Update the lifecycle stage of contacts or companies in bulk

You can use a workflow or an import to change the lifecycle stage of your contacts or companies in bulk. Learn more about using lifecycle stages.

To manually update an individual record's lifecycle stage, learn how to edit a property value.

Update the lifecycle stage with an import

If you import a contact and don’t set their lifecycle stage, the contact’s lifecycle stage will be set automatically by HubSpot when they complete certain actions. To ensure a contact’s lifecycle stage is accurate when they are added to the CRM, or to update an existing contact's lifecycle stage, you can import a Lifecycle stage column.

Please note: you can only update a lifecycle stage forward with an import. If you want to set a lifecycle stage backwards, you will need to clear the records' lifecycle stage values before importing.

• Create a file with the following:
  • A column containing a unique identifier for the contacts or companies for which you want to change the lifecycle stage (Email for contacts, Company domain name for companies, Record ID or custom unique value property for either).
  • A column containing Lifecycle stage with the new values for the records. The values for Lifecycle stage must match either the stage's internal value or its label in English.
• In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Contacts.
• Click Import.
• Click Start an import, then select File from computer.
• Select Contacts or Companies as your import type, then click Next. 
• Select a file to import, then click Next.
• The Lifecycle Stage column should automatically match with the lifecycle stage property in HubSpot. 
• Click Next. 
• Enter a name for your import. If you're importing contacts:
  • Select the checkboxes to create a list of your contacts or set these contacts as marketing. 
  • If you have data privacy settings turned on, click the dropdown menu and select a legal basis for communicating with the contacts.
• Click Finish import.

Once the records have been imported, they will have their lifecycle stage changed to your selected lifecycle stage. Learn more about importing records.

Update the lifecycle stage with a workflow (Professional and Enterprise only)

When moving a lifecycle stage forward, you can use the Set property value workflow action to set a new lifecycle stage. When moving a lifecycle stage backwards, you'll first need to clear the property, then add another action to set a new lifecycle stage.

To set up a lifecycle stage workflow:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automations > Workflows.
• In the upper right, click Create workflow.
• Select Start from scratch, then click Create workflow.
• Depending on which records you'd like to update Lifecycle stage for, in the left panel, select Contact-based or Company-based.
• If you plan to leave the workflow running to continually set new lifecycle stages, learn how to choose your enrollment triggers. 
• Click the + plus icon to add a workflow action.
• To move a lifecycle stage forward:

• • In the right panel, select Set property value.
  • Click the Target property type dropdown menu and select Contact or Company.
  • Click the Property to set dropdown menu and select Lifecycle stage. Then, in the Lifecycle stage dropdown menu, select the lifecycle stage value you want to assign to your records.
  • Click Save.

• To move a lifecycle stage backwards:

• • In the right panel, select Clear property value.
  • Click the Target property type dropdown menu and select Contact or Company.
  • Click the Property to clear dropdown menu and select Lifecycle stage
  • Click Save.

• • With the Clear property value action added, click the + plus icon to add another workflow action.
  • In the right panel, select Set property value.
  • Click the Target property type dropdown menu and select Contact or Company.
  • Click the Property to set dropdown menu and select Lifecycle stage. Then, in the Lifecycle stage dropdown menu, select the lifecycle stage value you wish to assign to your records.
  • Click Save.

• Continue setting up your workflow.
• When you're ready to turn the workflow on, in the upper right, click Review, then click Turn on.

With the workflow enabled, enrolled records will now have their lifecycle stage set accordingly. Learn how to manually enroll a list of contacts in a workflow.