diff --git a/packages/api/src/jobs/batch_update.ts b/packages/api/src/jobs/batch_update.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2657fedec..000000000
--- a/packages/api/src/jobs/batch_update.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-import { BulkActionType } from '../generated/graphql'
-import { batchUpdateLibraryItems } from '../services/library_item'
-
-export interface BatchUpdateData {
-  userId: string
-  libraryItemIds: string[]
-  action: BulkActionType
-  labelIds?: string[]
-  args?: unknown
-}
-
-export const BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME = 'batch-update'
-
-export const batchUpdate = async (data: BatchUpdateData) => {
-  const { userId, action, labelIds, libraryItemIds, args } = data
-
-  return batchUpdateLibraryItems(action, libraryItemIds, userId, labelIds, args)
-}
diff --git a/packages/api/src/jobs/bulk_action.ts b/packages/api/src/jobs/bulk_action.ts
index 5a3e6a6a7..abea14493 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/jobs/bulk_action.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/jobs/bulk_action.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 import { BulkActionType } from '../generated/graphql'
 import { getBackendQueue } from '../queue-processor'
-import { searchLibraryItems } from '../services/library_item'
-import { stringToHash } from '../utils/helpers'
+import { batchUpdateLibraryItems } from '../services/library_item'
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger'
-import { BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME } from './batch_update'
 
 export interface BulkActionData {
   count: number
@@ -17,49 +15,26 @@ export interface BulkActionData {
 
 export const BULK_ACTION_JOB_NAME = 'bulk-action'
 
-export const bulkAction = async (data: BulkActionData, id?: string) => {
-  if (!id) {
-    throw new Error('Missing id')
-  }
-
-  const { userId, action, query, labelIds, count, args, batchSize } = data
+export const bulkAction = async (data: BulkActionData) => {
+  const { userId, action, query, labelIds, args, batchSize, count } = data
 
   const queue = await getBackendQueue()
   if (!queue) {
     throw new Error('Queue not initialized')
   }
+  const now = new Date().toISOString()
   let offset = 0
 
   do {
     const searchArgs = {
       size: batchSize,
-      from: offset,
-      query,
+      query: `(${query}) AND updated:<${now}`,
     }
 
-    const searchResult = await searchLibraryItems(searchArgs, userId)
-    const libraryItemIds = searchResult.libraryItems.map((item) => item.id)
-    const data = {
-      userId,
-      action,
-      labelIds,
-      libraryItemIds,
-      args,
-    }
-    const libraryItemIdsStr = libraryItemIds.sort().join()
-    const jobId = `${BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME}-${stringToHash(libraryItemIdsStr)}`
-
-    // enqueue job for each batch
     try {
-      await queue.add(BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME, data, {
-        attempts: 1,
-        priority: 10,
-        jobId, // deduplication
-        removeOnComplete: true,
-        removeOnFail: true,
-      })
+      await batchUpdateLibraryItems(action, searchArgs, userId, labelIds, args)
     } catch (error) {
-      logger.error('Error enqueuing batch update job', error)
+      logger.error('batch update error', error)
     }
 
     offset += batchSize
diff --git a/packages/api/src/queue-processor.ts b/packages/api/src/queue-processor.ts
index ecb255e95..a5f1a38d1 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/queue-processor.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/queue-processor.ts
@@ -14,12 +14,15 @@ import express, { Express } from 'express'
 import { SnakeNamingStrategy } from 'typeorm-naming-strategies'
 import { appDataSource } from './data_source'
 import { env } from './env'
-import { batchUpdate, BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME } from './jobs/batch_update'
 import { bulkAction, BULK_ACTION_JOB_NAME } from './jobs/bulk_action'
 import { findThumbnail, THUMBNAIL_JOB } from './jobs/find_thumbnail'
 import { refreshAllFeeds } from './jobs/rss/refreshAllFeeds'
 import { refreshFeed } from './jobs/rss/refreshFeed'
 import { savePageJob } from './jobs/save_page'
+import {
+  syncReadPositionsJob,
+  SYNC_READ_POSITIONS_JOB_NAME,
+} from './jobs/sync_read_positions'
 import { triggerRule, TRIGGER_RULE_JOB_NAME } from './jobs/trigger_rule'
 import {
   updateHighlight,
@@ -29,12 +32,8 @@ import {
 } from './jobs/update_db'
 import { updatePDFContentJob } from './jobs/update_pdf_content'
 import { redisDataSource } from './redis_data_source'
-import { logger, CustomTypeOrmLogger } from './utils/logger'
-import {
-  SYNC_READ_POSITIONS_JOB_NAME,
-  syncReadPositionsJob,
-} from './jobs/sync_read_positions'
 import { CACHED_READING_POSITION_PREFIX } from './services/cached_reading_position'
+import { CustomTypeOrmLogger, logger } from './utils/logger'
 
 export const QUEUE_NAME = 'omnivore-backend-queue'
 
@@ -87,9 +86,7 @@ export const createWorker = (connection: ConnectionOptions) =>
         case SYNC_READ_POSITIONS_JOB_NAME:
           return syncReadPositionsJob(job.data)
         case BULK_ACTION_JOB_NAME:
-          return bulkAction(job.data, job.id)
-        case BATCH_UPDATE_JOB_NAME:
-          return batchUpdate(job.data)
+          return bulkAction(job.data)
       }
     },
     {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts b/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
index 0ac442f62..04666c7dc 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
@@ -889,14 +889,7 @@ export const bulkActionResolver = authorized<
 
       if (count <= batchSize) {
         // if there are less than 100 items, update them synchronously
-        const libraryItemIds = searchResult.libraryItems.map((item) => item.id)
-        await batchUpdateLibraryItems(
-          action,
-          libraryItemIds,
-          uid,
-          labelIds,
-          args
-        )
+        await batchUpdateLibraryItems(action, searchArgs, uid, labelIds, args)
 
         return { success: true }
       }
diff --git a/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts b/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
index c2cc0857b..30649636c 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { DateTime } from 'luxon'
 import { DeepPartial, FindOptionsWhere, ObjectLiteral } from 'typeorm'
 import { QueryDeepPartialEntity } from 'typeorm/query-builder/QueryPartialEntity'
 import { ReadingProgressDataSource } from '../datasources/reading_progress_data_source'
+import { appDataSource } from '../data_source'
 import { Highlight } from '../entity/highlight'
 import { Label } from '../entity/label'
 import { LibraryItem, LibraryItemState } from '../entity/library_item'
@@ -939,15 +940,11 @@ export const countByCreatedAt = async (
 
 export const batchUpdateLibraryItems = async (
   action: BulkActionType,
-  libraryItemIds: string[],
+  searchArgs: SearchArgs,
   userId: string,
   labelIds?: string[] | null,
   args?: unknown
 ) => {
-  if (libraryItemIds.length === 0) {
-    return
-  }
-
   interface FolderArguments {
     folder: string
   }
@@ -956,6 +953,23 @@ export const batchUpdateLibraryItems = async (
     return 'folder' in args
   }
 
+  if (!searchArgs.query) {
+    throw new Error('Search query is required')
+  }
+
+  const searchQuery = parseSearchQuery(searchArgs.query)
+  const parameters: ObjectLiteral[] = []
+  const query = buildQuery(searchQuery, parameters)
+  const queryBuilder = appDataSource
+    .createQueryBuilder(LibraryItem, 'library_item')
+    .where('library_item.user_id = :userId', { userId })
+
+  if (query) {
+    queryBuilder
+      .andWhere(`(${query})`)
+      .setParameters(paramtersToObject(parameters))
+  }
+
   const now = new Date().toISOString()
   // build the script
   let values: Record<string, string | number> = {}
@@ -972,24 +986,28 @@ export const batchUpdateLibraryItems = async (
         deletedAt: now,
       }
       break
-    case BulkActionType.AddLabels:
-      if (!labelIds || labelIds.length === 0) {
+    case BulkActionType.AddLabels: {
+      if (!labelIds) {
         throw new Error('Labels are required for this action')
       }
 
+      const libraryItems = await queryBuilder.getMany()
       // add labels to library items
-      for (const libraryItemId of libraryItemIds) {
-        await addLabelsToLibraryItem(labelIds, libraryItemId, userId)
+      for (const libraryItem of libraryItems) {
+        await addLabelsToLibraryItem(labelIds, libraryItem.id, userId)
       }
 
       return
-    case BulkActionType.MarkAsRead:
+    }
+    case BulkActionType.MarkAsRead: {
+      const libraryItems = await queryBuilder.getMany()
       // update reading progress for library items
-      for (const libraryItemId of libraryItemIds) {
-        await markItemAsRead(libraryItemId, userId)
+      for (const libraryItem of libraryItems) {
+        await markItemAsRead(libraryItem.id, userId)
       }
 
       return
+    }
     case BulkActionType.MoveToFolder:
       if (!args || !isFolderArguments(args)) {
         throw new Error('Invalid arguments')
@@ -1005,11 +1023,7 @@ export const batchUpdateLibraryItems = async (
       throw new Error('Invalid bulk action')
   }
 
-  return authTrx(
-    async (tx) => tx.getRepository(LibraryItem).update(libraryItemIds, values),
-    undefined,
-    userId
-  )
+  await queryBuilder.update(LibraryItem).set(values).execute()
 }
 
 export const deleteLibraryItemById = async (id: string, userId?: string) => {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/createTask.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/createTask.ts
index b08ce1083..da1115200 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/createTask.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/createTask.ts
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ export const enqueueBulkAction = async (data: BulkActionData) => {
       removeOnFail: true,
     })
   } catch (error) {
-    logger.error('error enqueuing update highlight job', error)
+    logger.error('error enqueuing bulk action job', error)
   }
 }