The Problem with Monday.com's Native Bulk Actions
Monday.com does have a bulk action feature: you select multiple items using the checkboxes on the left, then choose an action from the toolbar that appears at the bottom of the screen. You can change status, assignee, or move items to a different group. But this approach has significant limitations for real-world bulk updates:
- One column at a time — you can only change one field per bulk action, not update status + assignee + date in a single operation.
- Manual selection required — you have to scroll and check boxes individually, which is impractical for hundreds of items.
- No file-based updates — there's no way to paste a list of item IDs and new values; you can't update from a spreadsheet.
- No subitem support — bulk actions don't apply to subitems.
- No audit trail per row — if something goes wrong, there's no way to see which specific items failed.
Monday.com's built-in bulk change is designed for quick manual edits, not data operations. For file-based, multi-column, or subitem bulk updates, you need Monday.com Inspector.
The Solution: File-Based Bulk Update with Monday.com Inspector
Monday.com Inspector is a free Chrome extension that adds an Inspector panel to every monday.com board. Its Bulk Update mode lets you upload a CSV with item IDs and new values — and update dozens, hundreds, or thousands of items across multiple columns in a single operation.
What makes it different from native bulk actions:
- Multi-column updates in one pass — update status, assignee, date, and dropdown all at once per item.
- File-driven — prepare your updates in Excel or Google Sheets, export to CSV, upload, done.
- Subitem support — update subitem columns using subitem IDs.
- Live per-row progress — see exactly which items were updated, which failed, and why.
- No row limits — handles thousands of items with automatic batching and rate limit handling.
- Supports 12+ column types — Status, People, Date, Timeline, Dropdown, Checkbox, Text, Numbers, Link, Phone, Email, Rating.
Monday.com Inspector works with all monday.com plans — Free, Basic, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise. No extra subscription needed.
Common Bulk Update Use Cases
These are the most common scenarios where teams use Monday.com Inspector's bulk update feature:
Sprint / phase transitions
Move all items from one sprint to the next — update status, assignee, and dates from a CSV in one operation.
Team reassignment
When someone leaves or joins, reassign hundreds of items from one person to another in seconds.
Date rescheduling
Push all due dates forward by a week or update a full project timeline from a revised Excel schedule.
Status resets
Reset all items to "Not Started" at the start of a new period, or mark a batch as "Done" after a milestone.
Category / tag updates
Apply a new dropdown label, priority tag, or department classification to a filtered set of items.
Data migration clean-up
After importing data, run a follow-up update pass to fix incorrectly mapped values or fill in missing fields.
How to Prepare Your Bulk Update CSV
A bulk update CSV has one row per item to update. Unlike an import CSV (which creates new items), an update CSV needs a way to identify each existing item — typically its Item ID.
Step 1: Get Item IDs
The most reliable way to match items for update is by Item ID. Here are two ways to get them:
- Board export: Go to your monday.com board → Board menu (⋮) → Export → Excel. The exported file includes an item ID column.
- Monday.com Inspector Schema tab: Use the built-in GraphQL query engine to fetch item IDs, names, and column values. You can export the result as CSV.
If item IDs aren't available, Monday.com Inspector can match items by name instead. Use a column named Item Name as the match key. Note: if duplicate names exist on the board, only the first match is updated.
Step 2: Build the Update CSV
Your CSV needs:
- A header row
- An Item ID column (or Item Name for name-based matching)
- Only the columns you want to update — leave out columns that should stay unchanged
Item ID,Status,Assignee,Due Date
7823451,Done,jane@acme.com,2026-04-30
7823452,In Progress,bob@acme.com,2026-05-07
7823453,Stuck,sam@acme.com,2026-05-14
7823454,Done,jane@acme.com,2026-04-28
7823455,Working on it,bob@acme.com,2026-05-10Column values follow the same formatting rules as import — see the column type formatting reference in our CSV Import Guide.
Step-by-Step: Bulk Update with Monday.com Inspector
Install Monday.com Inspector
Install the free Monday.com Inspector Chrome extension. No account or sign-up required.
Prepare your update CSV
Create a CSV with an Item ID column and only the columns you want to change. Export the current board state first if you need item IDs. Use the correct value formats (ISO dates, email for People, etc.).
Open Inspector on your board
Navigate to your monday.com board. Click the Monday.com Inspector icon in the Chrome toolbar, then click Open Inspector Panel. The panel opens on the right side of the board.
Upload your CSV and enable Update Mode
Click the Import tab. Upload your CSV. Toggle Update Mode (instead of Create Mode). Map the Item ID column as the match key, then map the remaining columns to their board counterparts.
Run the update and review results
Click Start Update. The progress panel shows updated (green), failed (red), and remaining (gray) rows in real time. Each failed row shows the exact error. Fix issues and re-run just the failed rows.
Monday.com Inspector is free and takes 30 seconds to install. Add to Chrome →
Supported Column Types for Bulk Update
Monday.com Inspector supports bulk updating all major monday.com column types:
| Column Type | Bulk Update Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Text | ✓ | Any string value |
| Numbers | ✓ | Integer or decimal |
| Status | ✓ | Must match an existing board label |
| People | ✓ | Match by email address |
| Date | ✓ | YYYY-MM-DD format |
| Timeline | ✓ | Two columns: start + end date |
| Dropdown | ✓ | Must match an existing dropdown option |
| Checkbox | ✓ | true / false or 1 / 0 |
| ✓ | Email address string | |
| Phone | ✓ | Phone number string |
| Link / URL | ✓ | URL or URL,Label format |
| Rating | ✓ | Integer 1–5 |
| Item Name | ✓ | Renames the item |
Best Practices for Bulk Updates
- Always export the board first. Before running a bulk update, export the current board state to a backup. This gives you a restore point if something goes wrong.
- Test with 5–10 rows. Run a small test update before processing hundreds of rows. Confirm the mapping is correct and values appear as expected on the board.
- Use Item IDs, not names. Names are not unique — items can have identical names. Item IDs are the only guaranteed unique identifier. Use IDs whenever possible.
- Only include columns to change. Don't include columns you don't want to modify — the tool only updates columns that are mapped. Unmapped columns are left untouched.
- Match status labels exactly. Status values must match an existing label on the board. Double-check spelling and capitalisation against your board's status column settings.
- Review the failed rows report. After the update, download the failed-rows CSV from the Inspector panel, fix the issues, and re-run just those rows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can monday.com bulk update items natively?
Yes, but with significant limits. Monday.com's native bulk action lets you select multiple items manually and change one column at a time — no file upload, no multi-column update in a single pass, and no subitem support. Monday.com Inspector enables file-based bulk updates across multiple columns simultaneously.
Can I bulk update subitems in monday.com?
Yes, with Monday.com Inspector. Include subitem IDs in your update CSV and enable subitem mode. The extension updates all supported column types for subitems — status, people, date, timeline, dropdown, and more. Native monday.com bulk actions do not support subitems.
How do I get item IDs for bulk update?
Two easy ways: (1) Export your board to Excel — Board menu (⋮) → Export → Excel. The exported file includes item IDs. (2) Use Monday.com Inspector's built-in Schema / GraphQL tab to query item IDs and export results as CSV. Item IDs also appear in the URL when you open an item's detail view.
Is there a limit to how many items I can bulk update?
No. Monday.com Inspector has no row limit for bulk updates. The extension handles batching and monday.com API rate limits automatically. You can safely update thousands of items in a single operation.
Can I undo a bulk update in monday.com?
Monday.com has an activity log and individual item history, but there is no single-click "undo" for bulk operations. The best practice is to export your board to Excel before running a bulk update — that way you have a backup and can run a corrective update if needed.