FAQ and troubleshooting

Signing in and your passphrase

Why do I have to enter my passphrase every time?

Because that is what makes your data private.

Your financial information is encrypted on your device with a key derived from your passphrase, and Swish
never stores that key anywhere that outlives your session. If it did, someone who opened your browser
after you could read your finances.

It is not a bug and there is no "remember me" for it. See
Your encryption passphrase.

I forgot my passphrase

There is no reset and no recovery. Swish does not hold your key and cannot rebuild it.

Contact support. They can help you start again with fresh encryption, but anything already saved will not
be readable — you would reconnect your banks and re-enter your records.

Swish keeps sending me to the passphrase screen

Normal if you opened a Swish page directly — from a bookmark, say — before entering your passphrase. Enter
it and Swish takes you where you were going.

If it happens repeatedly after you have entered it, sign out fully and back in.

"Encryption setup incomplete… Please contact support"

Your original setup was interrupted. Swish stops rather than guessing, because guessing could make your
existing data unreadable. Contact support.

"Unlock your data before opening or downloading files." / "Unlock your data before uploading files."

You are trying to open or upload a document before your passphrase is loaded. Refresh the page and enter
it when prompted.

"Wrong URL for your role"

You are signed in on the wrong Swish address. Select Open Correct URL.

My password is not working

Use the "forgot password" option on the sign-in page. Note that your password and your encryption
passphrase are different — resetting the password does not affect your passphrase, and vice versa.

Bank accounts

My balance looks out of date

Swish refreshes in the background when you sign in. Check the background jobs indicator in the header —
if it is running, give it a moment.

Also bear in mind banks update at different speeds. Some are near-instant; others post overnight.

A transaction is missing

Transactions arrive after balances, so wait for the background sync to finish.

Banks also share only a limited history when you first connect. Swish keeps everything it has ever
seen, so your history grows over time — but transactions from before you connected may never appear.

An account disappeared

Your bank consent probably expired or was revoked. Reconnect from Accounts → Add Bank Account.

Your register items are unaffected — they just stop updating automatically.

The balance has the wrong sign

Open the item in your Liabilities register and edit it. Confirm your balance offers I am in
Credit or I Owe This Amount. This matters, because it feeds your net worth. See
Adding a register item.

I linked the wrong account

Select Manage Link on the account, then change or unlink it. Nothing is lost — unlinking only removes
the connection.

Can Swish move my money?

No. Swish has read-only access through Akahu. It can see balances and transactions; it cannot make
payments, transfers, or any change at your bank.

Does Swish have my bank login?

No. You log in with your bank, through Akahu's secure connection. Your bank credentials never pass through
Swish.

Registers

Where did my draft go?

It is in the register list with a Draft tag. Clear any search or category filter if you cannot see it,
then use ⋯ → Edit … to continue.

My net worth looks wrong

It comes entirely from your registers. Check:

1. Everything is recorded — assets and liabilities.
2. Liabilities are in the Liability register, not entered as assets.
3. Values are current. Unlinked items need updating manually.
4. Nothing is duplicated.

Can I move an item to a different register?

No. Delete it and recreate it in the right one.

I deleted something by mistake

Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. You would need to recreate the item.

A value is not updating automatically

Only items with a linked bank account update themselves. See
Linking accounts to registers.

My document was not uploaded

The message under the upload area names the file and the reason. Either the file is not one of the
kinds that item accepts, or it is larger than the Maximum File Size shown in the upload area. The
accepted kinds are listed in the upload area itself. If you selected several files, the ones that
were fine still uploaded — only the named files were skipped.

Renaming a file does not convert it. Open it in the program that made it and save or export it as a
PDF, then upload that.

Budgeting

A transaction has no category

Swish could not identify it. Go to Transactions, filter to Not categorised, and set it.

If it is a merchant you use regularly, create a rule under Manage Rules so it categorises itself in
future. See Transactions.

Why is my budget showing negative surplus?

You have budgeted more than your income. Either reduce some targets or check your income sources are
complete and entered as take-home amounts. See
Setting up your budget.

"Reserve setup needs attention"

Swish does not know where freed-up reserve money should go. Select Set default bucket and choose.

If the message says the reserve bucket for a group (or the default reserve bucket) no longer exists, the
savings bucket was deleted — usually together with a goal. Categories use their group's bucket, or the
default bucket when the group has none, so replacing that one bucket fixes every category that relies on
it. Select Replace bucket, choose another bucket and save.

My budget numbers look wrong after a cycle change

Changing cycle length asks whether to adjust per-cycle amounts. If you said no, your targets are still
based on the old length. Reopen the cycle settings and adjust.

A category is always overspent

Check its reserve before changing anything. If the accumulated reserve is covering the spending, the
category is not really overspent — targets are build-up rates, not spending limits. See
Reserves and lumpy bills.

If the reserve is empty or going negative, then either the target is too low for what you really spend, or
the spending needs to change. Check Spend Overview for the pattern across several
cycles before deciding.

A category shows a big overspend the cycle a bill lands

That is usually a lumpy bill doing exactly what it should. A $300 power bill against a $75 weekly target
looks like a $225 overspend, but if you set aside $75 in each of the previous three weeks, the reserve
covered it in full.

Look at the Closing reserve in Spend Overview, not the cycle's spend. If it
went to zero rather than negative, nothing is wrong. See
Reserves and lumpy bills.

It is worth acting on if the reserve went negative — the target is not covering the real yearly cost, or
the category has not had long enough to build up yet.

Where did last cycle's money go?

Into reserves, which carry forward. See Spend Overview.

Goals

My goal shows no projection

It probably has no Per Cycle Amount set. Without a regular contribution Swish cannot estimate when you
will get there. Edit the goal and set one.

"Bucket Link Status" warning

The goal's connection to its savings bucket broke — usually because an account was disconnected or a
category deleted. Follow the prompt to relink it.

An account shows overflow on Account Allocation

Your reserves and goals together claim more than the account holds. Reduce a claim, or move one to another
account. See Account Allocation.

Things marked MOCK or Coming soon

"Coming soon" means the feature is not ready yet. It is visible so you know it is planned.

"MOCK" means the section is built but showing example numbers, not your data. Do not make decisions on
it.

Currently marked:

Available Surplus For This Cycle is the one to watch out for: it shows a sample figure without a
MOCK watermark, so there is no cue on screen that it is not yours.

General

Can I use Swish on my phone?

Swish works in a phone browser, but it is designed for a larger screen — a computer or tablet is a better
experience.

Coming soon. Swish apps for iPhone and Android are in development.

Is my data safe?

Your financial data is encrypted on your device before it is sent to Swish, with a key only your
passphrase can produce. Swish's servers store scrambled data they cannot read.

That is why the passphrase matters so much, and why it cannot be recovered. See
Your encryption passphrase.

Can I export my data?

Not currently. You can download individual documents from register items.

Can I share my account with my partner?

Not currently.

Does Swish cost anything?

Check with your Swish provider or adviser. Note that the Subscription screen is about your recurring
payments to other companies, not a Swish subscription.

Something looks broken

1. Refresh the page.
2. Check the background jobs indicator — Swish may still be working.
3. Sign out and back in.
4. Try a different browser.
5. Still broken? Use Feedback in the sidebar, with a screenshot (blur anything private).

See Help and feedback.

Nothing here matches my problem

Contact support through Help & Support → Contact Us, and tell them what you already tried.