--- title: "Add or edit category" description: "Create or rename a category, choose whether it holds equipment, property or goods for sale, and place it under a parent category to make it a subcategory." canonical_url: "https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories/add-or-edit" --- # Add or edit category > Create or rename a category, choose whether it holds equipment, property or goods for sale, and place it under a parent category to make it a subcategory. **This is the form behind every category: its name, its inventory type, and the parent category it sits under.** Picking a parent is how a category becomes a **subcategory**, for example *Microphones* under *Audio Equipment*. Open it from [Settings → Inventory → Categories](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories): - **Add category** opens [https://app.requiply.com/settings/inventory/categories/add](https://app.requiply.com/settings/inventory/categories/add), with the inventory type of the tab you were on already chosen. - The **pencil** on a category row opens the edit page for that category. **Admins only.** Members without admin access cannot open these pages. Categories are available on every plan.
![The Add category page in dark mode. On the left under General Information: Category name filled with Headphones, Inventory type set to Equipment with a wrench icon, and Parent category set to Audio Equipment, its dropdown open as a tree: Audio Equipment expanded with Microphones and Audio interfaces under it, and Video Equipment collapsed. Cancel and Save buttons sit at the bottom. On the right a Preview card shows Headphones with the Equipment tag. Box 1 marks the Parent category field](https://requiply.com/docs/assets/settings/inventory/categories/add-subcategory.png)
**1** **Parent category** turns the new category into a subcategory. Leave it empty for a top-level category.
## Fields
Field Required What it does
Category name Yes Up to 50 characters. Two categories with the same parent and type cannot share a name, but Accessories can exist under both Audio Equipment and Video Equipment .
Inventory type Yes Equipment , Property or Equipment for sale . Each option has a help icon explaining the type. Products can only be placed in a category of their own type.
Parent category No A tree of the categories of the same type. Pick one to make this a subcategory, or leave it empty (the × clears it) to keep it at the top level. A search box appears in the list once there are more than eight categories.
The **Preview** on the right shows the category card as you type. ### Rules for the parent - Only categories of the chosen **Inventory type** are offered. Changing the type clears a parent of the other type. - On the edit page, the category itself and its own subcategories are left out of the list, because a category cannot sit inside its own branch. - Parents that would push the branch deeper than **five levels** are left out too. - A category that still has subcategories cannot change its type: *Move the subcategories out before changing the type of this category.* ## Adding a category 1. Open [Categories](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories) on the tab of the right type and click **Add category**. 2. Enter the **Category name**. 3. Check the **Inventory type**. 4. Pick a **Parent category** if this is a subcategory. 5. Click **Save**. Requiply shows *Category "Microphones" created successfully* and takes you back to the categories list, or to the page you came from. The new category is placed last among its siblings. Drag it to another spot on the [Categories](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories#changing-the-order) page. If the name is taken at that level, a toast says *Category name already exists* and the form stays open. ## Editing a category The edit page has the same three fields, filled with the current values. - **Save** stays disabled until something changed. - Changing the **Parent category** moves the category, with all its subcategories, under the new parent and puts it last among its new siblings. This is saved at once; there is no separate **Save order** step for it. - **Delete** on the bottom left opens the same confirmation as on the list. The category's products move to its parent category (or lose their category if it was top level) and its subcategories move one level up. See [What deleting does](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories#what-deleting-does). - **Cancel** goes back to the list without saving. ## Creating categories from other places ### While adding a product On [Add item](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/add-item), the **Category** picker has an **Add new** button at the bottom. It opens a small dialog that asks for a name only and creates a **top-level** category of the product's type, already selected for the product. To nest it, move it on the [Categories](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/categories) page afterwards. ### While importing a spreadsheet The `category` column of the [import template](https://requiply.com/docs/en/guides/inventory/import) creates missing categories during the import:
Cell Result
Microphones Uses any existing Microphones category of the product's type, at any level. Creates it at the top level if there is none.
Audio Equipment > Microphones Walks the path from the top: finds or creates Audio Equipment at the top level, then finds or creates Microphones under it.
Names are matched without regard to upper or lower case. ## Common scenarios ### Adding a subcategory to an existing group The studio starts renting lavalier mics. The admin clicks **Add category**, names it *Lavalier microphones*, picks **Audio Equipment › Microphones** as the parent and saves. On the portal, the new subcategory shows up under Microphones as soon as a product is placed in it. ### Moving a category to another group *Headphones* was created at the top level by mistake. The admin opens it with the pencil, sets **Parent category** to *Audio Equipment* and clicks **Save**. ### Same name in two branches Both *Audio Equipment* and *Video Equipment* need an *Accessories* subcategory. Because the names sit under different parents, both can be created. ## Tips and cautions **Tip:** Name categories the way your customers search: "Microphones" is clearer on the portal than an internal code like "AUD-MIC". **The category picker on Add item shows the whole tree.** Products can be placed in a parent category as well as in its subcategories. **Heads up:** Every distinct spelling in the import's `category` column creates its own category. Check the spreadsheet for typos before uploading. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://requiply.com/docs/sitemap.md) for all pages.