> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.guito.pt/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Custom categories

> How to create, organize and delete the categories you classify your transactions with.

Categories are how you organize your transactions: they drive the spending charts, the budgets, and the assistant's answers about where your money goes. guito starts you off with a default set, but the list is yours: you can create your own, rename existing ones, group them however you like, and delete the ones you don't use. There's no limit and no extra cost.

## Create a category

There are two ways, and both give the same result.

### From a transaction

This is the fastest one when you're classifying a transaction and the category you want doesn't exist yet.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the category picker">
    In **Transactions**, click a transaction's category in the list itself, or open the transaction and click the **Category** field.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Type the name you want">
    The list filters as you type. If no category matches that name, a **Create "…"** option appears at the end of the list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the group and the icon">
    A small form opens with the name already filled in. The icon is suggested from it, and the **Group** field is pre-selected to match the transaction you were on (expense or income): confirm it or pick another. You can also write the AI note here.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    The category is created and assigned to that transaction right away. It's also available for every other one from then on.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The group you pick decides the category's color and how it rolls up in the summaries. You can move it to another group later.

### From settings

Use this one when you want to set up several categories at once, or organize the groups.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open categories">
    Click your name at the bottom of the sidebar and choose **Categories**. (You can also get there via **Preferences**, on the **Categories** tab.)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the tab">
    **Expenses** or **Income**, depending on the kind of category you're creating.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the category to a group">
    In each group, use **Add category**, type the name, and save.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  The icon is suggested from the name you type, and you can swap it at any time. Color isn't picked per category: it comes from the group it belongs to, so categories in the same family read together in the charts.
</Note>

## Organize into groups

Groups are the layer above categories: **Essential expenses**, for instance, holding Housing, Groceries and Transport. They give the list its color and order, and summaries are aggregated by group.

In **Categories** you can:

* **Create a group** with **Add group**, choosing the type (expense or income) and the color.
* **Change a group's color**, which changes the color of every category inside it.
* **Drag a category** to another position or to another group. You can also do it from the category's **⋯** menu, under **Move to**.

<Note>
  A group can only be deleted once it's empty. Move or delete the categories still inside it first.
</Note>

## Help the AI categorize better

Each category has an optional description field where you can write examples or notes: on **Groceries**, for example, "Pingo Doce, Continente, Lidl". guito uses that note when it automatically classifies incoming bank transactions, so it's worth filling in on categories you created yourself, whose names may not be self-explanatory.

Your custom categories count exactly like the default ones: see [Automatic categorization](/en/concepts/automatic-categorization) for how guito picks between them and how it learns from your corrections.

## Edit and delete

To rename, change the icon, or write the AI note, use **Edit** in the category's **⋯** menu. To delete, use **Delete** in the same menu.

If the category is still used by transactions of yours, guito tells you how many and asks which category to move them to. That way no transaction is left unclassified because of a deletion.

Deleting is permanent: a default category you remove doesn't come back on its own. If you need it again later, create it with the same name.

<Note>
  Some categories are marked **required**. There's one per type, it's where transactions that don't belong anywhere else end up, and so it can't be renamed or deleted.
</Note>

## In the mobile app

All of this exists in the app too: **Profile → Settings → Categories** has the same list, with the same groups and the same actions. And when you classify a transaction, the category picker likewise offers to create a category with the name you typed into the search.

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How many categories can I have?">
    There's no limit, and custom categories don't depend on your plan. That said, very long lists make charts hard to read: if you find yourself with dozens of categories, merging the similar ones usually pays off.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="If I delete a category, do I lose the transactions?">
    No. The transactions stay; what changes is the category they're classified under. If the category is in use, guito first asks you where to move those transactions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I pick a category's color?">
    The color always comes from the group. To change a category's color, change the group's color or move the category to another group.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can other people see my categories?">
    No. The categories you create and the names you give them stay in your account only.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Automatic categorization" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/tags.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=e6f74e0f1905dd9d42d8b2043c48e4fd" href="/en/concepts/automatic-categorization" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/tags.svg">
    How guito picks each transaction's category and learns from your corrections.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Transactions and cash flow" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/orbit.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=15024db7279b8e04c679a37ef479014b" href="/en/features/transactions" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/orbit.svg">
    View, filter and classify your bank transactions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Budgets" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/qyCDktPAmiF08sQd/icons/gauge.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=qyCDktPAmiF08sQd&q=85&s=bbc9fd1caad46615fed5e5d5ad39cc35" href="/en/features/budgets" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/gauge.svg">
    Set spending limits per category and track the month.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI assistant" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/bot.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=85408477b801cc545a799f34a6ffc3da" href="/en/features/ai-assistant" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/bot.svg">
    Ask about your spending in natural language.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
