Column indexing

SharePoint lists and document libraries allow for the indexing of properties (columns). Column indexing can have a big positive impact on performance of your canvas apps because data is returned faster when retrieving data using the “Filter” or “Lookup” function and the columns used are indexed.

You must have sufficient rights on a list/document library to configure column indexing. The following default permission levels allow this:

• Design
• Edit
• Full Control

Below, the steps are given on how to index a column.

1. Go to settings page of the list/document library.
2. Scroll down until you see the link Indexed columns in the section Columns.
3. Click on this link.
4. Click on Create a new index.
5. Select the primary column.
   • Some property types also allow for a secondary column for the index.
6. Click on the button Create.

The overview below shows for which column types indexing is available and for which not.

Column type	Available	Not available
Calculated		X
Choice (Single select)	X
Choice (Multiple select)		X
Currency	X
Date and Time	X
Hyperlink or Picture		X
Image		X
Lookup	X
Multiple lines of text		X
Number	X
Person or Group (Single select)	X
Person or Group (Multiple select)		X
Single line of text	X
Yes/No	X

The following column types allow for a secondary column index:

• Currency
• Lookup
• Number
• Person or Group (Single select)
• Yes/No

Video

This video demonstrates how to add an index to a column in a SharePoint list and a SharePoint document library:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL0h1cK_6AI (🎥 2023-10-15)

Links

Add an index to a list or library column:

• https://support.microsoft.com/office/add-an-index-to-a-list-or-library-column-f3f00554-b7dc-44d1-a2ed-d477eac463b0

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