Hide a Document Library from the Browser with SharePoint Designer 2010
Hiding a Document library from user in the browser is straightforward using SharePoint Designer (SPD) and there is a single setting to accomplish it.
First, open the site with SPD. Once the site is open, you will see the list of objects contained within the site down the left side of the screen. By default, you will see the properties of the site itself.
Next, click on the Lists and Libraries container. This will show you all of the Lists and Libraries contained in the site in the main pane of SPD.
In this case, we want to change the ScriptCSS Document Library so that users cannot see it in the browser. Note that this will apply to all users, though the Site Collection Administrator(s) will still be able to see the library.
There are two useful settings for the list that you can set on the Properties page under Settings / General Settings. Each is controlled with a checkbox.
- Display this list on the Quick Launch – This determines whether the list is displayed on the Quick Launch, which is the persistent set of links down the left side of the screen on most SharePoint sites.
- Hide from browser – This hides the list in the All Site Content page (_layouts/viewlsts.aspx).
After you change the settings you choose, be sure to save the list settings by clicking on the save icon in the upper left of SharePoint Designer.
<update dateTime=”2013-12-04T23:52-05:00″>
I got a question in the comments asking how to do this in SharePoint 2007. If you Right-Click on the list or library in SharePoint Designer 2007, and choose Properties, then click on the Setting tab, you’ll get a dialog that looks something like this:
As you can see, there is a setting for “Hide from browsers”, which does the same thing as the “Hide from browser” setting in SharePoint Designer 2010. There’s no way to toggle the visibility in the Quick Launch here, though. For that you can simply change the setting in the List or Library Settings.
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Hi, Any idea how you go about Un-hiding the list within Sharepoint Designer afterwards??
Ian:
Simply unchecking the box again should make it visible.
M.
Nope, when hidden from browser, it appears to have hidden from SP Designer. :-/
Ian:
That sounds like a permissions issue, then, since SharePoint Designer enforces all permissions. If you don’t have Full Contol on the site, then you won’t see the list you’ve just hidden. Have someone with higher permissions unhide it for you.
M.
Hi Marc,
I have tried this morning using the farm admin account, on the SP server itself with no joy. I have read somewhere that this could be a possible bug, but thought it would have been sorted at this point if that was the case. Just wondering if you are able to replicate the condition, to rule out my insanity/stupiduty.
Many thanks.
Hmm, ok… bravely I tried it with a second library and this time, it still remains in the ‘All Items’ to allow me to unhide. (Hoorah!) Not sure if it makes much difference, but the first document library I chose to hide was ‘Customized Reports’ It still does not appear anywhere to allow for unhiding. The second, which I was able to return to it’s former glory, was the ‘DropoffLibrary’.
Should it make a difference which folder is hidden? But it looks like my customized reports are gone with the wind!
Thanks for any input.
Ian
Ian:
Some of the out of the box lists (like “Customized Reports” or “DropoffLibrary”) have special characteristics that may make it a bad idea to mess with them. When you first asked, I assumed you meant a list of your own creation.
M.
You can also hide or unhide it using PowerShell – grab the list you want (get-splist) and simply change the ‘Hidden’ property.
PowerShell seems like overkill for this one.
M.
Go to Option –> SharePoint Designer Options –> Click on Application Options –> Under General Section –> set the checkbox to checked on option “show catalog lists and system objects” and press Ok.
That’s a great tip, but accomplishes something a little different. It’s great to be able to see things like the Master Page Gallery in the Site Objects View, but it doesn’t change what users see in the browser.
I usually use the All Files view rather than the Site Objects view because it’s easier for me to navigate.
M.
Your advice helped me, thank you.
how do we unhide these lis and libraries in sharepoint 2007 ?
I’ve just updated the post to show changing the setting in SharePoint Designer 2007.
M.
Is it possible to hide a file within a library?
Kyle:
The first thing you always want to look at for “hiding” things is permissions. If someone doesn’t have permissions to an item, they won’t see it.
M.
Is there a way to make the hiiden document library invisible also in Internet Explorer view?
I’m not sure of your question, CF. The second setting hides it from the All Site Content view, if that’s what you mean.
M.
When you hide list or library from designer, you will lost list or library search text box in Sharepoint 2013. Can I get a solution on this?
And it would affect to retrieve all site item using content query web part.
There are only some times when hiding a list or library will make sense. You’re pointing out a few where it probably doesn’t make sense.
M.
how to hide document library view for particular group user in sharepoint using rest api