How to Expand Multi-Line Text Box Field in SP Display Form List w/o invoking PowerApps error message

Copper Contributor

How can I increase the height of a multi-line text box field in the modern version of the SharePoint online display form in a SharePoint list without using PowerApps>customize form? When I use PowerApps > Customize Form to increase the text box height of the mutli-line field (Description), the error message "Unable to find default display form" pops up because I'm creating a new version of the form with an expanded text box height. I need to increase the height of the text box, so that end users can easily read and update these multi-line field sections in the SharePoint list. How can I do so without invoking that "Unable to find default display form" error message?

6 Replies
Is this an old converted site from older SharePoint Online pre modern UI or something? I know SharePoint Designer can be used to change the default forms but you shouldn't have to mess with that. Does it show that message after filling out the form or just navigating to it?
Article kind of showing the SharePoint Designer with similar error, it's why I was asking if it was migrated or older site cause that's last time I seen that happen: https://o365knowledgeshare.wordpress.com/2018/10/16/sharepoint-online-list-error-unable-to-find-the-...
Hi Chris, thanks for the quick reply. Yes, it was originally SharePoint 2013 and we constructed a new SharePoint Online site and migrated the content over at the beginning of this year. It shows that error message when a line item is clicked even before the form can be filled out. Thanks for sharing that SPD article, I've tried fixing it in SPD, but it won't allow me to recreate the display form. Ultimately, I've created a new list template and migrated the content from the old list template to the new one, but my expanded text boxes are gone (since it was a version of the Custom Form created in PowerApp). Any ideas of how to expand the text boxes again without populating that error message?
You need to get rid of the error first. But if don't use powerapps, does the SharePoint form work just without expanded box?
Yup, when I migrated the content to a new list template, the error message disappeared. The form does work, but the end-users have complained that it's difficult to read the multi-line text box since it only displays a couple lines and the text itself is usually a paragraph's worth. If I'm unable to expand the text box without the error message, I fear I will have to ask end-users to pick their poison - 1) Use workaround to list with error message and expanded text boxes or 2) Remove error message and effectively remove expanded text boxes. Would love to connect over Teams if possible - some things are just easier to explain over the phone.
Hi Chris, I found a solution! The only way to fix it is to manually recreate all the columns and views in a new list and migrate the content from the old/broken list into the new list. When you use PowerApps > Customize Forms in the new list, the error message doesn’t appear. Thanks for your help!