What this feature is best used for
The bulk department editor is especially useful in scenarios where multiple users need to be reassigned quickly and consistently. Common use cases include:- Company mergers or acquisitions, where departments are being consolidated or restructured.
- Organizational changes, such as the creation of new departments or the reallocation of roles across teams.
- Mass onboarding, for example, when adding a large number of new hires to the system and assigning them to the correct departments.
- Corrections of incorrect department assignments made during initial setup or data import.
- Seasonal or project-based shifts, where employees may temporarily move between departments and need to be reassigned in bulk.
How to bulk edit user departments
To get started:- Go to Settings → Users.
- Use the Department filter to display users from a specific department.
- Once filtered, you can select all users within that department.
- Alternatively, select users manually by checking the boxes next to their names.
- Click Edit departments from the bulk action menu.
1. Assign departments
Use this option to add new departments to the selected users without removing any existing assignments.- Choose one or more departments from the dropdown.
- Existing department assignments will be retained.
- The selected departments will be added to each user.
- Click Save to confirm.
2. Overwrite departments
Use this option to replace all existing departments with a new selection.- Select the departments you want the users to belong to.
- All current department assignments will be overwritten.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
3. Remove departments
Use this option to remove specific departments from the selected users.- Select one or more departments you wish to remove.
- Any departments not selected will remain assigned to the users.
- Click Save to finalize the removal.
All changes made through the bulk edit function are applied immediately. Double-check your selections before saving.
More ways to manage departments
- Would you rather make changes for a single user? Learn how to edit user department assignments individually.
- Want to ensure that updates to department assignments in absentify are always in sync with your users’ Microsoft Entra ID group memberships?
Use the Microsoft Entra ID sync integration for automated, reliable alignment between systems.