What are all the changes that are not allowed to be included in the update set record?

[cherlakolas]

What are all the changes that are not allowed to be included in the update set record?

[TarunNagar]

Update sets in ServiceNow do not capture certain changes by default. These include data records (e.g., Task data), scheduled jobs, system logs, users and group memberships, email and notification logs, certain application files, and data outside the current application scope. Additionally, some configurations like Business Rules in deactivated applications or some plugin-specific elements are excluded. Scripts that modify data at runtime or dynamic system properties also won’t be captured. To move these changes, alternative methods like export/import, data migration, or scoped application packages must be used. Always test update sets in a sub-production instance before applying them in production.

[J Siva]

Hi @cherlakolas 
Update sets are generally used to capture and deploy configuration changes (such as ServiceNow artifacts like Business Rules, Client Scripts, Table Schemas, etc.) across instances.

By default, table data i.e record in the tables like user, incident, task etc is not captured in update sets.

Regards,
Siva

[prerna_sh]

Hi @cherlakolas 

An Update Set in ServiceNow captures system configuration changes—things like custom tables, fields, form/list layouts, business rules, client scripts, workflows, and system properties. It's essentially a package of changes you can move between instances.

However, it does not capture transactional data such as records in tables like Incidents, Users, Groups, or Emails. This distinction is important when promoting changes across environments—configuration moves, but data does not.
For better understanding, please refer:
Everything You Need To Know About Using Update Set... - ServiceNow Community
Get started with update sets
System update sets

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Thanks,
Prerna

[Anand Kumar P]

Hi @cherlakolas ,

NOT capture is updatesets:

Data, incidents, Users, Groups, Emails,Schedule jobs, Dashboards,Home pages,logs, 

ServiceNow uses an attribute called update_synch to identify this.

Each table has a collection field, in the attributesfield of the collection type field on the table you can see this attribute, as shown in the image below

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Thanks,
Anand