SharePoint topics

Struggling to fix 2013 workflows

ComputerHabit — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:53:54 GMT

I build a new farm. I installed 2013 worfklows. I cannot get them to run. I can't find a fix. I'm exhausted from trying with SharePoint. :(

I need a consitent way to make sharepoint work. It's terrible.

Anyone have a current checklist of things to do to reverse engineer all the problems? I can only go so far as follow the flipping instructions. Ugg.

MS List - View a list of columns, including internal column name and column alias

Bud4321 — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:33:10 GMT

I'm trying to make sense of column names in MS Lists. It seems like columns can have both an internal/system name and an alias.

For example, my Title column (internal/system name) is displayed as a custom "Asset ID" column in the Microsoft Lists app.

Is there a way to view a list of all column names, and the list would show both the internal/system column name and the column alias?

Like this:

Posting news article not sending notification to Teams activity feed

MelFinn — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:01:43 GMT

Hello

I am trying to troubleshoot why when posting a news article it is not coming up in people's Teams activity feed.

We have a hub of sites branded as the intranet but they are not news organisation sites. When news posts are published from any site in this hub, people are receiving notifications of news posts in their Teams activity feed. Eg. 'Joe Blogs published news'.
On a stand alone communication site, I publish a news post, for the members of that site they do not receive the notification in their Teams activity feed.

Some facts

We are not using Viva Connections - so there is no home site (no Viva license yet)
No sites are news organisation sites
Internet sites are not necessarily followed (most people do not follow) so this has no bearing on receiving notification in Teams
Notification settings in Teams are not disabled for test users

What other steps can I take to investigate why this site not connected to the internet hub is not pushing notifications? It is one example of a site, there are many that do not push notifications as well.

Thank you.

New Navigation Menu

krow1138 — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:26:23 GMT

How does the new "Navigation Side Bar" get turned off on a site level?

SharePoint without our authorization just rolled out a new feature to all our SharePoint sites. The organization defaults the web browsers to the company SharePoint Hub site causing all users to be impacted and so there for it is incredibly improper for a feature rollout on this scale without the opportunity for proper process and decision making.

I have reviewed the documentation New SharePoint experience - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn There is a reference to settings - "Global Navigation" which does not exist, as to where the configurate is to turn this off. The owner of the site, and then tenant global admin does not see "Global Navigation", so it is not missing due to a permissions issue.

If anyone can please point me in the right direction to turn off this new side bar.

No global navigation.

SharePoint Button Web Part "Run Flow" Action Only Works in the Default Environment

GullettBrian — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 18:02:33 GMT

Hello! I was setting up a new workflow for a customer and encountered a limitation with the button web part's "Run Power Automate Flow" option.

Background

The SharePoint Button web part has a built-in action type: Run Power Automate Flow, which accepts a Flow ID. This is a clean option for giving users a one-click way to trigger an instant/manual flow directly from a SharePoint page.

The Finding

When configuring the Button web part with Run Power Automate Flow, it appears that the flow must reside in the Default Power Platform environment for this action to work. Flows in non-default (department-level) environments fail silently with the following error:

Could not find flow '<flow-id>'.

Testing Approach

To isolate the variable, I did the following:

Took an existing instant flow and exported it from a department-specific environment, then imported a copy into the Default environment — so the logic was identical.
Created two Button web parts on the same SharePoint page:
- Button A → Flow ID from the department-level environment copy
- Button B → Flow ID from the Default environment copy
Both buttons were configured identically, with the only difference being which environment hosted the flow.

Result:

✅ Button B (Default environment) — triggered successfully
❌ Button A (department-specific environment) — returned "Could not find flow '<id>'"

The account I used for testing is the same one that created the workflows and also has site collection admin rights, so permissions should be a factor.

Related Behavior

This appears to be consistent with a known behavior of running an instant flow from a SharePoint list (from the List menu , "Integrate" -> "Flows" -> <workflow name>), where instant flows with manual SharePoint triggers must also reside in the Default environment to function correctly.

Both surfaces appear to share the same environment scope constraint when resolving flows by ID from a SharePoint context.

Questions for the Community / Microsoft

Is this a documented platform constraint for the Button web part's Run Power Automate Flow action?
Is this constraint expected to change, or is it by design?

Workarounds

In this case, I found two decent workarounds:

Instead of configuring the Button web part action as Run Power Automate Flow, it can be configured as Open Link, and then use the flow's direct run URL:
https://make.powerautomate.com/environments/<environment id>/flows/<flow id>/run
Also using the direct run URL, enter that into a navigation link or regular hyperlink on the SharePoint page to launch the workflow run page.

Any insight from the community or the product team would be appreciated — especially if there's a documented reference I may have missed.

Thanks!

Import picklist values for SharePoint List choice field

Bud4321 — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:42:57 GMT

I have a column in a SharePoint List that uses the choice field type. I'm able to manually enter each choice value by copying/pasting text from an Excel spreadsheet.

Is there a way to import a long list of values directly into SharePoint to save time?

Create reference number in SharePoint lists with each new entry

Isabelle90 — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:13:19 GMT

Migrating an Excel table into SP lists, so I can existing reference numbering system, so with each new entry I need this to increase by one.

Let's say the current ref number is R5687 how to I ensure that subsequent entries are allocated a reference number, which is one more last the last

Store both current employees (AD) and past employees (non-AD) in MS List column?

Bud4321 — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 19:47:15 GMT

I have an EMPLOYEE text column in an Excel spreadsheet. I plan to import the spreadsheet as an MS List.

The EMPLOYEE spreadsheet column contains both current and past employee names. If I create a new PERSON column in the List to store this data (for clean querying and automation purposes), only the current employees will match up with the Active Directory picklist, not the past employees. If I enter past employees into the PERSON column, the List won't let me save those values since they're invalid.

Is there a way to force the past employee names into the PERSON column as broken/unlinked values, such as through a Power Automate flow? Or do I have no choice but to use a TEXT column instead with a custom picklist (manually maintained picklist values)?

What is the maximum length of a Check-In Comment in a SharePoint document library?

virendrak — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:28:30 GMT

We are using SharePoint document libraries with versioning enabled and users provide comments when checking in documents. Is there a maximum number of characters allowed in the Check-In Comment field, and is this limit documented by Microsoft?

Changing the License Type and Key of a SharePoint Subscription Farm

kulldeepverma — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:12:10 GMT

Hi everyone,

I need some assistance with a licensing issue on a brand new SharePoint Subscription Edition farm. I have 6 servers total 4 Application/Search servers + 2 Web Front End/Distributed Cache servers and current state of farm is Fresh installation no custom code or solutions, no production content web apps configured yet.

The Problem: During setup, our systems team accidentally provided a SharePoint Standard Edition product key, which I used during farm creation. We actually require Enterprise Edition, but I am unable to convert the license type through Central Administration.

Issue 1: When I go to Central Administration > Upgrade and Migration > Convert farm license type, the Product Key text field and the OK button are both completely grayed out and disabled.
Issue 2: When I go to Central Administration > Upgrade and Migration > Enable Enterprise Features and enter our Enterprise key, the process fails with an Unknown Error / SkuUpgradeJob timer job exception ("Post setup configuration failed when attempting post setup configuration task -cmd services -install -cmd installfeatures").

What I Have Tried So Far:

Running PSConfig CLI: Ran psconfig.exe -cmd sku -upgrade -key from an elevated Command Prompt. It fails during the installfeatures phase.
PowerShell Feature Activation: Attempted to run Enable-SPFeature -Identity PremiumFarm -Force in the SharePoint Management Shell, but feature provisioning fails because the underlying SKU definition hasn't switched.
Service Account Privilege Adjustments: Tried restarting the SharePoint Timer Service (SPTimerV4) and changing its logon account to Local System / Local Admin to rule out file permission issues on the 16-Hive directory, but hit SQL permission/authentication blocks.
Clearing Timer Jobs and Restarts: Cleared stuck or failed SkuUpgradeJob instances under Timer Job Status, restarted the SharePoint Administration Service and Timer Service across all servers, and performed iisreset.

Since this is a completely fresh farm with no customization or data loss risk, what is the cleanest way to force the farm to accept the Enterprise product key without having to completely unjoin and rebuild the 6 servers?

Any suggestions or workarounds would be greatly appreciated!

SharePoint List Web Parts - New UX

bryanfrumkin220 — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 22:11:33 GMT

Hey everyone,

I am hoping I can get some assistance on the following request.

My organization's using SharePoint to manage multiple processes, but am confused with a new UX update that's come in the last few days.

Please look at the following example, which is a list with a modern calendar view:

For all of my lists, that are used as a web part on a different Site Page, have been given an ability to add a 'New Item', by selecting the title name, which's very frustrating as all of our list processes already have their own system to collect information and it seems as though I cannot turn off this functionality.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

External Users Unable to Access Microsoft List Form

virendrak — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:00:58 GMT

We have created a Microsoft List and are using the default Microsoft Lists Form for data entry / intake form.

Internal users can access the form URL and submit items successfully. However, external users are unable to access the form link, even though they have been granted Contribute permissions to the SharePoint list.

External users can:

Access the list
Create new items using the + New button
Edit items based on their permissions

However, they cannot access the dedicated Microsoft Lists Form URL and getting following error.
This link is only available to internal users. This link is not available to you.

Our requirement is to allow external users to:

Open the Microsoft Lists Form URL
View the form
Submit new items

without providing additional access beyond what is required for form submission, and without using Microsoft Forms.

Is guest/external user access to the Microsoft Lists Form experience supported? If so, what configuration or permissions are required to enable external users to access and submit items through the form URL?

Power Automate List Formatting - Compact List Rows

bryanfrumkin220 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:00:08 GMT

Hey everyone,

I am hoping I can get some assistance on the following request.

I am currently using a SharePoint for leadership to request creation of an item, once the request goes in multiple other things happen to this sharepoint list.

One of those things is to create a list view and apply formatting, but I cannot figure out how to control my row height via View Formatting or an HTTP request to SharePoint.

Would greatly appreciate any assistance!

New to Sharepoint and Teams_Client folder structure?

terdahl — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 19:18:39 GMT

We are a small landscape design/build company moving from Microsoft 365 Family to Microsoft 365 Business Standard.

Currently, we use a traditional folder system:

Clients > Client Name > project files

Each client folder contains estimates, proposals, Vectorworks CAD drawings, site data, photos, PDFs, spreadsheets, and other project documents.

We also have other company folders for employees, equipment, systems, vendors, templates, and SOPs.

We have four office users who need to access and collaborate on these files through SharePoint/Teams.

What is the best practice for setting this up?

Should we use one SharePoint site with document libraries, separate SharePoint sites by department/category, or organize everything through Teams channels?

I’d like to understand the best way to use SharePoint and Teams without simply recreating an old folder system incorrectly.

Can you preserve links when exporting from a list to Excel?

Lupusregina_Beta — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:48:09 GMT

Hi!

I have a list with a multiline text field set to support enchanced richtext used to store URLs of files. I am inserting data into this list when people submit a Jotform using Power Automate to connect the two. In Power Automate, I build the field value by looping the uploaded files and building out HTML:

Problem is, if I go to the list and do Export to Excel, the query.iqy file I get just shows file.png and file.pdf as basic, nonlinked text in the column. Is there any way to get Sharepoint to create an Excel file where the links are preserved?

Hero Web Part Background Image Is Not Resized After Display Scaling Change

SungYong — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:27:07 GMT

When the Display Scale under System > Display is changed from 100% to 125%, the Background Image size in SharePoint Web Parts > Hero > Slide is not automatically resized.


Display 125%	Display 100%

"labels" in the left navigation pane

Padoh — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:01:30 GMT

Hi, Can anyone advise me if it is possible to add labels in bulk to libraries? What I am asking badly is....I have over a hundred libraries on a site and they need labels adding to them so they are "grouped" in categories. Some of the labels need applying to several libraries. I have been doing smaller sites manually but the bigger ones will be very tedious and time consuming. I hope that makes sense?

Format Power BI report in SharePoint page

connorfelice — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:35:17 GMT

Hey everyone,

I have a wide and short Power BI report that is 2500 by 350 and I am trying to embed it in a SharePoint page. The problem is that when I embed it there is a ton of negative space below the report. I tried formatting the web part but there are only two display ratios (16:9 and 4:3). Is there a way to shorten the web part or reduce the negative space below the report.

SharePoint Online Site Deletion blocked by Retention Policy although no content is retained

FrankSch — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:15:38 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to understand whether this behavior is expected or if other organizations are experiencing the same issue.

Environment

SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365)

Microsoft Purview Retention Policy

Retention duration: 180 days

Trigger: based on last modified date

After retention period: Do nothing

The intention of the policy is not to automatically delete content. We only want to prevent deletion for 180 days and allow deletion afterwards.

Microsoft previously explained to us that retention applies to the content/items, not to the container (the SharePoint site itself).

Problem

We are currently unable to delete SharePoint sites.

When attempting to delete a site from the SharePoint Admin Center we receive the following message:

This site can't be deleted at this time because it is blocked by a compliance policy.

What we already checked

For the affected site:

CompliancePolicyIds = empty

ArchiveStatus = NotArchived

SensitivityLabel = empty

The Preservation Hold Library is empty:

Preservation Hold Library => Items = 0

We also inspected the internal DLC properties of the site and found entries such as:

dlc_sitehaspolicy

dlc_sitehasexpirationpolicy

dlc_webhasexpirationpolicy

Even after clearing these values for testing purposes, the site still could not be deleted.

Important Observation

If we explicitly exclude the site from the retention policy, deletion becomes possible.

This makes it appear that the retention policy is blocking deletion of the site container itself, even though our understanding was that retention should only protect retained content and not permanently prevent deletion of the entire SharePoint site.

Has anyone else observed this behavior?

Additional OneDrive Issue

We are seeing a similar problem with unlicensed OneDrive accounts.

Many of these OneDrive sites:

are already archived

are shown as blocked by retention/compliance

cannot be deleted

remain present for years

For example:

ArchiveStatus = FullyArchived

CompliancePolicyIds = empty

The accounts appear in the list of unlicensed OneDrive accounts, but we are unable to permanently remove them while the retention policy is in effect.

Has anyone found a practical way to clean up or remove these orphaned/unlicensed OneDrive sites when a tenant-wide retention policy is configured?

Questions

Has anyone seen a situation where:

CompliancePolicyIds is empty

the Preservation Hold Library is empty

but site deletion is still blocked by a compliance policy?

Does a retention policy configured as:

Retain for 180 days

Then Do nothing

intentionally block deletion of the entire SharePoint site container?

Is it expected that excluding a site from the retention policy immediately makes deletion possible?

How are other organizations handling site lifecycle management when tenant-wide retention policies are enabled?

Has anyone experienced similar issues with unlicensed OneDrive accounts that cannot be deleted because of retention/compliance requirements?

Any experiences, recommendations, or explanations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Recycle Bin and Site Content Hidden for Site Members and Site Visitors

Brendaama1 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 21:52:58 GMT

I posted this before but made a mistake with my write up, so I am reposting.

I have a requirement that the Recycle bin and Site Contents should be be hidden from the Site Members and Site Visitors. Please how can I achieve this because the Server Infrastructure activation is not working for me. Any workarounds? Please help