# Migrating from Mint
#### Jump to:
* [**Before you start**](#before-you-start)
* [**Step 1: Export your existing transactions from Mint**](#step-1-export-your-existing-transactions-from-mint)
* [**Step 2: Ready your account for migration**](#step-2-ready-your-account-for-migration)
* [**Step 3: Go through the Mint migration tool**](#step-3-go-through-the-mint-migration-tool)
* [**F**](#faqs)[**AQs**](#faqs)
* [I've imported my historical transactions. How do I get my accounts to sync now?](#ive-imported-my-historical-transactions.-how-do-i-get-my-accounts-to-sync-now)
* [I've created new categories. What should I do to ensure compatibility within Lunch Money?](#ive-created-new-categories.-what-should-i-do-to-ensure-compatibility-within-lunch-money)
* [I'm having trouble, where can I get support?](#im-having-trouble-where-can-i-get-support)
***
## Before you start
This guide will take you through the steps to get your Mint data imported into Lunch Money. If you are an existing Lunch Money user, you have a few options to consider:
Option 1: Create a new budget to test the Mint migration tool
Hesitant to import it your Mint data to your existing Lunch Money budget account? No worries! You can test out the migration tool separately from your existing data first, with a new budget account!
In Lunch Money, you may create unlimited budgeting accounts per subscription. Click on the circle next to the "Logout" button to open the 'Switch Accounts' menu, and then click on "Create new budget account". After creating a new budget, select '*Import my data from Mint*' and then continue to follow [step #3 of this article](#step-3-go-through-the-mint-migration-tool).
Option 2: Import the Mint data directly into an existing synced account
Have you already started syncing a bank account within Lunch Money, for which you have historical transactions from Mint? You can import your historical transactions directly into a synced account for a complete view of your finances!
First, you'll need to enable the option to "Allow modifications to synced accounts" on your synced account. Go to the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page, click into the account in question to open the '*Edit Account*' panel, and under '*Advanced Settings*', enable "Allow modifications to transactions":
Next, you can jump to Step 2 of this article to go through the process of importing your transaction data and when you reach the "Review Accounts" stage, assign the transactions to the relevant existing synced account.
Keep in mind that depending on the banking institution, you may already have historical transactions synced for as far back as two years. In that case, it's recommended to revise the CSV file before uploading to remove transactions beyond that date, to prevent duplicates.
If you've already imported your historical transactions via CSV and now wish to set-up account syncing to automatically import new transactions, click the link below:
[👉 **I've imported my historical transactions. How do I get my accounts to sync now?**](#ive-imported-my-historical-transactions.-how-do-i-get-my-accounts-to-sync-now)
***
## Step 1: Export your existing transactions from Mint
To get started, you'll need a CSV (comma-separated value) file of your historical transactions from Mint. As Mint only supported exporting up to 10,000 rows at a time, if you have more than 1 CSV file, you can repeat the import process as necessary.
{% hint style="info" %}
As of mid-2024, Intuit no longer supports exporting Mint transaction data to CSV.
{% endhint %}
## Step 2: Ready your account for migration
If you haven't signed up for a Lunch Money account yet, now is the time to do so! [You can register here](https://my.lunchmoney.app/register). After registration, you will be prompted to import your data from Mint:
## Step 3: Go through the Mint migration tool
The Mint migration tool is part of the CSV importing tool. You can get there by [clicking on this link](https://my.lunchmoney.app/transactions/import), or by going to the [Transactions](https://my.lunchmoney.app/transactions) page and clicking on the import icon:
In general, importing a CSV will consist of the following steps:
### **Step A: Upload a file**
To use the Mint migration tool, select '*Migrate from Mint*'.
### **Step B: Assign columns**
This is where you map the columns of your CSV data to the relevant columns within Lunch Money. For the Mint migration tool, we do this automatically for you and this step is skipped. If you would like to view the columns assigned, you can click 'Back' from the Review Settings step.
The Mint migration tool will import all the columns exported from Mint, which include:
* Date
* Description (known as 'payee' in Lunch Money)
* Original description (known as 'original name' in Lunch Money)
* Amount
* Amount Type
* Account
* Category
* Notes
* Labels (known as 'tags' in Lunch Money)
### **Step C: Review settings**
#### **Review Notations**
As a quick confidence check, double-check to ensure that the date formats and transaction amount notations are correct. This involves ensuring no dates are being converted into "Invalid Date"s, and that debits and credits are properly assigned.
#### **Review Categories**
This step will display the list of categories that have been detected within your CSV file. If you have existing categories that match, the tool will map them accordingly. If not, you have the option to:
* create a new category with a different name
* assign to an existing category
* leave blank to create a category of the same name
* leave uncategorized
{% hint style="warning" %}
If you're creating new categories, you'll want to do some additional set-up to ensure a smooth transition to Lunch Money. Please see the following FAQ at the end of this article: [I've created new categories. What should I do to ensure compatibility within Lunch Money?](#ive-created-new-categories-via-the-tool.-what-should-i-do-to-ensure-compatibility-within-lunch-money)
{% endhint %}
#### **Review Tags**
Similar to reviewing categories, this step will display the list of tags that have been detected within your CSV file, If you have existing tags that match, the tool will map them accordingly. If not, you have the option to:
* create a new tag with a different name
* assign to an existing tag
* leave blank to create a tag of the same name
* leave untagged
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important note regarding exporting labels from Mint**
When exporting files from Mint, please note that tags are separated by spaces. However, Mint also permits spaces within individual tags, which can complicate accurate parsing of your data.
This CSV import tool assumes multiple tags are delimited by a comma (','). If your transactions involve multiple tags, we strongly advise using a tool like [Google Sheets](https://sheets.new/) to manually insert commas between each tag to ensure accurate data interpretation in Lunch Money.
{% endhint %}
#### **Review Accounts**
Similar to reviewing categories and tags, this step will display the list of accounts that have been detected within your CSV file. You have the option to:
* assign to an existing account
* Note that if you want to assign this to a synced account, you'll need to ensure the 'Allow modifications to transactions' setting is enabled for that account from the Accounts page)
* create a new account
* We recommend this option. Just set the account type and you're good to go! You can modify accounts and add more information later from the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page.
* leave blank to assign transactions to the default 'Cash' account
* This is the fastest option but we don't recommend it as there will be no way to differentiate your transactions between accounts.
#### **Final Settings**
The final step will display the malformed lines in your CSV that will not be imported. This will typically include the first line, which is the header.
You also have the option to run these transactions through our Rules engine, if you have any set up, and to de-duplicate as needed.
### **Step D: Review Transactions**
This step will display the transactions exactly as they will appear within Lunch Money once the import process is finished. Ensure that the data is correct. You also have the option to deselect any transactions if you want to exclude them from the import.
### **Step E: Insert Transactions**
If you have over 500 transactions to import, this will be done through a background job and the system will email you within just a few minutes when that's finished. Otherwise, you can go straight to your transactions!
If you are not importing into a synced account, you will also have the option here to review and update your account balances if necessary. You may also skip this step and update the balance anytime from the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page.
**Congratulations! You've imported your historical data from Mint to Lunch Money! 🎉**
***
## FAQs
### I've imported my historical transactions. How do I get my accounts to sync now?
If you created accounts as part of the Mint migration or CSV import process, you will now see these accounts on the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page. These created accounts are all manually-managed accounts and are not synced.
To start syncing for these accounts, you'll need to set up syncing with your banking institution. On the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page, click on "Add account", and then click on "Auto-import from my bank" in the right-side panel. Go through the Plaid flow to authenticate with your bank.
Once you've gone through the process, you'll reach the 'Setup Account' step. In this dialog, make sure to choose "*Yes, I am merging this with an existing account*":
The system will automatically detect the date of the last transaction in the manually-managed account and only transactions on that date and onwards will be synced.
{% hint style="warning" %}
As the auto-sync is inclusive of the date of the last transaction, it may result in duplicates for that specific date. Make sure to check the [Transactions](https://my.lunchmoney.app/transactions) page to review the newly auto-imported transactions for that specific day.
{% endhint %}
In the case where you have some transactions that were mis-dated or in the future, you can always update the **earliest import date** for the synced account via the '*Edit Account*' panel on the [Accounts](https://my.lunchmoney.app/accounts) page:
By changing the earliest import date, you'll tell the system to automatically begin fetching transactions starting from that new date onwards.
### I've created new categories. What should I do to ensure compatibility within Lunch Money?
#### Set category properties
In Lunch Money, new categories will generally be created as expense categories by default. To define a category as an **income** category, you will need to enable the "**Treat as income**" property for that category via the [Categories](https://my.lunchmoney.app/categories) page. You may also set other category properties, such as "**Exclude from totals**" and "**Exclude from budget**".
To learn more about category properties, [click here](/setup/categories.md#category-properties).
#### Set-up autocategorization
If you plan to sync transactions automatically from your bank, you'll want to ensure your [auto-categorizations](/setup/categories/auto-categorization.md) are set up properly. This involves mapping your existing categories to Plaid's taxonomy.
Imported transactions include metadata from Plaid including their best-guess as to the category of the transaction. Within Lunch Money, we also have a rules engine where you can create more complex rules to categorize or otherwise modify these transactions. However, auto-categorization is an easy first step to avoid a slew of uncategorized transactions when you start syncing.
To set up auto-categorization, [click here](https://my.lunchmoney.app/categories/auto) or follow the link from the [Categories](https://my.lunchmoney.app/categories) page. Note that the button link only appears if you have actively-syncing accounts.
### I'm having trouble, where can I get support?
If you need any assistance or have any questions, feel free to email us at or open an support ticket from the 'HELP' menu at the top right within the Lunch Money app! :blush:
You can also [join our community Discord](https://discord.gg/vSz6jjZuj8) to ask questions, share feedback, and interact with other Lunch Money users!
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