# Deleting Categories **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask Anything\ **Created:** [September 16, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767 "2021-09-16T14:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dbashamjr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/dbashamjr/32/3063_2.png) [@dbashamjr](https://community.tiller.com/u/dbashamjr)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767/1 "2021-09-16T14:53:36Z")
Have several older categories from 2+ years back. I’d like to delete them. What will I break if I do that? ---
**Author:** ![heather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/heather/32/177_2.png) [@heather](https://community.tiller.com/u/heather)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767/2 "2021-09-16T15:53:12Z")
If you have any transactions categorized using them you’ll get data validation errors (red triangles in upper right of cell) in the Transactions sheet and the same thing if they’re on your AutoCat sheet. You could either hide them (Hide from Reports on Categories sheet) or maybe use the Rename/Merge category tool in the Tiller Community Solutions add-on to handle them. > [@Docs: Rename or merge a category](https://community.tiller.com/t/how-to-rename-or-merge-a-category-using-the-tiller-money-labs-add-on/6122): > > About The Tiller Community Solutions add-on includes a tool that will allow you to rename or merge categories. You might want to rename a category if you decide you want to modify it or need to make it more or less broad. You might want to merge a category if you no longer need the granularity it offers. This workflow will update the category in the following places Categories sheet AutoCat rules sheet Transactions sheet Budget Journal (if using the Savings Budget dashboard) How to use… ---
**Author:** ![anneschnader](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/anneschnader/32/21429_2.png) [@anneschnader](https://community.tiller.com/u/anneschnader)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767/3 "2025-08-21T15:46:38Z")
When you hide them on the category sheet, they still show up on the dropdown category menu on the transaction sheet. Anyway to archive them in such a way they they no longer clutter up that dropdown menu? ---
**Author:** ![twalane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/twalane/32/16372_2.png) [@twalane](https://community.tiller.com/u/twalane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767/4 "2025-08-26T19:59:24Z")
Hi @anneschnader the “hide” option is meant to exclude those categories from reporting not from the Transactions sheet. Is there a reason you wish to archive as opposed to deleting them altogether? Perhaps you can make a copy of your Categories sheet and rename and date it and then remove those categories from your active Categories sheet? ---
**Author:** ![bentyre1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/bentyre1/32/8130_2.png) [@bentyre1](https://community.tiller.com/u/bentyre1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/deleting-categories/9767/5 "2025-09-03T18:40:53Z")
You can specifically exclude the options from the data validation menu so they will no longer show up in that list, as Heather said any previous categorizations will have a red triangle on them, but since they’re 2+ years old this shouldn’t be a problem and this way if you ever look back through any other analysis they will still show up properly where if you hide them they would no longer show up in most reports. If you need help with the data validation exclusion then just let us know. Hope that helps.