Set List Item by Metadata

This PnP PowerShell script reads a CSV file and updates SharePoint Online list items by matching a metadata value — such as a site name stored in the Title field — rather than requiring the numeric item ID. It looks up each matching item with a CAML query, then updates one or more fields per row.

Purpose

This script helps with SharePoint list management by:

Reading a site name (or other metadata value) and update values from a CSV file
Querying the list for the item whose Title field matches that value
Updating multiple field values on the matched item in a single operation
Writing a timestamped report file for tracking updates

Prerequisites

PnP PowerShell module installed
Site collection administrator or list edit permissions
A CSV file (e.g. ComplexUpdate.csv) with a Site column matching the value stored in the list's Title field
The internal field names of the columns you wish to update

CSV Format

The CSV file should include a Site column matching the Title field of the target list item, plus one column per field being updated. Example:

Site,Column1,Column2,Column3
https://tenantName.sharepoint.com/sites/siteName,Valuse1,Value11,Value111

PowerShell Script

$SiteUrl = 'https://SiteName.sharepoint.com/sites/SiteName'
$ClientId = ""
$ListName = "<listName>"
if ($null -eq $SiteUrl) { exit; }

Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Interactive -ClientId $ClientId
Write-Host [Success] Connected to $SiteUrl -ForegroundColor Green

$csvfile = "ComplexUpdate.csv"
$sites = Import-Csv $csvfile

$mydatestring=get-date -format yyyyMMddHHmm
$Statusreport= "Report-ComplexUpdates-$mydatestring.csv"
"Site,Column1,Column2,Column3" | add-content $Statusreport


#=========================================================
#1. Get URLS from CSV Report & update Current Value
#=========================================================


Foreach ($site in $sites)
    {

        #================= query list item by Title======================

        $getCurrentStatus=$null

        $CurrentStatus="<View><Query><Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='Title'/><Value Type='Text'>$($site.'Site')</Value></Eq></Where></Query><RowLimit>1</RowLimit></View>"

        $getCurrentStatus=Get-PnPListItem -List $ListName -Query $CurrentStatus -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

        #==================Update fields===================

        Set-PnPListItem -List $ListName -Identity $getCurrentStatus -Values @{"Column1" = "$($site.'Column1')";"Column2" = "$($site.'Column2')";"Column3" = "$($site.'Column3')"}

        #================= update list item END======================

    }


write-host "Completed"

Usage Notes

Replace $SiteUrl and $ClientId with your environment values — $ClientId requires a registered Entra ID app registration
Replace $ListName with the internal name of your target list
The script matches on the list's Title field — confirm that's where your lookup value (e.g. site URL) is stored before running
Replace Column1, Column2, Column3 with the internal names of the fields you want to update, and make sure the CSV headers match exactly
If no item matches a given row, Get-PnPListItem returns nothing and the subsequent Set-PnPListItem call will fail for that row — wrap it in error handling if you need the loop to continue past a miss
Test against a non-production list before running on live data

Example CSV format for Set List Item by Metadata script