Modify Multiple Documents

The new Data Explorer user interface is available in Public Preview and includes new features that weren't present in the old interface. To learn more, see Preview Features.

You can perform bulk update operations on multiple documents in Atlas by using the Update Documents modal. Performing updates with the Update Documents modal helps you visualize updates to your data before you apply them.

About this Task

You can use any syntax that works with the update parameter of db.collection.updateMany().
The Update Documents modal does not support any options parameters such as upsert, writeConcern, or collation.
Previews of the documents affected by bulk update operations are only visible if your database is configured to support transactions. For details, see /core/transactions.

Steps

In Atlas, go to the Data Explorer page for your project.

If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.
If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.
In the sidebar, click Data Explorer under the Database heading.
The Data Explorer displays.

Note

You can also go to the Clusters page, and click Data Explorer under the Shortcuts heading.

Apply a query filter

Select the collection.
From the Documents tab, input a query into the Query bar. The filter criteria of the query specified applies to the documents in the Bulk Update modal. If you need to apply an update to all documents in a collection, leave the Query bar blank.

Open the bulk update modal

On the Documents tab, click the Update button to display the Update Documents modal. The following table summarizes the UI of the modal:

UI Element	Description
Filter	Any filter criteria specified on the Query Bar applies to the Update Documents modal. To update the filter query, exit the Update Documents modal and modify the query in the Query Bar.
Update	The update syntax that is applied to the documents specified in the filter criteria. You can use any syntax that works with the `update` parameter of the `db.collection.updateMany()`.
Preview	A preview of documents with the update syntax applied.

Enter the update syntax

In the Update text field, provide the update syntax.

The number of documents affected by the update displays at the top of the Update Documents modal.

Note

The documents under the Preview header show how the Update syntax affects documents in your collection.

Update your documents

Click Update Documents.

Atlas applies the Update to the documents within the Filter expression.

Example

The following example uses the sample_mflix dataset.

This example updates the tomatoes.viewer.numReviews and tomatoes.viewer.meter fields with the Atlas Update Documents modal.

Apply a filter in the Query Bar to filter movies which have a year of 1917.

{ 'year' : 1917 }

Click the Update button, the Update Documents modal displays.

In the Update text box, paste the following syntax:

{
   $inc: { "tomatoes.viewer.numReviews" : 1},
   $set: { "tomatoes.viewer.meter" : 99 }
}

This syntax:

Increments the tomatoes.viewer.numReviews field by 1.
Sets the tomatoes.viewer.meter field to 99.

The Preview section populates with sample documents affected by the update query.

To view the updates to the numReviews and meter fields:

Click the arrow icon next to tomatoes.
Click the arrow icon next to viewer.

Click the Update Documents button to update the collection's data.

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