Refresh or Close Without Losing Work
Refreshing and closing the Categorization modal are small actions with surprisingly large consequences when used carelessly. This guide shows you the one question to ask before either one.
Why This Matters
Most people expect to lose work only when a system crashes. In practice, work is more often lost because a user refreshes or closes too casually while changes are still in progress.
The Categorization modal operates on rows you are actively editing. Unlike a simple form, your in-progress state — which rows you've categorized, which filters you've set, which edits haven't fully settled yet — can be interrupted by a refresh or close at the wrong moment.
Before refreshing or closing, run a quick mental check. Answer the three questions below to see whether you're safe to leave:
If the modal surfaces a warning when you try to refresh or close — a prompt asking whether you're sure, or flagging in-progress work — that message exists because the system detected something worth protecting.
This is not a routine dismissal dialog. It means the modal knows there are unsettled changes. The right response is almost always to stay and confirm, not to dismiss and leave.
You have edits in progress in the Categorization modal. If you leave now, recent changes to Personal Category, Need/Desire, or Memo fields may not be saved.
What would you like to do?
Refresh is useful in specific situations — it is not a harmless fidget click. Think of it as reloading a working desk: everything you had laid out gets swept back into the system's current state.
- Category labels were updated elsewhere and you need the dropdown refreshed
- The modal feels out of sync with recent account changes
- You intentionally want a clean reload after completing a full batch
- The modal simply feels busy — that's a visual state, not a sync problem
- You have unsettled edits in Personal Category, Need/Desire, or Memo
- You are mid-batch and haven't confirmed changes are saved
Close the modal when you are genuinely done with the current session — the rows you opened it for are categorized, the filters you set are no longer needed, and you have no mental notes to "come back to in a minute."
- All target rows for this session are done
- You no longer need the current filtered workspace state
- You are intentionally finished with this account or date window
- You plan to return to "just a few more" rows in the same session
- You haven't confirmed that the last few edits settled
- You are mid-bulk-apply and haven't verified the result yet