Skip to content

Running a bulk update

Tagging four hundred contacts one at a time is not work anyone should do. This page covers the ways to change, add, or extract many records at once in this release — and is explicit about which route to use when, because the options are not equivalent.

Everything here is Core.

What is available in this release

Task Route
Classify many records Assign Classification button on Account and Contact list views
Add many contacts to a list or campaign Add to List or Campaign button on Contact list views
Load members into a list from a file CSV List Import in the List sidebar, or the Import CSV action
Log one activity against every list member Bulk Activity Logger in the List sidebar
Push list members into another list or a campaign Bulk Add to List / Campaign in the List sidebar
Get records out Export Child Records action on List and Campaign
Edit a field on a few records Inline editing in a Salesforce list view
Set one field across many records Mass Update tab in the CV Admin app — administrators and data stewards
Load or update many records Salesforce Data Import Wizard or Data Loader

Everyday users have no general-purpose mass-update tool. The CV Admin app has a Mass Update tab, but it is for administrators and data stewards. If you need to change an arbitrary field across an arbitrary set of records, the route is a list view (small numbers), or an admin or data steward (large numbers).

1. Classify many records at once

  1. Open the Accounts or Contacts tab and choose a list view (your firm may label Accounts as Companies — see Finding people)
  2. Narrow it to the records you want — filter rather than scroll
  3. Tick the records
  4. Click Assign Classification
  5. Work through the flow

This button fails out of the box. Because of a Salesforce packaging limitation the button's link is not adjusted at install, so it points at a flow that cannot be found. An administrator applies a one-off fix after install; it is in the Admin Guide's post-install steps. An error here is a configuration issue, not a permissions problem — report it rather than working around it one record at a time.

The same applies to Add to List or Campaign on Contact list views.

Once that link is fixed, the Assign Classification flow can still show an error of its own until an administrator re-selects its Apex action in Flow Builder. That is another one-off setup fix, so report it the same way.

Filter first, then select. "Select all" on a list view selects what is loaded, not what matches the filter — a distinction that bites on long lists.

2. Import members into a list from a file

The Import CSV action on a List record, and the CSV import component in the List sidebar, load membership in bulk. This is the right route for an audience assembled elsewhere — a conference attendee list, a spreadsheet from a practice group.

See Building a list.

3. Export records

Export Child Records exists on both List and Campaign. It extracts the child records — the membership — rather than the parent.

Exports leave the system's control entirely. A spreadsheet of client contacts on a laptop is outside every access rule the firm has configured, so check your firm's policy before exporting contact data, and prefer sharing a list over sending a file.

4. Inline editing in list views

For a handful of records, the fastest route is a standard Salesforce list view: show the column, double-click a cell, edit, and apply to selected records where the field allows it. No flow, no import, no admin.

This is right for ten records and wrong for a thousand — there is no audit trail beyond field history, and no undo.

5. Data Import Wizard and Data Loader

For genuinely large changes, the standard Salesforce tools remain the answer, normally with an administrator:

  • Data Import Wizard — browser-based, good for straightforward inserts and updates
  • Data Loader — handles larger volumes and more object types

Both need care: an update keyed on the wrong column will silently overwrite good data across thousands of records. Ask an admin to run it, or at minimum to check the mapping first.

See Data Admin.

Before any bulk change

Four habits that prevent most bulk-update incidents:

  1. Test on a filtered subset first. Run it on five records and check the result before running it on five hundred.
  2. Know what you are selecting. Filter the list view down rather than relying on selecting rows.
  3. Check for exclusions. On lists, an Excluded member was deliberately left off — see Building a list.
  4. Remember there is no undo. Field history may show what changed; it will not put it back.

Troubleshooting

"The button gives an error." One of the known post-install issues above. Report it to your admin.

"Nothing happened after I selected records." Check that the selection survived — changing filter or sort clears it.

"I need to update a field across thousands of records." Ask an admin or data steward. Depending on the change, they will use Mass Update in CV Admin or Data Loader.

"Can I undo a bulk update?" No. Field history may show previous values on individual records, but there is no bulk reversal. This is why the test-on-five habit matters.