SharePoint Lists & Libraries: Modern vs. Classic View Settings

SharePoint lists & libraries: we all love ’em. With multiple views, they are like little apps.

[Why the heck do lists have a brand and logo but libraries don’t? And why aren’t the two just considered simply variations on a concept by Microsoft?]

Do you find yourself using both the modern & classic view settings? If so, why do you continue to use the classic view settings? I’m building a list (ha!) for the Microsoft folks. I’m after feedback about view settings in particular, but anything you find yourself returning to the classic settings UIs for regularly would be helpful.

For example: I go to the classic view settings to display the Title in libraries or to create a “folderless” view.

Here’s what I’ve collected so far. Please reply in the comments and let me know what we’re missing! I’ll keep adding to this post as I hear from more folks. You can help by spreading the word by amplifying my posts on Twitter, Mastodon, and/or Facebook. I’m consolidating and rewording for consistency – my apologies if I mangle what any of you said. Just let me know if I’ve missed anything!

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List Settings

• Manage Content Types (Order, Field Hidden)
• Access to field to see internal name in the url parameters
• Manage View Settings
• Reindexing List “if you want to include them in the Search”
• Versioning
• Item permission “Create items and edit items that were created by the user”
• To deploy add-ins / command extensions to the app catalog. You can’t deploy these in the modern view.
• Managing permissions – Permissions for the list/library are much clearer. The Shared/Shared With is too awkward.
• Manage files with no checked in version
• Setting Column Default Values

View Settings

• Display the Title in libraries
• Create a “folderless” view
• Add the list ID field to a view
• When I need to “Display items in batches of the specified size” and defeat the endless, maddening modern scroll-delay-scroll-delay nonsense for large libraries.
• Easier to sort column order, filtering, grouping and sorting on one single screen, as opposed to clicking around on modern. Usually for when you setup a list which is more than a few columns.
• You import from Excel anything more than 5 columns you are going to want to sort out without horizontal scrolling and dragging and dropping, etc.
• For grouping/filtering, I find the classic UX easier than JSON editing [Several people have said something similar]
• Classic for lots of reasons (reindex, permissions, versioning, open behavior, etc.)
• Fields that are not displayed but are used in formulas. I find it more reliable to select them in the classic view settings.
• Display items in batches of the specified size
• Displaying the version number in the view
• Getting the URL of the view [This one bugs me, too. When you switch views, you get a URL like /AllItems.aspx?viewid=97fbd6f4-82a9-4916-9a1b-65ce28328173. You can’t know what the actual view page is without editing the view – i.e., going into the classic view settings.]
• Navigating up the content type hierarchy
• Group by collapsed
• Multiple group by
• I think the docicon field is only available in classic
• Adding a site field (perhaps my knowledge is outdated here)
• Sums (Totals)
• Calendar stuff for me. If I remember correctly (because I’ve moved to other stuff) surveys and task views are also better in classic
• I don’t think I see “display the version number of a file.” Drives me nuts that I can add Promoted State to a view in “modern,” but not Version. I like to see both for the Site Pages library.

Other

• Creating new Document Sets doesn’t work in modern interface.
• Mapping a geolocation field in a list. Cannot be done in modern SPO
• To deploy add-ins / command extensions to the app catalog.
• Editing columns in a content type. SharePoint knows there’s a gap because it gives me a link to switch.