Default update set

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Default update set

    In ServiceNow, only one update set can be designated as the default for each application scope. Setting an update set as the default ensures that it captures all changes made within that scope. This default setting automatically disables the default status on other update sets within the same scope, maintaining a single default update set per scope.

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    Key Features

    • Default set designation: Marking an update set’s Default set field as true makes it the default for its scope and clears this status from others.
    • Global default update set: This special update set (with global application scope and Default set = true) captures changes directly to the instance without associating them with user-created update sets. It is essential system functionality and should not be altered, deleted, or migrated.
    • Auto-generated default sets: ServiceNow automatically creates a default update set if none exists, or if the current default is marked Ignored or Completed. This guarantees that changes are never lost.
    • Automatic naming: When auto-generating a default update set, the system names the new set by appending a numeral suffix to the previous default set’s name (e.g., SetName 1, SetName 2).

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    • Always have a default update set active for each scope to ensure changes are tracked.
    • Avoid marking default update sets as Ignored or Completed to prevent unintended creation of new update sets.
    • The global default update set should be preserved as is, since it supports core system changes.
    • When switching application scopes, if the preferred default update set is not in progress, the system auto-generates a new default update set to capture changes in the new scope.

    Only one update set can be the default set for any application scope.

    To set an update set to be the default set, you set the Default set field to true. When you set Default set = true, the following actions occur:
    • The update set becomes the default update set for its scope.
    • The system sets Default set = false for all other update sets with the same scope. This ensures that there is only one default update set for each scope.

    Global default set

    Use the global default update set to make changes to an instance without adding the changes to any user-created update sets. The global default update set is the set where Default set = true and application scope is global. The global default set (regardless of the Name of the set) provides system functionality and should not be changed, deleted, or moved between systems. Use this update set to make changes to an instance without adding the changes to any user-created update sets.

    Auto-generated default set

    At all times, to ensure that no updates to an instance are lost, the system ensures that there is a default set for the user’s current scope. If the system finds that a default update set does not exist (or is marked Ignored or Completed) for the current scope, then the system auto-generates an update set and sets Default set = true.

    These are some common cases where the system auto-generates a default update set.
    • The very first time that an admin logs in, the system sets the system’s global default update set as the administrator’s update set. In addition, the application picker sets the administrator’s application scope to global.
      If a global default update set does not exist (or is marked Ignored or Completed), the system creates a new update set for the global application scope and performs the following actions:
      • The system sets Default set = true for the new set.
      • The system sets the name of the new set to start with the name of the former default set and appends the next numeral (in the sequence SetName, SetName 1, SetName 2, …, SetName n).
      • The system sets the newly created set as the administrator’s update set.
    • When a user marks the default set for a scope as Ignored or Completed (not a recommended practice), the system immediately auto-generates a new default set for the scope.
    • The system auto-generates a new default update set for a scope when all the following conditions occur:
      • You change application scope.
      • Your preferred update set is Complete or Ignored.
      • There is no In-Progress default update set for the new scope.