List And Library In Sharepoint 2010
Demi Kemmeries
One of the annoying things about SharePoint and Microsoft 365 applications is that there are so many different terms and terminology you need to understand and comprehend to ensure that you use the right tools for your specific needs and requirements. One such scenario is the common misconception about the differences between lists and libraries and when you should use one or another. So in this article, I will demystify this for you and explain the difference between lists and libraries and when you should use either of these tools.
Just as Document Libraries reside on a SharePoint site, so do the lists. Unlike document libraries, there is no default list created automatically when you create a site, so you have to do so manually.
As you create and utilize lists and libraries, there is also a centralized portal to access each type of content. We have OneDrive for Business for access to personal documents as well as document libraries from various sites as well as Lists to access both personal lists as well as lists created on multiple sites. If you would like to learn more about each of these applications, I published separate articles. Click here for the Lists app and here for OneDrive App.
SharePoint can hold large sets of information in lists and libraries. In fact, it can hold up to 30 million items in a list or library. For instance, the largest employer in the world can store all the employment agreements, more than a million documents. Recent improvements mean that you do not need to do anything special in SharePoint to work with a set of information this large.
In addition to being able to view a large list or library, you can also sort and filter based on specific fields in the list or library. The sorting and filtering experience in large lists and libraries should be no different than any other list or library in SharePoint.
When writing custom code, a list and a library look, and are processed the same, so both internally are "lists". Both lists and libraries (generally) support common features such as Content Approval, Versioning, and Folders. Libraries alone support Check in and Check Out.
From the Lists app in Microsoft 365, select +New list. (To get to the Lists app, at the top of any page, select the Microsoft 365 app launcher , select All apps, and then select Lists.)
From your SharePoint site home page or the Site contents page, select + New > List.
2,000 lists and libraries combined per site collection is the limit (including main site and any subsites) after which you will receive error: Sorry, something went wrong. The attempted operation is prohibited because it exceeds the list view threshold. See SharePoint limits.
Blank list: Choose to start a list from scratch. Add a list Name, Description (optional), and select whether you want the list to appear in the left site navigation. When you're finished selecting options, select Create.
From existing list: Choose this option to save time and create a new list based on the columns in another list. Your new list will start with all the same columns, but it won't include any of the data from the original list.
Templates: Select a template, for example Issue tracker, to see what columns the template contains and scroll through sample data to see what it looks like. If you find a template you like, select Use template. If you don't see any you want, select Back to get back to the Create a list page. Learn more about how to create a list from a template or about the lists templates in Microsoft 365.
When your list opens, add an item to your list by either selecting + New or Edit in grid view. (Grid view lets you add information freely to different rows or columns.)
To add different types of information to the list, select + Add column. To learn more, see Create a column in a list or library.
The name appears at the top of the list in most views, becomes part of the web address for the list page, and appears in site navigation to help users find the list. You can change the name of a list, but the web address will remain the same.
SharePoint returns you to the Site contents page. Find the app you just created in the Site contents list, and open it. SharePoint creates a default version of the app, calendar, task list, or whatever app you created.
Depending on the type of app you choose, to change the app's settings, from the ribbon at the top of the page, select List Settings or the List tab. For more info about settings, see Edit list settings in SharePoint.
The description appears underneath the name in most views. Some kinds of lists can receive content by email. If you plan to enable the list to receive content by email, you can add the email address of the list to its description so that people can easily find the email address. You can change the description for a list.
If there is an Email section, your administrator has enabled lists on your site to receive content by email. To enable people to add content to this list by sending email, under Enable this list to receive email, select Yes. Then, in the Email address box, enter the first part of the address that you want people to use for the list. This option is not available for all kinds of list.
Creating a custom list resembles creating lists from a template, except that the custom list is created with only three columns: Title, Created By, and Modified By. After you create a custom list, you can add columns and make other changes to the list to meet your needs.
Use custom list in datasheet view when you primarily want to use a grid, similar to a spreadsheet, to enter and view data in the list. This is helpful when you have several items to update at the same time.
If there is an Email section, your administrator has enabled lists on your site to receive content by email. To enable people to add content to this list by sending email, under Enable this list to receive e-mail, select Yes. Then, in the Email address box, enter the first part of the address that you want people to use for the list. This option is not available for all kinds of list.
Really they are quite a bit different. Libraries are for documents. It is a good idea to disable adding attachments on your list so that your lists are purely for tabular data, otherwise you may come across ECM features that do not work.
A SharePoint List is essentially a web part that holds/stores content in SharePoint and is represented via table format (rows and columns). A SharePoint Document Library is a "special list" for documents. While it is also represented as a table list (rows for documents, columns for metadata), a SharePoint library has very specific document management features lists do not have like:
The list goes on and on. As others eluded to already - you should not use lists to store documents as attachments. Attachments in SharePoint lists shall be used as secondary type information. For example, you might use SharePoint list (Issue Tracking) to track Help Desk tickets in SharePoint. The primary purpose of the list is to store ticket info and you might use attachments for screenshots, etc. That's fine.
On another hand, if you want to store company policies or project documentation, document library is the way to go. You can still "dress up" your library with metadata, but documents will serve as the primary objective/source of information. And of course, you will get all the wonderful document management features outlined above and by others in the thread. Here is also a quick blog post on the same topic. -lists-vs-libraries/
Hi there - I'm new to SharePoint but ultimately I'm trying to set up a home page for each site or subsite - where the home page shows the list of document libraries in that site or subsite - much like the "site contents" page shows the list of of document libraries. (Perhaps someone knows a way to make the site contents page the home page).
@Jimmy Hang This works for all documents but is there a way to list the document libraries on the home page? We have multiple document libraries and want to display them in a list format on the home page.
I am trying to add a SharePoint Document Library as a data source by entereing the SP list name and adding a 'Custom' library. I have done this on other occassions in the past without issue. However, today, I am receiving the following message:
Thanks to a co-worker, @mosmas, this is resolved. For some reason, on this particular SharePoint site, the custom libraries were not being seen in PowerApps. So instead of adding the Custom library by library name, @mosmas directed me to copy the Grid ID from the SP document library by following these steps:
I made a template from this library and was able to connect to the new library created from the template. However, I do not want to switch over to the new library created from the template because my flows, etc are associated with the original doc library.
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