Settings
Profile, security, preferences, and data. Everything inside the Zerosum Settings page explained.
Written By Pedro
Last updated 27 days ago
Settings is where your account, security, and app preferences live. The page is organized into four tabs you can switch between freely.
What's in Settings
Each tab focuses on a single concern, so you can find what you need without scrolling past everything else.
Profile: your name, email, and any sign-in providers connected to your account.
Security: your password, two-factor authentication, and your list of active sessions.
Preferences: color theme, high contrast, font size, start-of-week, mobile dock shortcut, category colors, and nearby payees.
Data: your data export and account deletion.
Profile
Update your name, view your email address, and connect Apple or Google as a sign-in option alongside email sign-in.
Personal information
First and last name are editable. Email is shown but cannot be changed; sign-in codes and notifications go to the address on file. Changes save when you press Save changes.
Connected accounts
Link Apple or Google to sign in with one click, in addition to the sign-in code Zerosum emails you. Disconnect at any time; your account stays intact and you can keep signing in with the emailed code.
ℹ️ Important: Apple and Google sign-in are alternatives, not replacements. Email sign-in with a one-time code is always available, even when a provider is connected.
Security
Set a password, turn on two-factor authentication, manage backup codes, and review every device currently signed in to your account.
Password: add a password to sign in with, then change it whenever you like. Two-factor authentication requires one.
Two-factor authentication: use an authenticator app for a one-time code at sign-in, and generate replacement backup codes whenever you need them.
Active sessions: see every device that has signed in and revoke any session you do not recognize. The current one is labeled clearly.
See the Account security guide for what to save, when to trust a browser, and what to do if you lose access to your authenticator app.
Preferences
Small switches that shape how the app behaves day to day. Every preference saves automatically as you change it.
Color theme
Pick the look of the whole app. The picker has two groups: full Themes (Midnight, the default, plus the warm Paper, the black and white Ink, the soft pink Rosewater, and the violet Lavender) that restyle every surface, and Accent colors that keep the standard surfaces and recolor buttons, links, and highlights. Every option has a light and a dark variant, and your choice follows you across devices. It's separate from light and dark mode, which lives on the display toggle in the sidebar. See the Themes & Appearance guide for the full tour.
Increase contrast
A switch that strengthens borders, secondary text, and focus outlines on top of whichever theme you use, in both light and dark mode. It follows your account across devices, and it starts on automatically when your operating system asks for increased contrast.
Font size
Make text and controls bigger or smaller across the whole app, from 80% to 150% in small steps. Font size is saved per device, so you can run a larger size on your phone and the standard size on your desktop.
Start week on
Choose Sunday or Monday. The choice controls the first column in the budget calendar, the mobile mini-calendar, the week-boundary dividers on the mobile timeline, and every date picker in the app. Sunday is the default.
ℹ️ Important: Saturday and Sunday stay shaded as weekend cells no matter which day starts the week; the coloring tracks the real calendar day, not the column position.
Mobile dock shortcut
The mobile bottom navigation has four slots: Budget, Calendar, Accounts, and a configurable fourth. This setting picks that fourth slot: either Overview (your dashboard cards) or Analytics. The option you do not pin stays reachable from the More menu.
Show category colors
Turn this off to hide category color dots and accents across budget, transaction, picker, calendar, and notification views. The setting belongs to your user account, so people sharing a budget can each pick the display that works best for them.
ℹ️ Important: Categories still keep an Analytics color, editable when you create or edit a category. Analytics charts always use those colors so category series stay distinguishable.
Nearby payees
When enabled on mobile, Zerosum can suggest payees you have used near your current location while you add a transaction. Your usual coffee shop or grocery store surfaces as a top suggestion when you are physically there.
Opt-in: off by default. Turning it on prompts the browser for location access.
Private to you: saved locations belong to your user account and are never shared with co-owners of a shared budget.
Easy cleanup: forget every saved location with one click. The toggle and browser permission stay as they are.
Per-transaction choice: when the location button appears beside Payee during an eligible mobile add, it starts on. Tap it before saving to skip that transaction’s location without disabling nearby suggestions or deleting locations already saved for the payee.
Coordinates are stored as scaled integers (about 1 cm of precision) along with the browser-reported accuracy; the match radius is derived from that accuracy. Memories are only saved after a successful mobile create that has a real payee; transfers and starting balances are skipped, while splits remember the parent payee. For more on payee data and import rules, see Manage Payees.
Data
Everything related to taking your data out and ending your relationship with Zerosum. (Bringing transactions in through Bank sync lives on its own page, not here.)
Export your data
Request a GDPR export from the Data tab. Zerosum generates the file in the background and emails you when it is ready. Each file is available for seven days, and Zerosum keeps your latest three. Exports include your profile data, account metadata, activity, and full data for budgets you own, intended for portability and personal records. Budget restore uses server-side automatic backups, not uploaded export files.
💡 Tip: Learn how snapshots and restores work in Backups & Data Exports.
Delete account
The destructive zone at the bottom of the Data tab. Deleting an account is permanent: budgets you own, transactions, attachments, and connected sources are all removed. Budgets shared with you are released; co-owners keep their copies.
⚠️ Warning: Request a data export first if you want a copy of your records. Once the account is removed there is no recovery path.
Things that live elsewhere
A few app-wide controls are not inside Settings; they live where you actually use them.
Light and dark mode
Switch between Light, Dark, and System (matches your OS) with the sun / moon icon in the sidebar. Like font size, the light/dark choice is saved per device and persists between sessions, so each device can run its own mode. (The accent color you pick under Preferences does follow you across devices.)
Default cleared status
Whether new transactions start cleared is set per account, not globally. New transactions you add by hand start uncleared. To make a specific account start cleared instead, open that account and set its New transaction default. See the Accounts guide.
Budget row status display
The budget toolbar has its own toggle for how much row status detail shows per category. Pick a row bar mode: Combined bar (default), Spending bar, Goal bar, Split bars, or No bar: and toggle Summary text on or off separately. The full guide is in Budgets & Categories. Both settings sync across your devices.