Need to bump everyone’s rates, move a group of people onto new projects, archive a batch of clients, or update dozens of invoices at once? Bulk Actions lets you set up a change once, preview exactly what will happen to every record, and apply it in a single pass.

The most important thing to know up front: nothing changes until you click Apply. Every bulk action walks you through a preview first, so you always see the outcome before you commit.

Who can use Bulk Actions

Bulk Actions is an administrator tool. You also need the specific permission for what you’re trying to do — for example, permission to manage rates, people, projects, clients, or invoices. If you already have access to that area in Harvest, you’ll have access to the matching bulk action. See Permissions for more.

Note: Bulk Actions is rolling out gradually, so it may not appear for every admin right away, and not every action may be visible in your account at the same time.

Where to find it

Go to Settings and choose Bulk actions. You’ll see available actions grouped by what they affect — people, projects, clients, invoices, and rates.

How a bulk action works

Every bulk action follows the same steps. A progress indicator at the top shows where you are:

1. Action — Pick what you want to do.
2. Select — Filter and choose the records to include.
3. Configure — Set the details of the change once.
4. Preview — Review exactly what will happen to each record.
5. Apply — Confirm, and Harvest makes the changes.

You can move back and forth between steps as you fine-tune things. Each run handles one action at a time.

The Preview step — your safety net

The Preview is read-only — looking at it never changes anything. For every record you selected, you’ll see:

• Records that will change, with the outcome spelled out.
• Records that can’t be changed, flagged with a plain-language reason — they’ll be skipped and won’t block the rest of the batch.
• A summary at the top with totals so you can sanity-check the scope.

You can edit individual rows or remove rows you’d rather leave out before you apply.

Note: When you click Apply, Harvest re-checks each record’s current state at that moment. If something changed since you built the preview, Harvest works from the latest reality — not a stale snapshot.

What happens when you apply

Knowing this upfront helps if you’re nervous about pressing the button:

• Partial results are normal. Some rows may be applied, others skipped (nothing to do or blocked in preview), and others failed (something went wrong for that row). You’ll see a reason for each.
• Destructive actions ask you to confirm. Archiving, deleting, and similar actions show a confirmation dialog with specific warnings before anything is applied. Some actions ask you to type a word (such as “archive” or “delete”) to confirm.
• Every run is saved to history so you can review what happened later.
• Recovery is not universal. Some actions offer a recovery option from history (see below). There is no single “undo everything” button for all bulk actions.
• Previews expire. After a few hours of inactivity, an in-progress preview may disappear and you’ll need to rebuild it. Applied runs in history are not affected.

Need a hand mid-flow?

If you’re partway through and want reassurance, use the in-context help link in the wizard header (next to Share feedback). It opens this guide in a new tab without closing the wizard or losing your selections.

What you can do

People and rates

Set rates — Change billable or cost rates for a group of people. Fixed amount or percentage change; default rate and/or specific projects; effective date you choose. See Setting billable rates and Setting and editing cost rates.

Assign to projects — Add people to one or more projects, optionally as project managers. Already-assigned pairs are skipped. See How do I assign a person to multiple projects?

Remove from projects — Soft removal: assignments are deactivated, not deleted, and past time entries are preserved. A running timer on that project can block removal for that row.

Archive people — Deactivate teammates. Archived people are removed from active project assignments and any running timers are stopped. You cannot archive yourself or the account owner. See Archiving, deleting, and restoring people.

Projects and tasks

Archive projects — Archive projects you no longer need. Projects with a running timer are skipped. Archived projects can be reactivated later.

Update projects — Change project type (Time & Materials, Fixed Fee, or Non-billable), bill-by method, or project rate. Only the fields you set change; everything else stays the same.

Add tasks to projects — Assign existing tasks to multiple projects. Tasks already on a project are skipped or reactivated as needed.

Remove tasks from projects — Remove tasks from projects. Where time has already been tracked, assignments are deactivated rather than deleted so reporting history is preserved.

Clients

Archive clients — Archive clients you no longer work with. Clients that still have active projects are skipped until those projects are archived or reassigned. See Create and edit clients and client contacts.

Invoices

Update invoices — Change due date, payment terms, issue date, sent date, or write-off note on selected invoices. Only rows you edit in the preview change.

Mark as sent — Move draft invoices to open and record a sent date.

Record payment — Mark open invoices as paid by recording a full payment for the outstanding balance (with payment date and optional notes).

Write off invoices — Write off open invoices with a note you provide.

Delete invoices — Permanent. Deleted invoices cannot be recovered through Bulk Actions. Billed time and expenses on those invoices become uninvoiced again. Linked QuickBooks or Xero records are not removed in the accounting integration. Invoices with a payment in progress are skipped.

Made a mistake? About recovery

Some actions offer a recovery option from your run history — for example reactivating archived people or clients, removing assignments you just added, or rolling back a rate change. Important things to know:

• Recovery is not a one-click undo. It builds a new preview for you to review and apply, just like any other bulk action.
• Recovery is only offered while affected records still match what the original run produced. If someone changed those records since, recovery may be unavailable or partial.
• Reactivating people does not automatically restore project assignments, pins, or other settings removed during archive. Reactivation may also be blocked if your plan’s people limit is reached.
• Delete invoices and some other changes have no automatic recovery.

Good to know (limits)

• Selection lists show up to 200 records at a time; many option pickers also cap at 200.
• Add tasks to projects accepts up to 50 tasks per preview.
• Previews are temporary and can expire after a few hours of inactivity.

Frequently asked questions

Will anything change before I click Apply?

No. Selecting, configuring, and previewing never change anything. Harvest only makes changes when you click Apply.

What if only some rows succeed?

That’s expected. You’ll get a result for every row: applied, skipped, or failed, each with a reason. Successful rows still go through even if others fail.

Why are some rows skipped?

Common reasons: already in the desired state, blocked by a business rule (active projects on a client, running timer, wrong invoice status), missing permission, or plan limits. The preview shows the reason before you apply.

Can I undo a bulk action?

Not with one click. Some actions offer recovery from history, which creates a new preview. Permanent actions like delete invoices cannot be undone this way.

Will my team be notified?

Bulk Actions does not send a separate email announcement when you apply changes. Normal Harvest behavior still applies (for example, invoice state changes follow your usual invoice workflow).

I don’t see Bulk actions in Settings. What’s wrong?

Bulk Actions is admin-only, each action needs matching permissions, and the feature is still rolling out gradually. See Permissions.

My preview disappeared. Did I lose my work?

Previews expire after inactivity. Rebuild the preview if needed. Anything you already applied is safe in your run history.