CRM Hack #3: How to update formula functions for already created records.

CRM Hack #3: How to update formula functions for already created records.

Hello everyone!

 

It’s Wednesday and we are back with yet another hack.. 

 

I'm sure you've used formula fields to meet some requirements specific to your business. Let's consider an example each for external (customer-facing) and internal facing scenarios where you'd have used formula fields. 

 

i) You are an insurance company and have added a formula to determine the age of your customers to check eligibility for a particular policy. 

ii) You have over a hundred potentials and have created a formula to calculate the commission for your sales representative based on the amount in the potential and stage.

 

Now, in both these cases, you'd want to apply to the earlier records as well, right? Here's a simple hack that lets you do update the formula to the records already created.

 

1. Click on the tools icon at the top right corner and go to Setup.



2. Go to the module concerned, say Leads.




3 You'll find a list of new fields that can be used inside the layout on the left side panel. Select the check box, and drag and drop the field inside the layout and rename it appropriately and save the layout. 





4.Go to leads and select the records that are already available using the corresponding checkbox and click on the three dots at the top. Now,select mass update for the checkbox field that you created .



 




What happens now is a mass update of all the records triggering the formula action as well.


PS: Please note that you can only mass update up to 500 records at a time, by selecting 100 records and navigating to the next 5 pages thus selecting 500 in total.

 

 

Try this and let me know if it helped! Until next Wednesday!


PS: Edit to the post. Initially we had the option to update the formula field based on a field update, but this would update the formula field every time when a record is updated. Hence, now to update a formula field you have to make sure the field to be updated must be invoked with the formula field. Here is a example based on a user a requirement. I have a checkbox field called "Mass update check" In order for the formula field to update based on the checkbox field I have to invoke this field within the formula. Here is the formula with the "Mass update check" check box field invoked.

If(Tostring(${Candidates.Mass update check})=='true',Abs(Datecomp(${Candidates.Candidate Updated Time},${Candidates.Phone screen complete}))/24/60,0)

Check and let us know if you have any further clarification.





    • Sticky Posts

    • How to reach the official Zoho Support channels and avoid fake ones.

      Dear Customers, Thanks a lot for choosing Zoho! Our applications are built to help achieve your day-to-day business goals. We are committed to engaging with you, to understand and develop solutions that enhance your productivity.  We are happy and ready to help you use our services effectively. Understanding and avoiding fake support Just like using popular bank names and financial applications for phishing purposes, using Zoho and claiming to be providing Zoho Support or services with false numbers
    • Function #35: Close all tasks associated with a lead and create a new task.

      Welcome back everyone! Last week, we learnt how to close all tasks of a deal depending upon the deal stage. This week, let's look at a custom function that lets you close all of the tasks associated with a lead while simultaneously creating a new task, like when you need to halt all progress towards a lead while the lead is not available at the moment but create a reminder task. Business scenario: The success of a company, in one way or another, is determined by the leads it gets. Each lead is just
    • Zoho CRM Webinar - Redesigning Daily User Experiences with Canvas

      <br> Your users across roles use the CRM for day-to-day tasks that are necessary. Whether they perform their tasks on time, the right way, or at all depends on a lot of factors, including User Experience. Many businesses struggle with rigid layouts,
    • Join us at the Canada ZUG Meetup: What’s New in Zoho CRM

      Hello Zoho Community! Start your year with fresh insights into Zoho CRM’s latest updates and tools. Whether you're a CRM beginner or a experienced user, this meetup is crafted to help you optimise your processes and leverage new features. Explore practical
    • CRM Hack #2: Automate sending of birthday greetings to your customers.

        Hello everyone! What sets you apart as a sales person is your ability to add that personal touch to your business relationship with your customers. Sending a gift on a special day, or leaving a note wishing them on their birthdays, are small, yet significant actions that show your customers that you care. And these are actions done without any expectations :) You must be engaging with a lot of customers and it is highly unlikely that they all are your friends on Facebook or some social channel,
    • Recent Topics

    • Create an Eye-Catching Announcement Widget for Your Help Center

      Hello Everyone! In this week’s edition, let’s explore how to keep your customers updated with exciting news in the Help Center. See how ZylkerMobile wowed their customers by bringing updates right to their portal. ZylkerMobile, the renowned brand for
    • New 2026 Application Themes

      Love the new themes - shame you can't get a little more granular with the colours, ie 3 different colours so one for the dropdown menu background. Also, I did have our logo above the application name but it appears you can't change logo placement position
    • Zoho Desk: Macro to assign Ticket to self

      Hello, We are using macros in Zoho Desk to set some fields and send a response. I would also like to assign the ticket to myself (or whoever applies the macro). I can only set a fixed agent in the macro, so I would have to create one for every agent.
    • Turn off Knowlege Base Follow options and Follower lists

      Is there a way to hide or turn off the option in the Knowledge Base for users to follow specific departments/categories/sections/articles? If not, is there a way to turn off the public list of followers for each of those things? Otherwise, customer names
    • Enterprise Data management solutions

      I'm on the hunt for the perfect Data management solution for my organization. I've been doing a ton of research across different websites, but honestly, it's just left me more confused! A friend suggested I check here, so I'm hoping someone can point
    • New Feature: Audit Log in Zoho Bookings

      Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re excited to introduce Audit Log, a new feature designed to help you track all key actions related to your appointments. With Audit Log, you can maintain transparency, strengthen security, and ensure accountability.
    • Automated Task reminder

      First question: If a task does not have a reminder set, will it still send an email notification that the task is due today? If not, how can I set up an automated reminder to send the task owner an email that it is due on a certain date?
    • Zoho Support - contract notifications

      Hi, I have a few questions about using Zoho support. Is there a way to add custom contract notifications like (90 days before expiry send notification e-mail to agent and customer, then another 60 days before expiry and another 30 days.). And is it possible
    • Super Admin Logging in as another User

      How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are working
    • Kaizen #230 - Smart Discount-Based Quote Approvals Using CRM Functions and Approval Process

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Kaizen series! Discount approvals are a standard part of sales governance. Most organizations need something like this: Discount % Required Action < 10% Auto-approve 10–19.99% Sales Manager approval ≥ 20% VP Sales approval
    • How to create a new Batch and update Stock via Inventory?

      Hi everyone, We are building an automation where a user enters batch details (Batch Number, Mfg Date, Expiry, and Quantity) into a Custom Module. I need this to trigger an API call to Zoho Inventory to: Create the new batch for the item. Increase the
    • OAuth2 Scope Error - Incorrectly defaulting to CRM instead of Analytics.

      Hello Zoho Team, I am trying to connect n8n to Zoho Analytics API V2 for a simple automation project. Despite using the correct Analytics-specific scopes, my OAuth handshake is failing with a CRM-related error. The Problem: The authorization screen shows:
    • Is it possible to create a meeting in Zoho Crm which automatically creates a Google Meet link?

      We are using Google's own "Zoho CRM for Google" integration and also Zoho's "Google Apps Sync" tools, but none of them provide us with the ability to create a meeting in Zoho CRM that then adds a Google Meet link into the meeting. Is this something that
    • Trigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added

      Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no trigger
    • How can I link Products in a Deal Subform to the Products Module

      Hello, I have a pricing subform on our Deals page and use a lookup field to associate a product with each line. I want to be able to look at a product page within the Products module and see a list of the deals connected to that product. I have this working
    • Email Field Validation Incorrectly Rejects RFC-Compliant Addresses (Forward Slashes)

      I've encountered a validation issue with Zoho Creator's Email field that rejects RFC-compliant email addresses containing forward slashes, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue When entering an email address containing
    • Call result pop up on call when call ends

      I’d like to be able to create a pop up that appears after a call has finished that allows me to select the Call Result. I'm using RingCentral. I have seen from a previous, now locked, thread on Zoho Cares that this capability has been implemented, but
    • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

      I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",
    • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

      I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",
    • Payment system for donations management

      I manage an organization where we receive donations from payers. Hence, there is no need to first create invoices and then create payments received against the invoices. What are the recommended best practices to do this in ZohoBooks?
    • Recording the deducted TDS on advance received from Customer (Zoho Books India)

      Hi, How can we record the tds that has been deducted by my customer for the advance that he has paid to me. 1) My customer has paid Rs 10000 to me as advance (Rs 9800 as cash and deducted Rs 200 as TDS). I am not able to record the tds that has been deducted
    • Changing Account Type in Chart of Accounts

      Does anyone know how to change/edit the account type for an Account name in Chart of Accounts. Zoho will not let me do this for some reason
    • Bulk bank rule creatioin

      Hi team, I am exploring Option to create a multiple bank rule. Could please suggest the option to implement this?
    • The Social Wall: January 2026

      Hello everyone, We’re back with the first edition of The Social Wall of 2026. There’s a lot planned for the year ahead, and we’re starting with a few useful features and improvements released in January to help you get started. Create a GBP in Social
    • Zoho books aide

      Bonjour, je rencontre un problème avec Zoho Books. J’ai effectué une demande de support via l’interface prévue à cet effet, mais je n’ai jamais de retour. Je ne reçois ni email de confirmation, ni information concernant la prise en charge de ma demande,
    • Smart Data, Smarter Contracts — Ensuring Consistency Between Metadata and Documents

      In contract management, data accuracy is not just a nice-to-have—it is essential. A single mismatch between what your system shows and what is written in the contract can ripple into approval delays, compliance risks, and broken trust in your data. Imagine
    • Join Zoho Meeting only via Web browser and not with Zoho Meeting App

      Dear Zoho team, according to the documentation [1], Zoho Meeting only offers web view for Chrome and Firefox on a desktop. For other browsers and devices, participants can only join a Zoho Meaning with the Zoho Meeting App installed. This is a big hurdle
    • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

      Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),
    • Auto tagging

      Some of the articles I enter into Notebook get there when I enter them in Raindrop.io and IFTTT copies the articles in Notebook. When this happens the notes are tagged but instead of useful one word tags with topic the tag pertains to the specific article
    • Integrating Zoho People Attendance to Biometric Machine (ZKTeco 40 k )

      Please help us for Integrating Zoho People Attendance to Biometric Machine (ZKTeco 40 k )
    • Move email between inboxes?

      Is it possible to move emails from one team inbox to another? We would like to be able to have a single "catch-all" inbox for incoming requests, and then move the email to the appropriate department inbox. I was hoping we would be able to accomplish this
    • Updating records through Zoho Sheets View doesn't update timeline or trigger workflow rules

      I have noticed that when i update a series of record with the zoho sheets view (see here http://d.pr/i/ahnR) it doesn't update timeline history or trigger workflow rules. I am using it in the Deals module. Looking forward for some more info. Denis
    • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

      Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions
    • Zoho CRM for Everyone's NextGen UI Gets an Upgrade

      Hello Everyone We've made improvements to Zoho CRM for Everyone's Nextgen UI. These changes are the result of valuable feedback from you where we’ve focused on improving usability, providing wider screen space, and making navigation smoother so everything
    • inability to use different primary address on invoice per location

      my company operates in two different locations with different email address. The problems then is the inability to edit the primary to suite the invoice for the second location.
    • AI Search and Record Retrieval Inside Zoho Creator – Is This Possible?

      Is it possible to integrate an AI assistant into Zoho Creator that can intelligently search, retrieve, and analyze records within the application’s forms and reports? Can AI access and query existing Creator data securely using Deluge or APIs to provide
    • Rename Service Report

      Some of our customers are requesting the name of the service report PDF to be in a specific format, for example, instead of REP-001.PDF some are requesting to include their name like customername.pdf. is that possible?
    • Smarter holiday planning with yearly-specific Holiday Lists

      Hello everyone! Managing holidays and business hours is now easier and more efficient. Holiday Lists now support holidays that fall on different dates every year, while business hours now supports more than one holiday list. This helps businesses manage
    • AI Search and Record Retrieval Inside Zoho Creator – Is This Possible?

      Is it possible to integrate an AI assistant into Zoho Creator that can intelligently search, retrieve, and analyze records within the application’s forms and reports? Can AI access and query existing Creator data securely using Deluge or APIs to provide
    • Scheduled AU Data Center Database Version Upgrade for Zoho Forms

      Dear Zoho Forms' users, We would like to update you on a scheduled AU Data Center database version upgrade for Zoho Forms. Find the schedule below: Migration window: Sunday, 22nd February 2026 12.00 AM to 12.30 AM AEDT This migration is a part of our
    • Next Page