How to update record without objectID in mongoose?

Last Updated : 28 Apr, 2025

Mongoose is an ODM(Object Data Library) for MongoDB in Node JS that helps to write schema, validation and business logic in a simple way without the hassle of native MongoDB boilerplate.

Prerequisites

Understanding of Mongoose and MongoDB
Data Modeling and Schema Design
Mongoose Query Methods

Approach to update record without objectID:

There are two ways we can update a record in MongoDB using Mongoose

Using FindOneandUpdate() method
Using FindOne and FindByIdandUpdate Method

Steps to Create Node Application and Installation of mongoose module:

Step 1: Open the terminal in the folder you want and enter the following command:

npm init -y

Step 2: Your node project will be ready. create the index.js file using the command below

touch index.js

Step 3: You can install this package by using this command.

npm install mongoose

Step 4: Connection to MongoDB using mongoose:

In the index.js file import the mongoose module and use the connect function to connect the database

 mongoose.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/GFG').then(console.log('Connected to MongoDB')

Here is the connection string where i have used 127.0.0.1 you can also use localhost, next is the port no which is 27017 and then is the name of the database where you want to create your collections

Folder Structure:

The updated dependencies in package.json file will look like:

"dependencies": {
    "mongoose": "^8.0.3"
}

Approach 1: Using FindOneAndUpdate Methods to update the records

Example: Add this code in index.js file and insert json file in the MongoDB collection named Users.

JavaScript

//index.js

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const setup = async () => {
    await mongoose.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/GFG')
                  .then(console.log('Connected to MongoDB')).catch(error =>
                           console.error('Failed to connect to MongoDB:', error));


    // Define the schema
    const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
        email: { type: String, unique: true },
        name: String,
        age: Number,
    });

    // Create a model based on the schema
    const User = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

    // Find a user and update their age
    const findUserAndUpdateAge = async () => {
        try {
            // Use await to get the result of findOneAndUpdate
            const user = await User.findOneAndUpdate({ email: '[email protected]' }, 
                                                     { age: 30 }, 
                                                     { new: true }
                                                    );
            console.log(user, "User Updated");
        } catch (err) {
            console.log(err);
        }
    };

    // Call the update function
    await findUserAndUpdateAge();

};

// Call the setup function to execute the code
setup();

JavaScript

[{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "65767ccc6952cf734319b873"
    },
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "age": 25,
    "__v": 0
},
{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "65767cea46c027123509beef"
    },
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "age": 25,
    "__v": 0
},
{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "65767cf53ad13463a619c8c9"
    },
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "age": 25,
    "__v": 0
}]

MongoDB inserted data:

mongo1

Steps to run the project: Open the terminal and write the following command

node index.js

Output:

mongo2

Approach 2: Using FindOne and FindByIdandUpdate Method to update the records

JavaScript

//index.js

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const setup = async () => {
    await mongoose.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/GFG').then(console.log('Connected to MongoDB')).catch(error =>
        console.error('Failed to connect to MongoDB:', error));


    // Define the schema
    const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
        email: { type: String, unique: true },
        name: String,
        age: Number,
    });

    // Create a model based on the schema
    const User = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

    // Find a user and update their age
    const findUserAndUpdateAge = async () => {
        try {
            // Use await to get the result of findOneAndUpdate
            const user = await User.findOne({ email: '[email protected]' });
            const updatedUser = await User.findByIdAndUpdate(user._id, { age: 30 }, { new: true });
            console.log(updatedUser, "User Updated");
        } catch (err) {
            console.log(err);
        }
    };

    // Call the update function
    await findUserAndUpdateAge();
};

// Call the setup function to execute the code
setup();

Step to run the application: To run this file you need to run the following command.