month you’ll want to do that calculations on that month.
If you are having troubles with reconciling in YNAB, this reconciliation guide should get you straightened out in short order.
If you've followed the Cloud Sync setup steps and you're still having issues, we have an exhaustive troubleshooting guide that should set you straight within a few minutes.
Here’s a quick tip before you head off to the trouble shooting article:
99.9% of the time, CloudSync doesn't work because you are not linked to the same Dropbox account that the desktop is using. It’s very easy to do without realizing it, especially if the Dropbox app is installed on your phone.
To be sure, we recommend de-authorizing the YNAB app from the Dropbox account you’ve linked to and relink it.
Also, as a quick checklist, please be sure that:
Our mobile apps are designed to allow you to have your budget in hand while you're on the go. They allow you to do two things: check your budget before spending, and enter transactions before you forget them. Unfortunately, due to the small amount of space available on mobile screens there isn't enough room to provide further editing or outright budgeting as you're familiar with on the desktop.
As we progress we may add more capabilities to our mobile platform. We're currently working on a full featured ipad app, but until that arrives though the abilities of the current mobile apps aren't likely to change much.
This article shows how you can access multiple budgets on your iPhone.
If you've followed the Cloud Sync setup steps and you're still having issues, we have an exhaustive troubleshooting guide that should set you straight within a few minutes.
Here’s a quick tip before you head off to the trouble shooting article:
99.9% of the time, CloudSync doesn't work because you are not linked to the same Dropbox account that the desktop is using. It’s very easy to do without realizing it, especially if the Dropbox app is installed on your phone.
To be sure, we recommend de-authorizing the YNAB app from the Dropbox account you’ve linked to and relink it.
Also, as a quick checklist, please be sure that:
Google has become aware that some users are receiving a license check failure after making the switch from @googlemail to @gmail, and they're currently investigating a more permanent solution.
In the meantime, you can try the following troubleshooting steps as some other users reporting the same issue have found that these resolved the problem:
Clear the cache/data of the Google Play Store on your phone: Go to Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Play Store > Clear cache / Clear data
Our mobile apps are designed to allow you to have your budget in hand while you're on the go. They allow you to do two things: check your budget before spending, and enter transactions before you forget them. Unfortunately, due to the small amount of space available on mobile screens there isn't enough room to provide further editing or outright budgeting as you're familiar with on the desktop.
As we progress we may add more capabilities to our mobile platform. We're currently working on a full featured ipad app, but until that arrives though the abilities of the current mobile apps aren't likely to change much.
While we would love to make an app for every mobile device, our limited resources and the small market share of other platforms means that we are currently only developing for iOS and Android. We hope to expand this offering as it becomes more viable.
In short, we're going to make an amazing, full-featured iPad app, but we don't have a timeline for it yet. You can read more about this here → http://ynab.me/ipad
Until then, the iPhone/iPod Touch app is available now and it runs on the iPad fine (even in 2x!). It will keep you in touch with your budget on the road allowing you to enter in transactions that can be cloud synced any time you have an internet connection (youneedabudget.com/mobile).
The iPhone app will run on your iPad (as any iPhone app does), but it is not optimized for the iPad. Here are details on a full iPad app.
If you need to reinstall YNAB on a computer, you can simply download it again for free. Download YNAB 4 here or YNAB 3 here.
When you open YNAB, it will ask for your license key. You can look up your license key here if you need to.
It may be stuck in your spam folder. No worries. Download the entire course here.
It may be stuck in your spam folder. No worries. Download the entire course here.
Enable the check number column by clicking on the + sign at the top of the scroll bar to the right of the account register. month you’ll want to do that calculations on that month.
You can change your email and other contact information on our records with our Update Info tool.
Follow this step-by-step article, Setting up Your Credit Cards to make sure you have everything just right in YNAB. You'll be happy you did :)
Credit cards are very common, but still surprisingly complex when you want to manage them well with YNAB. This article will walk you step-by-step through the nitty-gritty.
Nearly all software is sold with the understanding that the sale is final since software can't be physically returned.
We offer a 34-day trial of the software. It's fully-functional and let's you put it through its paces for an entire month (and then some). During those 34 days, we hope you take a live Intro Class, dig into the tutorials, and check out our friendly community forums. These completely free resources will help you evaluate the software and purchase with confidence.
However, we don't want you to be stuck with something you're not going to use. If your purchase isn't working out, please drop us a line and let us know how YNAB fell short, what went wrong, and how we can make it right.
Send the bug to bugs@youneedabudget.com. We may not respond, but we will definitely read it.
Include repro steps to earn a gold star.
We've found the direct connection to banks really pulls people away from their money (psychologically). We don't have any plans to add direct connect into the software--from a philosophical standpoint--as the further you are removed from your money, the easier it is to remove your money from you. Conversely when you are completely aware of the flow of your money then your money tends to fall in line with your actual values much easier. (That's where you find contentment.)
You can Send your idea to featurerequest@youneedabudget.com
Just be warned, we say no to about 98% of feature requests :)