Bulk Edit Profiles via Upload

IN THIS ARTICLE:

This article guides you through the process of updating multiple People Profiles at scale by exporting the grid to Excel, making changes in the spreadsheet, and uploading it back to apply updates. This is separate from the in-app bulk update (Actions → Edit Selected / Edit All), which applies the same field value to all selected profiles. The Excel upload workflow lets you make different changes to different profiles in a single operation.

WHO CAN PERFORM:

Bulk Upload Profiles is protected by the Bulk Edit Entity Profiles permission. Users also need View People Profiles to access the Entity Profiles tab.

Overview

The Bulk Edit Profiles via Excel upload workflow follows four steps: Export → Edit in Excel → Upload → Run. Updates are matched using NameID, which is the unique identifier for each profile and is required in every row of the uploaded file.

Step 1: Export the Grid

  1. Navigate to Matter Analytics → Entity Profiles.
  2. Clear or set filters as needed to scope the profiles you want to update.
  3. Click the Export button on the grid toolbar.

Recommendation: Use the Export button on the grid rather than Actions → Export Profile Data. The grid export better reflects editable fields and reduces the likelihood of including unsupported columns.

  1. Open the exported Excel file.

Step 2: Edit in Excel

Modify only fields that are editable in the UI. The following rules apply:

Editable fields include Function, Title, Company, Organization, Primary Email, Professional Suffix, Verified, Key, Custodian, and any custom fields configured for the workspace.

Fields that are silently ignored if edited in the upload file (no warning shown):

  • Display Name
  • Email Address
  • Docs
  • Top Level Hits
  • Name Variant Count
  • Email Domains
  • Communications
  • User Name
  • Last Build Updated
  • Top Level To Count
  • Top Level From Count
  • Top Level CC Count
  • Top Level BCC Count
  • Potential Auto-Mailer

Fields that trigger a validation error if included:

  • Email (use Primary Email instead)

Required but not editable:

  • NameID (required for matching — cannot be modified)

Rule of thumb: If a field is system-generated, analytics-derived, or not editable in the Entity Profiles UI, it is not eligible for bulk update.

Step 3: Upload and Run

  1. Back in Entity Profiles, click Actions → Bulk Edit Profiles.
  2. Upload the edited Excel file.
  3. Click Run.

A success message indicates the job has started. Open the Job Dashboard to monitor progress.

Step 4: Review Results

Navigate to the Job Dashboard (History tab) and click the report icon next to the Bulk Update job to view the Bulk Update Report. The report shows each profile's update status.

Job Statuses

Completed — All rows were successfully updated.

Partially Completed — Some rows were updated, but others had validation errors. Valid rows are applied; invalid rows appear as Pending in the report.

Correcting Pending Rows (Requeue)

If a job completes partially:

  1. In the Bulk Update Report, click the requeue icon to open the spreadsheet view.
  2. Invalid cells are highlighted. Display Name and Email Address appear but are disabled and cannot be edited.
  3. Correct the invalid values.
  4. Click Save and Resubmit.
  5. The job should move to Completed, and previously Pending rows should now show as Updated.

Common Validation Errors

  • Misspelled choice field values (e.g., "Clien" instead of "Client" for Function)
  • Missing NameID in a row
  • Including an "Email" column instead of "Primary Email"
  • Values that don't match the expected field type