# Auto-Assign > Auto-Assign is a feature in YNAB that makes budgeting simple and fast. It has numerous options, allowing for flexibility as you assign your dollars. Source: https://support.ynab.com/en_us/auto-assign-a-guide-r1gBNbBJo Last updated: 2026-07-29T17:13:19.724Z Simplify assigning money with YNAB's optional Auto-Assign feature, which uses your targets and Scheduled Transactions to allocate funds across categories. Preview the results before committing, and choose from a variety of flexible options. Explore the logic behind options like 'Underfunded', 'Assigned Last Month', 'Spent Last Month', 'Average Assigned', 'Average Spent', and 'Reduce Overfunding', and the web-only options: 'Reset Available Amount' and 'Reset Assigned Amount'. #### Just getting started with YNAB? When you first create a YNAB account, you're provided a short onboarding tutorial to teach you the basics. If you're presented with a banner or prompt like _Next Step_, _Add Account_, or _Assign Your Money_, Web users will need to complete those prompts before accessing all of the Auto-Assign options listed below. iOS and Android users can access these options immediately without completing the prompts. #### In This Article [What to Expect](#expect) [Your Auto-Assign Options](#options) [How to Preview Auto-Assign](#preview) [Auto-Assigning in Future Months](#future) * * * ## What to Expect Using Auto-Assign is the quickest and easiest way to assign funds to your categories. As long as you have [targets](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/getting-started-with-targets-ryAEP08xC) and/or [Scheduled Transactions](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/scheduled-transactions-a-guide-BygrAIFA9) set in your plan, with one tap, you can possibly fund your entire month! When no categories are selected, Auto-Assign options reflect the whole plan, not including hidden categories. You can also use Auto-Assign on a specific category (more on that below!).  For a **deep dive** on the logic behind how the order Auto-Assign uses to fund your categories, check out our [Underfunded guide](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/underfunded-a-guide-BJwPhQO09)! #### Always Available (but Always Optional) Remember: Auto-Assign is completely optional! You can always [manually assign your money](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/assigning-your-money-a-guide-SypgkrNJi#category) if you'd like. You don't have to turn Auto-Assign on or off. It's only utilized if you choose to select the button and options described below. ### Where to Find Auto-Assign in YNAB ### iOS On iOS, Auto-Assign options only appear if funds are available to assign. 1. Tap the _Home_ or _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying "Ready to Assign" at the top of the screen. 3. Tap the green banner displaying "Auto-Assign by..." to enter Assign Mode. 4. Review your available Auto-Assign options. Assign Mode has some useful information like: * How much is available to assign. * How much more is needed to fulfill targets, scheduled transactions, and overspending. ### Android On Android, Auto-Assign options only appear if funds are available to assign. 1. Tap the Home or _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying "Ready to Assign" at the top of the screen. 3. Tap the green banner displaying "Auto-Assign by..." to enter Assign Mode. 4. Review your available Auto-Assign options. Assign Mode has some useful information like: * How much is available to assign. * How much more is needed to fulfill targets, scheduled transactions, and overspending. ### Web On the web, you'll find Auto-Assign in two places: * It's always available in the Inspector (the sidebar to the right of your plan). * If you have funds available in Ready to Assign, you can use Auto-Assign from the top of your plan. Click the _Assign_ button to the right of the Ready to Assign amount. From that pop-up window, your Auto-Assign options will be available under the _Auto_ tab. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Your Auto-Assign Options When no categories are selected, Auto-Assign options reflect the whole plan, not including hidden categories. You can also select specific categories, and the auto-assign option will only affect those categories. There are six options available on **web and mobile**. * **Underfunded**:  This option will assign enough to fund your targets in their order of priority, in addition to covering upcoming transactions and overspending. This number represents the total amount you still need to assign in your plan (just be sure no categories are selected if you're using the web app). If you're interested in learning more, you can take a deep dive into the logic behind the [underfunded option](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/underfunded-a-guide-BJwPhQO09). * **Assigned Last Month**:  Some assigned amounts don’t change month-to-month. Rent or mortgage, for example. Use this option to assign the same amount as the previous month. * **Spent Last Month**:  If the previous month’s spending was a pretty good template for the current month, fire up this option. * **Average Assigned**:  YNAB calculates a rolling average of the assigned value for this category up to the last 12 months. Average Assigned starts from the first month you assigned money to this category, and the current month's plan is excluded. (If you're in your fourth plan month, and you started assigning money to the selected category in your second plan month, it will calculate your average over months two and three.) * **Average Spent**:  The not-so-hidden gem of Auto-Assign. [Spending averages are super-honest](https://www.ynab.com/guide/simplify-finances#learn-from-data-dont-live-for-it). Average Spent shows you an average of up to the last 12 months (excluding the current month), starting from the first month in which you assigned or spent money during that 12-month period. Use it as the basis for your plan, and you’ll likely be right on target. * **Reduce Overfunding**: If there are any categories in your plan that have **more** money assigned towards them than they need according to the targets and scheduled transactions in that category, this option will remove the extra money from those categories and send them back to Ready to Assign. This option will only appear if the category is overfunded. If you’re interested in learning more about the logic behind this, we've written a [deep dive on underfunding (and overfunding!)](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/underfunded-a-guide-BJwPhQO09). There are two options available **only on the web**. * **Reset Available Amount**:  Sometimes it's best to re-prioritize every single dollar in your plan. This button will allow you to do just that. By resetting Available amounts, those dollars will move right back to Ready to Assign_._ We call this a [Plan Reset](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/plan-resets-and-fresh-starts-HkXYR_c0q)! When you do this, you may notice that some [Assigned columns become negative](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/negative-amounts-in-the-assigned-column-an-overview-rJ2fMFzyo), which is a-ok, as long as it doesn't happen in a future month. This is not a good option for future months, because it can cause overspending if it is used in the future. * **Reset Assigned Amount**:  As you might expect, this option will change the value in the Assigned column to zero. If no categories are selected, it will apply to the whole plan—but there's a prompt to confirm that decision. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## How to Auto-Assign If you'd like to know where your money is headed, you can easily preview Auto-Assign before saving those assignments. ### iOS This preview is only available if you have a green Ready to Assign header (or funds available to assign). These steps won't work if your Ready to Assign header is red. 1. Tap the _Home_ or _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying "Ready to Assign" at the top of the screen to open up Assign Mode\*. 3. Tap _Auto-Assign by..._ 4. Select one of the Auto-Assign options. 5. A preview of which categories money is being assigned to will be available. 6. Tap _Save Assignments_ at the bottom_._ \*If you tap on a specific category while in Assign Mode, the option to use the Auto-Assign buttons will be available **on that category only** above the number pad. You can tap the _More_ button to access additional Auto-Assign options. Tap the option you'd like to apply, and then continue using the Assign Mode Preview. If you **don't** like what's been assigned in the preview, tap directly on categories to make changes as you'd like! You can move money around between categories, assign more to certain categories or less to others, but be sure not to assign more than you have (YNAB will [warn you with a red Ready to Assign notice](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc) in the _Home_ tab if you do). **Need to reverse or undo an assignment?** You can use the handy [_Undo_ option](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-fix-mistakes-with-undo-and-redo-HJzO5CfA9) to go back. ### Android This preview is only available if you have a green Ready to Assign header (or funds available to assign). These steps won't work if your Ready to Assign header is red. 1. Tap the _Home_ or _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying "Ready to Assign" at the top of the screen to open up Assign Mode\*. 3. Tap _Auto-Assign by..._ 4. Tap one of the Auto-Assign options. 5. A preview of which categories money is being assigned to will be available. 6. Tap _Save Assignments_ at the bottom_._ \*If you tap on a specific category within Assign Mode, the option to use the Auto-Assign buttons will be available on **that category only** above the number pad. You can tap the three dots icon _More_ button to access additional Auto-Assign options. Tap the option you'd like to apply, and then continue using Assign Mode Preview. If you **don't** like what's been assigned in the preview, tap directly on categories to make changes as you'd like! You can move money around between categories, assign more to certain categories or less to others, but be sure not to assign more than you have (YNAB will [warn you with a red Ready to Assign notice](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc) in the _Home_ tab if you do). **Need to reverse or undo an assignment?** You can use the handy [_Undo_ option](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-fix-mistakes-with-undo-and-redo-HJzO5CfA9) to go back. ### Web 1. Click on _Plan_ in the left sidebar (located immediately below the name of your plan). 2. Verify that no categories are selected. 3. Look at the_Auto-Assign_ heading in the Inspector (or the right sidebar). You may need to click on the heading to expand it, revealing all of your Auto-Assign button options.  4. Click one of the Auto-Assign buttons (for example, Underfunded, Assigned Last Month, Spent Last Month, etc.). 5. A preview of which categories money is being assigned to will be available. 6. Confirm by clicking the _Assign Money_ button and Auto-Assign will immediately update your Assigned values. If you **don't** like what's been assigned in the preview, you can cancel it and make adjustments to your targets, select specific categories to only Auto-Assign to those categories, or assign money manually. By selecting one or more categories or Category Groups, you can focus your Auto-Assigning efforts. If you select specific categories, you won't be provided with a preview, but the amount of money that will be assigned to the selected categories will be available on the Auto-Assign buttons themselves. **Need to reverse or undo an assignment?** You can use the handy[_Undo_ button](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-fix-mistakes-with-undo-and-redo-HJzO5CfA9) to go back. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Auto-Assigning in Future Months If you've fully funded all of your categories for the current month and would like to continue using Auto-Assign for future months, you can do so! Check out our article on [getting a month ahead](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5) to learn more about assigning directly to future months! [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Help Us Help You! Our Knowledge Base team reviews article feedback responses weekly, and we actively revise these articles to make them as helpful as possible. That's where you come in! Our articles are scored based on the _Yes_ or _No_ ratings received below. We also collect freeform feedback for any _No_ ratings (so our team can focus in on what you were specifically searching for!). **Success**: Found what you were searching for? 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