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bulk-modify-work-items.md

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title Edit user stories and other work items in bulk
titleSuffix Azure Boards
description Learn how to make the same change to many work items in Azure Boards using the bulk modify feature in Azure Boards.
ms.service azure-devops-boards
ms.custom boards-backlogs, linked-from-support, copilot-scenario-highlight
ms.assetid 152CAFE0-2360-470A-98AC-F613A67C24D2
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ms.topic tutorial
monikerRange <= azure-devops
ms.date 01/13/2026

Modify work items in bulk in Azure Boards

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

Use bulk modify when you need to quickly make the same change to many work items. For example, you might want to change the priority of several bugs or reassign several tasks to the same team member. Use the web portal to quickly modify one or more fields for work items that contain the same value.

Tip

To add work items in bulk or update multiple fields with different values, use CSV Import. You can't complete a bulk add of work items through the web portal.

By using bulk modify, you can edit fields and add or remove tags. You can also reassign work or move work to a specific sprint. You can also use bulk modify to change the work item type or move work items to other projects. The options available to you depend on the platform you work from and the permissions assigned to you.

[!INCLUDE ai-assistance-mcp-server-tip]

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE prerequisites]

Supported tasks

Team members in the Contributors group can complete the following tasks. Members with Stakeholder access can run multi-select, bulk edit, change type, email, and copy as HTML/copy to clipboard actions. For more information, see Get started as a Stakeholder.

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

:::row::: :::column span="1"::: Area :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Task :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

:::row::: :::column span="1"::: Multi-select work items
:::column-end::: :::column span="1":::

Note

  • You can't perform certain functions on work items whose work item types belong to the hidden types category. This category includes all work items that track tests (such as test cases, shared steps, and shared parameters), code review requests and responses, and feedback requests and responses.
  • You can choose to copy or clone a single work item from a query results list or from the Actions menu of the work item form. You can only perform a clone or copy action for a single work item. Select Copy work item when you want to create a copy of a work item and change its work item type. Select Clone when you want to create another instance of the work item without changes to its work item type.
  • Be a member of the Project Administrators group or be granted explicit permissions to Move work items.

::: moniker-end


Edit multiple work items in bulk

To start a bulk edit, multi-select the work items you want to modify. Select them from query results or the backlog. You can craft your query using the query editor or search box. For more information, see Define a work item query.

Multi-select of work items on the backlog and sprint backlogs works in the same way as multi-select works within query results.

Use bulk modify by selecting work items from the backlog page or query results list. From the backlog page context menu, change the backlog priority of several items: Change position or Move to iteration. Then, assign them to a team member, move them to a different sprint, or map them to a feature.

The menu options available to you change depending on the platform you work from and whether you work from a backlog page or query results list.

:::row::: :::column span="1"::: Backlog menu

:::image type="content" source="media/bulk-m-backlog-menu-options-ts.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Backlog multi-select menu."::: :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Query results multi-select menu

:::image type="content" source="media/bulk-m-query-results-menu-options-ts.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Query results multi-select menu."::: :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

Select multiple items and open the context menu

To select several items in a sequence, select the first item of the sequence, hold down Shift, and select the last item of the sequence. To select several nonsequential items, hold down Ctrl and select the items to be selected one after the other. You can either drag the selected items to a new position within the backlog or to a different sprint if the Planning side pane is enabled.

To open the context menu, select (:::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/actions-icon.png" border="false":::) or (:::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/context_menu.png":::), and then choose the option from the menu.

This example uses the context menu to move several nonsequential items to the current sprint.

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

:::image type="content" source="media/bulk-modify/move-iteration.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Product backlog context menu, where you can move several backlog items to a different iteration.":::

::: moniker-end

Tip

Use the backlog Create Query feature to create a query with the backlog items. You can then open the query within the web portal or Excel to perform additional bulk updates.

Reassign work items

Select work items, open the context menu for any selected item, and reassign all of them. You can assign them to a member of your team or to another sprint or iteration at the same time.

:::image type="content" source="media/bulk-modify/assign-from-query.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Queries Results page where a context menu can assign work items to a team member.":::

For more information about the Assign To and Iteration Path fields, see Workflow and board fields and Query by area or iteration path.

Edit one or more fields

To assign or modify several fields, choose Edit from the context menu of one of the selected work items. Enter a value for each field that you want to update.

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

  1. For audit purposes, add a description for your bulk update task. For more information about each field, see the Work item field index.

    :::image type="content" source="media/bulk-modify/edit-work-items-new-text-editor.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Edit work items dialog.":::

  2. From the Query results page, save all work items that you bulk-modified. When you bulk modify items from the backlog, the process automatically saves them. Work items shown in bold text indicate that local changes aren't saved to the data store. The Save items button might be in a different place in the UI than shown in the following picture, depending on the layout of your browser and the specific version in use.

    :::image type="content" source="media/bulk-modify/query-results-bulk-save-items.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Query results page with Save items selected.":::

::: moniker-end

[!INCLUDE move work items to sprint]

Modify rich-text fields in bulk

Rich-text fields support entry of HTML syntax tags to support formatting. Rich-text fields correspond to the Description, Acceptance Criteria, Repos Steps, and others listed in Example queries for select fields.

You can bulk update a rich-text field by using the bulk modify tool, selecting the field, and entering the text with syntax in the Value field. Or, you can create a work item template with the text you want to use and complete a bulk update by applying the template to the selected work items. For more information, see Use work item templates.

For an example using templates showing entry of HTML formatted syntax, see Sample work item templates, Add guidance in a rich-text field.

Modify tags in bulk

From the Edit work items dialog, select Tags (Add) or Tags (Remove).

This example adds the Service tag to the selected work items.

:::image type="content" source="media/bulk-modify/edit-tags-dialog.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Edit work items dialog where you can add tags.":::

Migrate or change a large number of work items

For large scale, organizational moves, use the REST API calls for Work item batch operations.

At this time, you can't move work items to a different organization or collection. You can only migrate work item information by exporting and then importing them by using Excel.

Add multiple values to a field

If you implemented a custom control that supports multiple values, you can use Excel to bulk edit the field. You can't modify it by using the web portal. You can only select a single value for the field.

Use AI to bulk modify work items

If you configure the Azure DevOps MCP Server, you can describe bulk changes in natural language instead of selecting and editing items manually.

Task Example prompt
Reassign items copilot-prompt Reassign all active user stories in Sprint 12 from <Jamal> to <Raisa> in project <Contoso>
Change priority copilot-prompt Set priority to 1 for all bugs tagged "regression" in project <Contoso>
Add tags in bulk copilot-prompt Add tag "security-review" to all active work items in area path <Contoso\\Auth>
Move items to a sprint copilot-prompt Move all uncommitted user stories from Sprint 5 to Sprint 6 in project <Contoso>
Close completed items copilot-prompt Close all resolved bugs in <Contoso> that have been resolved for more than 14 days
Bulk update area paths copilot-prompt Move all work items in area path <Contoso\\OldTeam> to <Contoso\\NewTeam>
Remove stale tags copilot-prompt Remove tag "sprint-goal" from all work items in completed sprints in project <Contoso>
Set story points copilot-prompt Set story points to 3 for all user stories in <Contoso> that are sized as Small and have no story points
Bulk assign to iteration copilot-prompt Assign all unparented tasks in <Contoso\\Backend> to the current sprint
Update multiple fields copilot-prompt For all active bugs in area path <Contoso\\Frontend>, set priority to 2 and add tag "frontend-triage"

Note

If you're using Visual Studio Code, agent mode is especially helpful for complex bulk operations.

Related content

To add fields or customize a work item form, see Customize your work tracking experience. The method you use depends on the process model that supports your project.