---
title: "Why can’t technicians add materials to purchase orders in Next and ServiceTitan Mobile?"
slug: "why-cant-technicians-add-materials-to-purchase-orders-in-next-and-servicetitan-m"
tags: ["Area - Inventory and POs", "Area - ST Mobile (Legacy)", "Focus - Construction", "Focus - Service Replacement", "Role - Admin", "Role - Technician", "Type - Commercial", "Type - Residential"]
updated: 2026-10-16T00:21:14Z
published: 2026-10-16T00:21:14Z
canonical: "help.servicetitan.com/why-cant-technicians-add-materials-to-purchase-orders-in-next-and-servicetitan-m"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.servicetitan.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Why can’t technicians add materials to purchase orders in Next and ServiceTitan Mobile?

## Problem

Technicians can't add materials to POs, and the search field remains blank when they try to search for materials in the *Next* environment and ServiceTitan Mobile. This issue occurs because the relevant category is marked as inactive.

## Solution

Follow these steps to resolve the issue and allow technicians to add materials to POs.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Depending on your account's configuration, you might see one or more of the following:
> 
> - *Items and Pricing* instead of *Pricebook*.
> - *Customer* instead of *Homeowner*.
> - *Procurement* instead of *Inventory*.
> 
> The names are different, but everything works the same way. For more, see [Commercial Personalization Platform - FAQ](https://help.servicetitan.com/commercial/docs/commercial-personalization-platform-faq).

### Activate inactive categories

1. Log in to your ServiceTitan account.
2. Go to the navigation bar and click **Pricebook**.
3. In the side panel, click **Categories**.
4. Find the category that is causing the issue, for example, furnace parts.
5. If you can't find it, click **Filters** to filter the Status by *Inactive*.
6. Check if the category is marked as inactive. If it is, you need to activate it.
7. To activate the category, click **Filters**, filter inactive categories, and click **Activate** ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/why-cant-technicians-add-materials-to-purchase-orders-in-next-and-servicetitan-mobile-image-6682vrl4.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-09T11%3A21%3A24Z&se=2026-11-09T12%3A21%3A24Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=IZwVLROcUpAb9oGAk9rN7qnM%2Fzda2GT%2B33BhSleioss%3D).
8. Save your changes.
9. Go back to Next or ServiceTitan Mobile and add materials to a PO again.