1.
sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
SHAREPOINT 5000 ITEM
LIST VIEW THRESHOLD
10 TECHNIQUES & BEST PRACTICES
TO OVERCOME THE LIMIT
GREGORY ZELFOND

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
About Me
 Gregory Zelfond
 10+ years of experience with SharePoint
 SharePoint advocate, blogger
 Love to solve business problems using code-free, out of
the box SharePoint configurations
 Owner of SharePoint Maven (sharepointmaven.com)

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
About SharePoint Maven
I HELP ORGANIZATIONS TO UNLOCK
THE POWER OF SHAREPOINT
MIGRATION CONSULTING TRAINING

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
About SharePoint 5000 item limit threshold
Reference my blog post for an explanation of what
the SharePoint 5000 item limit threshold is all about

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
How to overcome 5000 item limit threshold
 The following slides explain 10 unique ways
(techniques) to mitigate 5000 item limit threshold
 They represent best practices when working with
large lists and document libraries in SharePoint

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
It is all or nothing!!!
 Implementing just 1 technique from the list will not
solve your 5000 item limit threshold problem!
 For best and most effective results, you should
implement ALL the recommendations at the same
time when you setup your document library

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
10 ways to mitigate SharePoint 5000 item limit threshold
1. Spread the content
2. Create sub-folders
3. Setup Metadata
4. Index the columns
5. Create filtered views
6. Limit the number of records displayed
7. Create lots of different views
8. Adjust the default view
9. Enable Metadata navigation
10. Wait until year 2016

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 1: Spread the content
 Spread the content among multiple sites and
document libraries
 Do not put all your files in 1 Document Library
 Organize sites/document libraries by business
function (i.e. project files are separate from
department files)

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 2: Create sub-folders
 Generally, using folders in SharePoint is not a good idea
 However, folders allow you to break your content into
manageable chunks
 As long as any given folder in your library contains
< 5000 items – you are OK
Things to keep in mind…
 Even if you initially break your content into folders, you
cannot assure that users will follow this guideline
 Also, by using folders, you loose on all the great benefits
of metadata

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 3: Setup Metadata
 Metadata (read: “SharePoint Site or List columns”)
allows you to filter, sort and group large lists and
present content to user in a friendly way
 With metadata, you can minimize the number of
items that would be returned/displayed in a view
 Learn about metadata and how to set it up in this
step-by-step guide

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 4: Index the columns
 Metadata alone will not solve the 5000 Item Limit Threshold issue
 Even if you filter and sort, SharePoint still has to search through lots and
lots of records
 Column Indexing allows you to catalogue (create indexes) for certain types
of columns
 So next time you filter or sort on a column, SharePoint looks in an existing
“catalogue”, instead of searching the whole library over and over again,
allowing you to bypass the 5000 item limit threshold

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 5: Create filtered views
 Now that you indexed the columns, you can create views via sorting
and filtering
 VERY IMPORTANT! To take advantage of indexed columns, the first
column you sort or filter on must be indexed!!! If you ignore this – you
will still encounter 5000 item limit threshold issue 
First Column you filter on must be an indexed column

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 6: Limit the number of records displayed
 As a user, imagine choosing a particular document among hundreds or
thousands of documents on screen
 Most likely, You do not need to display all 20,000 documents every
time you access a view
 Make life easier for SharePoint and your users by limiting the # of
records that will be displayed in a view
 Example: You want to create a view and show 50 most recently
modified documents in a library
– Step 1: Sort by Modified Date in reverse order
– Step 2: Limit the # of items to display to 50

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 7: Create lots of different views
 Remember, no single view you create can violate the 5000 item limit
threshold (unless you indexed and filtered)
 However, your users need views to find documents and items they are
looking for
 It is a balance that you have to keep in mind
– Less views means less planning and bad user experience
– More views means more planning and better user experience
 The solution is: Create lots of views for your users, but plan ahead
(column indexing, filtering, view item limit)

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 8: Adjust the default view
 Do not forget about the default All Documents View
 Out of the box, it is just a flat list of files, with no filtering or sorting
 Moreover, it is a default view when users click on the document
library
 Even if you configure all your other views correctly, this view will get
you in trouble, if you do not add filtering/sorting on indexed
columns or limit the number of records displayed.

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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 9: Enable Metadata Navigation
 When you configure metadata navigation for the library, SharePoint
automatically creates indexes for your columns
 That means that with metadata navigation, you are allowed queries that
exceed the 5000 list view threshold
 NOTE: To configure Metadata Navigation, you must enable Metadata
Navigation and Filtering under Site Settings > Manage Site Features
1
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sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond
Technique # 10: Wait until Year 2016
 Microsoft has announced that the next version of SharePoint
(SharePoint 2016), will have a number of improvements in
content management, among other things
 The following are some of the improvements that await us in
SharePoint 2016
– No more 5000 item limit. The list threshold has been increased, however the new
limit is not known at this time
– Single file size limit increased from 2GB up to 10GB
 So let’s wait and see. However, the new limit does not negate
document management best practices discussed here

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Need help with SharePoint?
 SharePoint Site Configuration and Customization
 Document Migration to SharePoint
 SharePoint Implementation Strategy
 SharePoint Training
 SharePoint User Adoption
 SharePoint Governance
 SharePoint Project Management

19.
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THANK YOU!
Visit: sharepointmaven.com
Email: greg@sharepointmaven.com
Follow: @gregoryzelfond
Connect: linkedin.com/company/sharepoint-maven
View: www.slideshare.net/gzelfond
Get in touch if you have questions