MongoDB findById returning a list of documents instead of a single result? How to get only a single document?

To get only a single result instead of a list when querying by ID in MongoDB, use the findOne() method instead of find(). The findOne() method returns exactly one document that matches your query criteria.

Syntax

db.collection.findOne({_id: ObjectId("id_value")})

Sample Data

Let us create a collection with documents ?

db.demo340.insertMany([
    {_id: 1, "Name": "Chris", Age: 21},
    {_id: 2, "Name": "David", Age: 23},
    {_id: 3, "Name": "Bob", Age: 20},
    {_id: 4, "Name": "Sam", Age: 19}
]);

{
  "acknowledged": true,
  "insertedIds": {
    "0": 1,
    "1": 2,
    "2": 3,
    "3": 4
  }
}

Display all documents from a collection with the help of find() method ?

db.demo340.find();

{ "_id": 1, "Name": "Chris", "Age": 21 }
{ "_id": 2, "Name": "David", "Age": 23 }
{ "_id": 3, "Name": "Bob", "Age": 20 }
{ "_id": 4, "Name": "Sam", "Age": 19 }

Example: Get Single Document by ID

Here is the query to find by id using findOne() ?

db.demo340.findOne({_id: 1});

{ "_id": 1, "Name": "Chris", "Age": 21 }

Key Differences

Conclusion

Use findOne() when you need exactly one document result. It returns the document object directly instead of a cursor, eliminating the need to iterate through results.