4.3. Using Entry Shortcuts
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## 4.3. Using Entry Shortcuts

GnuCash provides several time-saving shortcuts for entering your data. When you type the first few characters of a description that you have used before, the QuickFill feature automatically fills in the rest of the transaction as you last entered it. When you type in the first characters of an account name in either the Transfer field of the transaction line or the Account field of the split line, QuickFill will automatically complete the name from your account list. It also helps you with entering subaccounts in these fields: simply type the first characters of the parent account name followed by a colon and the first characters of the subaccount name. For example, to enter Assets:Checking, you might type `A:C` and let GnuCash fill in the rest.

Register keyboard shortcuts also save you time, and GnuCash provides several of them. In the date field, you can type:

- + or = to increment the date and - or _ to decrement the date

- ] or } to increment the month and [ or { to decrement the month

- M or m to enter the first date of the month

- H or h to enter the last date of the month

- Y or y to enter the first date of the year

- R or r to enter the last date of the year

- T or t to enter today's date

In the Num field of the transaction line, you can type + to increment the transaction number from the last one you typed in. Typing - will decrement the number. This will also work in the Action field of the split line, if you choose to enter split numbers there. The Action field also supports QuickFill - if you type the first characters of a common action (such as Deposit), GnuCash will fill in the rest.

In any of the amount fields, you can use a built-in calculator. Simply type in the first value, followed by +, -, *, or /, then type in the second value. GnuCash will perform the calculation and return the resulting value to the amount field when you press the Tab key.

Most of the menu items have keyboard shortcuts, and these are marked by underlined characters in the menu names. Press Alt + [underlined character] to bring up the menu, then select an item by typing its underlined character. For example, typing Alt+T brings up the Transaction menu, then typing S will split the transaction. A few of the menu items use Ctrl key shortcuts instead, and these are listed next to the item.

To move around the register, use these keys to save time:

- Tab to move to the next field, Shift+Tab to move to the previous field

- Home to move to the beginning of the field, End to move to the end of the field

- Enter or ↓ to move to the next transaction, ↑ to move to the previous transaction

- Page Up to move up one screen, Page Down to move down one screen

- Shift+Page Up to go to the first transaction, Shift+Page Down to go to the last transaction

In the Reconcile window you can use these keyboard shortcuts:

- Tab moves to the next box and ShiftTab moves to the previous box

- Space bar toggles the status between reconciled and not reconciled

- ↑ and ↓ navigate through the entries within the current box

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