How to bulk update records based on their GUID?

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Posted on by KoJaPD

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Dear,

I have a table of which I want to update specific fields for specific records. I would like to be able to import a file (CSV/Excel) with the GUID of the record and the column to be edited.
However, it seems that the import module only accepts the "name" field (the primary name column) as the identifier field. Since the name field is not unique, it is not possible to use that field to find the record to update...

Is there any other way I can import a file to *update* existing records based on the GUID? Probably Power Automate would be a way, but there must be another more robust way, no?

Thanks,

Koen

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Microsoft Dataverse with Power Apps

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Prakash4691 1,332 on at

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Hi @KoenJanssensPD ,

Try creating an alternate key. In that you can't use GUID to validate but you can use other fields.

Attaching link for your reference.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/data-platform/define-alternate-keys-portal

If it answers your question, kindly give kudo and accept it as solution.

Regards,

Prakash

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ChrisPiasecki 6,422 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @KoenJanssensPD,

You can use the Edit in Excel feature to simply edit the records you want, then publish the changes back into Dataverse.

You can also use Advanced Find to query the set of records you want to edit, export to Excel, modify the records, then import back in.

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KoJaPD 597 on at

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Hi,
It strikes me that it would need yet another unique identifier when we already have a GUID that is specifically created to uniquely identify a record...

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KoJaPD 597 on at

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Hi,
If I have millions of records and I have identified (using Power Query) a few 100k records that I want to update (each with other data, on one ore more fields), I don't think I can use your method, or am I wrong?
I currently use Excel to fetch the data through odata to aggregate stuff. The output are only the rows that have to be updated; it would be "stupid" to output all x-millions records when only a (relative) small subset has to be updated...
I was just thinking, can I somehow write a (SQL) update script to run on the dataverse database?

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KoJaPD 597 on at

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I was thinking of something similar like the following SQL example query:
INSERT INTO account (accountid, DOB) VALUES (GUID1, '12082014'), (GUID2, '32165488'), (GUID3, '84654321'),
... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE accountid=VALUES(accountid), DOB=VALUES(DOB)

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Prakash4691 1,332 on at

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@KoenJanssensPD ,

If you need another unique identifier then alternate key is the option.

You can't use sql like queries in dataverse.

If it answers your question, kindly give kudo and accept it as solution.

Regards,

Prakash

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ChrisPiasecki 6,422 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @KoenJanssensPD,

Sorry, it was not clear in the description to me where your other data was coming from. When you say you are using OData to fetch your data, is this data from another system, or from Dataverse? Some more detail on your scenario would help us advise you.

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Karol_M 2 on at

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Similar question: I have 300000 records. Every week I have to update the decimal field in each record. How to do it the fastest?
Where will the source data be? I will adapt. Can be CSV, xls, SQL local...

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Gowri Halan 262 on at

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@KoenJanssensPD The Out of the Box Import feature(csv,excel) will not update the existing records. You can Check the below option.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/dataflows/overview-dataflows-across-power-platform-dynamics-365

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Fubar 8,338 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Generally speaking, the issue is that you are wanting to do an update and not a create - out of the box is really setup to create, and update where the record being updated was exported out in the same file you are updating.
There is a trick for the update as standard import (but it may not be suitable for your scenario)
Export to Excel from a View with the columns that you want to update, but set the criteria of the view so no records are updated (i.e. get an empty Excel file with column headers)
Unhide the first 3 columns (the do not modify ones)
Populate the 1st column with the GUID of the record to update
Leave the 2nd column (checksum) empty
Populate the 3rd column with the current Modified Date (from Dataverse) of the record being updated
Update the other columns with the data you want updated
Import the file.
(note: you will get errors if the Modified On date is not in the 3rd column)

Alternatively use:
Flow
Dataflow
Write a .NET console app to do the update
3rd party tool such as KingswaySoft SSIS toolkit or one from another vendor.

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