Document editor and bulk changes

The document editor opens a document as mongosh text, so every BSON type stays exact: ObjectId(), ISODate(), NumberDecimal(), NumberLong(), UUID(), BinData() and the rest. A save only replaces the document if nobody changed it since you opened it. Bulk update and bulk delete work on every document that matches the collection view’s filter, and count them before anything changes.

Edit a document

1. In the collection view, hover a document and choose Edit.
2. Change the text in the Edit document dialog. Syntax errors are marked with their line and column as you type.
3. Choose Save.

{
  _id: ObjectId('66f1c0a2e4b0a1b2c3d4e5f6'),
  name: 'Oak dining chair',
  price: NumberDecimal('189.00'),
  addedAt: ISODate('2026-03-14T09:30:00Z')
}

Ctrl + Enter (Cmd + Enter on macOS) in the editor also saves.

When someone changed the document meanwhile

The save is a replace that only happens while the stored document still equals the one you opened. If someone changed it in the meantime, nothing is saved. The dialog says “Someone changed this document after you opened it; it was not saved” and shows their current version. Then:

• Reload their version drops your edit and loads the current document.
• Overwrite with mine… asks “Overwrite the newer version?” and, if you choose Overwrite, replaces their version with yours.
• Cancel closes the editor.

When a validator refuses the document

If the collection has a validator and the document breaks it, the error lists each failed rule with its field, and the editor stays open.

Insert, clone and delete

• Insert in the toolbar opens an empty Insert document dialog.
• Clone opens a copy without its _id; the server gives the new document its own.
• Delete always asks “Delete this document?” and shows the deleteOne command first.

Bulk update

1. Set the filter in the collection view to the documents you want to change.
2. Choose Bulk update…. The dialog shows the filter.
3. Enter the update: operators such as { $set: { status: 'shipped' } }, or a pipeline.
4. Choose Count matches. This is a dry run: it reports how many documents match, for example “75 documents match (dry run: nothing changed yet)”.
5. Choose Update 75 documents…. The confirmation shows the exact updateMany command; choose Update to run it.

When it finishes, the dialog reports how many documents were updated out of those matched. Changing the update text after counting clears the count, so you count again before running.

Bulk delete

Choose Bulk delete…. The dialog counts the documents matching the current filter straight away, then offers Delete n documents…. The confirmation shows the exact deleteMany command; choose Delete to run it.

Data loss

Bulk update and bulk delete act on every document the filter matches, not only the ones loaded in the view. They always ask for confirmation, on every connection. A read-only connection does not offer them.

Write rules

Connection	What happens
Read-only	Documents can be viewed and copied, not changed.
Production, or confirm writes	Every write shows its command and asks before it runs.
Any	Deletes, bulk updates and drops always ask first.

Related

• Collection view and query bar
• Schema analysis and validators
• Command console