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Update Documents
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The MongoDB shell provides the following methods to update documents in a collection:
To update a single document, use
db.collection.updateOne().To update multiple documents, use
db.collection.updateMany().To replace a document, use
db.collection.replaceOne().
The examples on this page reference the Atlas sample dataset. You can create a free Atlas cluster and populate that cluster with sample data to follow along with these examples. To learn more, see Get Started with Atlas.
Update Operator Syntax
To update a document, MongoDB provides
update operators, such
as $set, to modify field values.
To use the update operators, pass to the update methods an update document of the form:
{ <update operator>: { <field1>: <value1>, ... }, <update operator>: { <field2>: <value2>, ... }, ... }
Some update operators, such as $set, create the field if
the field does not exist. See the individual
update operator reference for
details.
Update a Single Document
Use the db.collection.updateOne() method to update the first
document that matches a specified filter.
Note
MongoDB preserves a natural sort order for documents. This ordering is an internal implementation feature, and you should not rely on any particular structure within it. To learn more, see natural order.
Example
To update the first document in the sample_mflix.movies
collection where title equals "Twilight":
use sample_mflix db.movies.updateOne( { title: "Twilight" }, { $set: { plot: "A teenage girl risks everything–including her life–when she falls in love with a vampire." }, $currentDate: { lastUpdated: true } })
The update operation:
Uses the
$setoperator to update the value of theplotfield for the movieTwilight.Uses the
$currentDateoperator to update the value of thelastUpdatedfield to the current date. IflastUpdatedfield does not exist,$currentDatewill create the field. See$currentDatefor details.
Update Multiple Documents
Use the db.collection.updateMany() to update all documents
that match a specified filter.
Example
To update all documents in the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews
collection to update where security_deposit is less than 100:
use sample_airbnb db.listingsAndReviews.updateMany( { security_deposit: { $lt: 100 } }, { $set: { security_deposit: 100, minimum_nights: 1 } } )
The update operation uses the $set operator to update the
value of the security_deposit field to 100 and the value of
the minimum_nights field to 1.
Replace a Document
To replace the entire content of a document except for the _id
field, pass an entirely new document as the second argument to
db.collection.replaceOne().
When replacing a document, the replacement document must contain only field/value pairs. Do not include update operators expressions.
The replacement document can have different fields from the original
document. In the replacement document, you can omit the _id field
since the _id field is immutable; however, if you do include the
_id field, it must have the same value as the current value.
Example
To replace the first document from the
sample_analytics.accounts collection where
account_id: 371138:
db.accounts.replaceOne( { account_id: 371138 }, { account_id: 893421, limit: 5000, products: [ "Investment", "Brokerage" ] } )
Run the following command to read your updated document:
db.accounts.findOne( { account_id: 893421 } )
Update Behavior
To learn more about the specific behavior of updating documents, see Behavior.
Learn More
To learn how to update documents using an aggregation pipeline, see Updates with Aggregation Pipeline.
To see all available methods to update documents, see Update Methods.