Troubleshooting

Something isn't working. Find the symptom; find the fix.

Last updated: April 16, 2026

Find your symptom below. Each entry states what’s happening, why, and what to do.

App won’t open after install

macOS: You see a warning like “PennyBolt can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.”

Right-click (or Control-click) the PennyBolt app in your Applications folder and choose Open. Click Open in the dialog that follows. You’ll only need to do this once. See Install PennyBolt for the full explanation of why this happens.

Windows: You see a SmartScreen prompt saying “Windows protected your PC.”

Click More info, then Run anyway. This is a one-time prompt for apps from small publishers. See Install PennyBolt for the explanation.

All platforms: If the app opens briefly and then closes, check that your operating system meets the system requirements. See Install PennyBolt .

Import preview is empty

The file opened but no transactions appear in the preview.

OFX/QFX: The file may cover a date range with no transactions, or your bank may have generated an empty file. Open the file in a text editor and check that it contains transaction data (<STMTTRN> tags for OFX).
QIF: The export from Quicken may not have included transaction data — re-export and choose to include transactions explicitly.
PDF: The PDF may be a scanned image rather than a machine-generated document. PennyBolt requires machine-readable PDFs. Check by trying to select text inside the PDF in a reader — if you can’t, it’s a scan.
CSV: The date format in the file may not match what PennyBolt expects. Open the file in a text editor and confirm dates are in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Transactions imported twice

You have duplicate entries in your register after importing.

This happens when you import a file that overlaps with data you already have, and duplicate detection didn’t catch the overlap.

Sort the register by date, then by amount. Look for adjacent identical rows.
For each duplicate pair, determine which is the original (usually the one with a reconciled or cleared status) and delete the other.
Going forward, use Re-importing safely to understand how duplicate detection works and when to expect it to miss.

Payee rule isn’t applying

You wrote a rule but transactions aren’t being assigned to the right payee.

New imports: Rules apply automatically during import. If a recent import didn’t pick up the rule, check that the rule was saved — go to Payees → Rules list and confirm the rule appears.
Existing transactions: Rules don’t apply retroactively unless you run Payees → Apply rules. Run it and choose “Re-apply to all” if you want the rule to cover past transactions.
Pattern mismatch: The pattern may not match what your bank sends. Open the transaction, look at the raw description in the Name field (not the assigned payee), and adjust the rule pattern to match it exactly. The contains match type is most forgiving.

See Write a payee rule for rule syntax details.

Reconciliation is off by a penny

The cleared balance matches the statement total except for a one-cent difference.

This is almost always a rounding difference in a split transaction. A transaction divided into two parts may have been stored with one cent of rounding error.

Find the culprit:

Sort the register by amount.
Look for split transactions near the amounts you’re reconciling.
Open each split and confirm the parts add up exactly.

If you can’t find it after 15 minutes, it’s acceptable to add a $0.01 adjustment transaction (debit or credit, whichever closes the gap) with a memo like “rounding adjustment.” Note the date and amount so you can explain it if you ever look back.

Backup file won’t restore

You choose a .pbbackup file and PennyBolt reports an error.

Wrong password: If you set a password on the backup, you must enter the same password to restore it. There is no password recovery — if you’ve forgotten it, that backup is not recoverable.
Corrupted file: If the backup was interrupted or the file was damaged in transit, the restore will fail. Check whether you have an older backup. For future backups, verify immediately after creating (see Backups ).
Wrong file: Confirm the file has a .pbbackup extension. Other PennyBolt-related files (.db, logs) cannot be restored through the backup dialog.

Sankey chart is empty

The Sankey report shows no data, or only an “Uncategorized” band.

Date range. The selected date range may not have any categorized income transactions. Income must be present for the Sankey to show flow. Check that at least one income category transaction exists in the selected period.
No income categories. If all your transactions are expenses with no income, the Sankey has no left side to flow from. Add income transactions or adjust the date range to include a period with income.
All uncategorized. If every transaction is uncategorized, the Sankey shows one wide “Uncategorized” band. Assign categories and the chart will populate. See Categories .