How to Update Clients via Bulk Actions

The **Update Clients** action type changes the group, status, type, language, or organization on every client your search filters return. You set the new values once, preview the clients the action will touch, then run it now or schedule it for later.

### Overview

- **What it does:** Applies the values you save in **Update Group**, **Update Status**, **Update Type**, **Update Language**, and **Update Organization** to the clients returned by the **Search Clients** card.
- **Why it matters:** Reassigning a caseload or restandardizing client types one record at a time is slow and inconsistent. One action applies the same change across the whole filtered list.
- **Who uses it:** Staff whose role can create and update bulk actions, plus super admins.
- **Expected outcome:** The status badge reaches complete, the client count heading shows the final number, and the creator receives a completion email.

Your agency can rename labels such as client in the **Data Labels** section of **Admin** > **Settings**, so some field names in your agency may read differently from the ones below.

#### The Update Fields

The **Bulk Action Settings** card shows five fields once the **Action Type** is **Update Clients**. Every one of them starts blank, so you fill in only the values you want to change.

| Field | Control | Where the options come from |
|---|---|---|
| **Update Group** | Dropdown | The **Default Groups** list in **Admin** > **Settings** plus the groups already in use on your clients |
| **Update Status** | Dropdown | Statuses with the type client, created in **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**. The field is hidden when your agency has none |
| **Update Type** | Text field | Free text, so you can enter any client type your agency uses |
| **Update Language** | Dropdown | The languages enabled in the **Languages** section of **Admin** > **Settings** |
| **Update Organization** | Dropdown | The organizations in **Admin** > **Settings** > **Organizations** |

### Prerequisites

- A role that can create and update bulk actions (**Create Bulk Actions** and **Update Bulk Actions**), or super admin access
- The correct agency selected, since a bulk action only sees that agency's clients
- The values you want to apply already set up, such as a client status in **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses** or an organization in **Admin** > **Settings** > **Organizations**
- Clients in the agency for your filters to match

### How-To Steps

1. Click **Bulk Actions** in the top navigation.
2. Enter a name in the **Action Name** field on the **Create Bulk Action** card.
3. Select **Update Clients** from the **Action Type** dropdown.
4. Click **Create** to open the new action's edit page.
5. Select a group from the **Update Group** dropdown in the **Bulk Action Settings** card, or leave it blank.
6. Select a status from the **Update Status** dropdown, or leave it blank.
7. Enter a client type in the **Update Type** field, or leave it blank.
8. Select a language from the **Update Language** dropdown, or leave it blank.
9. Select an organization from the **Update Organization** dropdown, or leave it blank.
10. Click **Save** to store the update fields on the action.
11. Set **Limit** on the **Search Clients** card to cap how many clients the action returns.
12. Apply the filters that describe the clients you want, such as **Client Status**, **Client Type**, **Assigned Users**, and the pills under the **Client Groups** and **Client Organizations** counts.
13. Click **Search** to save the action and refresh the preview.
14. Read the client count heading above the results table, which shows the number of previewed clients out of the total match.
15. Click the green check in the **INCLUDE** column beside any client you want to leave out, turning it into a red exclude marker.
16. Click **Live Run** to apply the updates immediately.
17. Click **Schedule Run** instead to open the **Schedule Bulk Action** window, set a **Scheduled Date** and **Scheduled Time**, then click **Schedule Run** to confirm.
18. Watch the status badge below the client count to follow the run.

### What to Expect

Creating the action takes you straight to its edit page, where **Limit** already holds 1000 unless your agency has set a **Default Bulk Actions Limit** under **Admin** > **Settings**. The update fields have no automatic save, so click **Save** (or **Search**, which also saves) after you set them. Changing a filter saves the action and refreshes the preview on its own.

The preview table loads 25 clients at a time with a **Load more** button, while the heading counts every client the filters match. The run uses the full filtered set, not just the rows on screen, minus anything you excluded.

A live run moves the status from dispatching to processing to complete, and the **Live Run** and **Schedule Run** buttons disappear once the action has run. A scheduled run stays in scheduled until the scheduled time arrives. When the run finishes, the creator receives a completion email listing the total clients and the action type.

### Best Practices

- Set a small **Limit** for a first pass, confirm the change on a few client records, then raise the limit and run the action again.
- Click **Search** and read the client count before every run, since the filters decide exactly which records change.
- Leave a field blank rather than reselecting the value it already holds, so the action touches only what you intend to change.
- Click **CLIENTS CSV** to download the preview before you run, since the file carries an include column marking each row Y or N.
- Click **Save Template** on an update you repeat each cycle, so it appears under **Saved Templates** on the **Bulk Templates** tab.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I change more than one field in a single action?**

A: Yes. Fill in as many of the five update fields as you need and click **Save**. Leave a field blank to leave that value alone.

**Q: Why is Update Type a text field instead of a dropdown?**

A: **Update Type** accepts free text, so you can enter any client type your agency uses, including a new one. The **Client Type** filter on the **Search Clients** card lists the types already in use.

**Q: How many client organizations can I filter on?**

A: Three. Clicking a fourth pill under the **Client Organizations** count shows the message "You can select up to 3 organizations" and leaves your selection unchanged. The **Client Groups** pills have no such cap.

**Q: Can I undo an update after it runs?**

A: There is no undo button. Create a second **Update Clients** action that sets the fields back to the previous values, which is why a small **Limit** on the first run is worth the extra step.

**Q: Can I run the same action again?**

A: Yes. Once the status reaches complete, open the **Tools** dropdown and click **Replay**. **Replay** reschedules the action for the current time and runs it again with the same settings.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The **Update Status** dropdown is missing.

**Symptoms:** **Update Group**, **Update Type**, **Update Language**, and **Update Organization** appear in **Bulk Action Settings**, but there is no **Update Status** field.

**Solution:**

1. Go to **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**.
2. Create a status with the type client on the **Create Status** card.
3. Reopen the bulk action, where **Update Status** now appears.

**Issue:** The **Live Run** and **Schedule Run** buttons are gone.

**Symptoms:** The action has already run, and no run buttons sit above the client list.

**Solution:**

1. Open the **Tools** dropdown at the top of the page.
2. Click **Replay**, which appears once the status is complete, failed, canceled, or dispatching.
3. Confirm the prompt to reschedule the action for the current time and run it again.

**Issue:** The client count is higher than the number of rows in the table.

**Symptoms:** The heading reads something like 25 of 1,340 Clients, but only 25 rows appear.

**Solution:**

1. Click **Load more** below the table to page through the rest of the preview.
2. Set **Limit** on the **Search Clients** card to cap how many clients the action processes.
3. Click **Search** to save the new limit and refresh the count.

If you still have trouble after these steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How Bulk Actions Work](/how-bulk-actions-work)
- [How to Manage Client Groups](/how-to-manage-client-groups)
- [How to manage organizations](/how-to-manage-organizations)
- [How to manage statuses](/how-to-manage-statuses)
- [How to Assign Users via Bulk Actions](/how-to-assign-users-via-bulk-actions)
- [How to Schedule Recurring Bulk Actions](/how-to-schedule-recurring-bulk-actions)