Bulk Extensions with EF Core from Entity Framework Extensions

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is well-known as a great ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) library. It makes saving entities to your database super easy—without writing any SQL statements.

But when you need to handle thousands of entities, EF Core’s performance can quickly become a bottleneck. That’s where the bulk extension methods from the Entity Framework Extensions library come in. This powerful library dramatically boosts EF Core’s performance and gives you all the flexibility you need to save entities the way you want.

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

// Easy to use
context.BulkInsert(customers);
context.BulkUpdate(customers);
context.BulkDelete(customers);
context.BulkMerge(customers);
context.BulkSynchronize(customers);

// Easy to customize
context.BulkInsert(customers, options => options.IncludeGraph = true);

Why Use Bulk Extensions from Entity Framework Extensions?

Entity Framework Extensions, created by ZZZ Projects, is the most popular and complete library for EF Core bulk operations — trusted by over 5,000 paid customers and downloaded more than 50 million times.

⚡ Performance That Speaks for Itself

One of the biggest advantages of using Bulk Extensions from Entity Framework Extensions is the massive performance boost it brings when working with large datasets.

Here’s what kind of speed-up you can expect on SQL Server:

• 🔼 Insert: 14x faster — save up to 93% of the time View Benchmark
• 🔼 Update: 4x faster — save up to 75% of the time View Benchmark
• 🔼 Delete: 3x faster — save up to 65% of the time View Benchmark

🚀 What Developers Love at First Glance

• ✅ Supports all EF Core versions — from the latest to legacy
• ✅ Database agnostic — Works with SQL Server, SQL Azure, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, and Oracle
• ✅ Works with all model types — Inheritance, complex types, owned types, value converters, and more
• ✅ Fully customizable — Over 100 options to control how your data is saved

🤝 What Keeps Them Coming Back

• ✅ Frequent releases — Updated monthly with new features and bug fixes
• ✅ 24/7 support — Get help from our expert team anytime you need it
• ✅ Monthly trial — Try the full library for free with no commitment

Whether you're inserting millions of rows or just want more control and performance in your data layer, Bulk Extensions from Entity Framework Extensions makes your EF Core experience easier, faster, and smarter.

👉 Give it a try and see the difference for yourself.

📦 How to Install Entity Framework Extensions

To use the bulk extensions methods, install the Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore NuGet package:

PM> NuGet\Install-Package Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore

> dotnet add package Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore

Entity Framework Extensions uses EF Core pinned versioning, so make sure the first digit of the package version matches your EF Core version. For example:

• If you're using EF Core 10, use version v10.x.y.z
• If you're using EF Core 9, use version v9.x.y.z
• If you're using EF Core 8, use version v8.x.y.z
• And so on...

Looking for a different version, like Bulk Extensions methods for EF6? 👉 Download it here

EF Core Bulk Extensions with Entity Framework Extensions

Here is a list of some popular bulk extension methods offered by Entity Framework Extensions:

EF Core Bulk Insert with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkInsert method from Entity Framework Extensions dramatically improves performance compared to SaveChanges when inserting multiple entities.

To perform a bulk insert, simply call the method with the list of entities you want to insert:

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var customers = new List<Customer>
{
    new Customer { Name = "ZZZ Projects", City = "New York" },
    new Customer { Name = "Jonathan Magnan", City = "Montreal" }
    // Add more customers as needed
};

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 1. Easy to use
    context.BulkInsert(customers);

    // 2. Easy to customize
    context.BulkInsert(customers, options => options.InsertIfNotExists = true);
}

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 3. Supports async
    await context.BulkInsertAsync(customers, options => options.InsertIfNotExists = true);
}

EF Core Bulk Update with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkUpdate method from Entity Framework Extensions significantly improves performance compared to SaveChanges when you need to update multiple entities.

To perform a bulk update, simply call the method with the list of entities you want to update:

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var importCustomers = new List<Customer>
{
    new Customer { ID = 1, Name = "ZZZ Projects", City = "New York" },
    new Customer { ID = 2, Name = "Jonathan Magnan", City = "Montreal" }
    // Add more customers as needed
};

using (var context = new MyDbContext())
{
    // 1. Easy to use
    context.BulkUpdate(importCustomers, options =>
        options.ColumnInputExpression = x => new { x.Name, x.City });
}

using (var context = new MyDbContext())
{
    // 2. Supports async
    await context.BulkUpdateAsync(importCustomers, options =>
        options.ColumnInputExpression = x => new { x.Name, x.City });
}

EF Core Bulk Delete with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkDelete method from Entity Framework Extensions improves performance when you need to delete multiple entities—especially compared to calling SaveChanges() for each one.

To perform a bulk delete, just call the method with the list of entities you want to remove.

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var customersToDelete = new List<Customer>
{
    new Customer { ID = 1 },
    new Customer { ID = 13 }
    // Add more customers as needed
};

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // Easy to use
    context.BulkDelete(customersToDelete);
    
    // Easy to customize
    context.BulkDelete(customersToDelete, options => options.BatchSize = 100);
}

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // Supports async
    await context.BulkDeleteAsync(customersToDelete);
}

EF Core Bulk Merge with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkMerge method from Entity Framework Extensions improves performance compared to SaveChanges when you need to insert or update multiple entities.

This is called an upsert operation — it updates existing entities and inserts new ones:

• If the data exists, it will be updated
• If the data doesn’t exist, it will be inserted

This operation is also commonly known as upsert, add or update, or insert or update.

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var customers = new List<Customer>
{
    new Customer { Name = "ZZZ Projects", City = "New York" },
    new Customer { ID = 13, Name = "Jonathan Magnan", City = "Montreal" }
    // Add more customers as needed
};

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 1. Easy to use
    context.BulkMerge(customers);

    // 2. Easy to customize
    context.BulkMerge(customers, options => options.IncludeGraph = true);
}

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 3. Supports async
    await context.BulkMergeAsync(customers);
}

EF Core Bulk Synchronize with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkSynchronize method from Entity Framework Extensions significantly improves performance compared to SaveChanges when you need to insert, update, and delete multiple entities.

This is called a sync operation — it ensures your database table matches the list you provide:

• If the data exists in both the source and target, it will be updated
• If the data exists in the source but not in the target, it will be inserted
• If the data exists in the target but not in the source, it will be deleted

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var customers = new List<Customer>
{
    new Customer { Name = "ZZZ Projects", City = "New York" },
    new Customer { ID = 13, Name = "Jonathan Magnan", City = "Montreal" },
    new Customer { ID = 99, Name = "Invalid Customer", City = "XYZ" }
    // Add more customers as needed
};

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 1. Easy to use
    context.BulkSynchronize(customers);

    // 2. Easy to customize
    context.BulkSynchronize(customers, options => options.BatchSize = 100);
}

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // 3. Supports async
    await context.BulkSynchronizeAsync(customers);
}

EF Core WhereBulkContains with Entity Framework Extensions

The WhereBulkContains method from Entity Framework Extensions lets you filter a LINQ query using a large list of items — even when working with surrogate keys or thousands of elements.

It works with basic lists, full entities, anonymous types, and more — and it's also compatible with other powerful features like DeleteFromQuery, UpdateFromQuery, and BulkSaveChanges.

🧠 Example – Load & Update Matching Entities

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var dictDeserializedCustomers = deserializedCustomers.ToDictionary(x => x.CustomerID);

using (var context = new EntityContext())
{
    // 1. Filter from a list of existing items
    var customers = context.Customers
                           .WhereBulkContains(deserializedCustomers)
                           .ToList();

    // 2. Update values based on matched items
    customers.ForEach(x =>
    {
        var deserializedCustomer = dictDeserializedCustomers[x.CustomerID];

        x.Code = deserializedCustomer.Code;
        x.Email = deserializedCustomer.Email;
        x.FirstName = deserializedCustomer.FirstName;
        x.LastName = deserializedCustomer.LastName;
    });

    // 3. Save efficiently in bulk
    context.BulkSaveChanges();
}

🔥 Example – Use with DeleteFromQuery & UpdateFromQuery

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

var dictDeserializedCustomers = deserializedCustomers.ToDictionary(x => x.CustomerID);

using (var context = new EntityContext())
{
    // 1. Bulk delete matching entities
    context.Customers
           .WhereBulkContains(deserializedCustomers)
           .DeleteFromQuery();

    // 2. Bulk update matching entities
    context.Customers
           .WhereBulkContains(deserializedCustomers)
           .UpdateFromQuery(x => new Customer { IsActive = false });
}

EF Core Bulk SaveChanges with Entity Framework Extensions

The BulkSaveChanges method from Entity Framework Extensions boosts performance compared to the regular SaveChanges method — especially when working with large numbers of tracked entities.

While EF Core’s SaveChanges has improved over time, performance can still drop when processing thousands of entities. That’s where BulkSaveChanges really shines — it reduces database round-trips and optimizes the save process in bulk.

To use it, simply replace your call to SaveChanges with BulkSaveChanges.

// @nuget: Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
using Z.EntityFramework.Extensions;

using (var context = new YourDbContext())
{
    // Track your changes as usual
    context.Customers.Add(new Customer { Name = "ZZZ Projects" });
    context.Customers.First().IsActive = false;

    // 1. Just replace SaveChanges
    context.BulkSaveChanges();
}

✅ Final Thoughts

If you're still using EF Core’s regular SaveChanges for large operations, you're probably wasting time and resources.

The bulk extension methods from Entity Framework Extensions are simple to use, powerful to customize, and work across all major databases. Whether you want to insert, update, delete, read, or sync thousands of entities — there's a method designed to do it faster and smarter.

• No need to write raw SQL
• No need to load entities one by one
• No need to settle for slow performance

Give it a try and see why over 5,000 companies already trust this library for high-performance EF Core operations. Once you go bulk, you won't go back!

🔗 External Links

Looking for more resources? Here are some helpful links to learn more about the BulkInsert method and Entity Framework Extensions, explore its documentation, and download the right version for your project.

📘 Documentation

• 🔗 Bulk Insert – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Bulk Update – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Bulk Delete – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Bulk Merge – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Bulk Synchronize – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Where Bulk Contains – Official Documentation
• 🔗 Entity Framework Extensions – Overview

📦 Downloads & Packages

• 🔗 NuGet Package – Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore
• 🔗 Download Page – All Versions (EF6, EF Core, etc.)