Compare versions of a Word document in a document library

With Microsoft Office Word, you can compare two versions of a document that is stored in a document library and display what changed between the versions. The document library must have versioning turned on and must reside on a server running either Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or later, or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or later.

Important: The ability to compare versions of a server document in Word is available only in Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 and later, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and later, Microsoft Office Ultimate, and in the stand-alone version of Microsoft Office Word 2007 or later.

In this article

Overview

Compare the current document with the last major version

Compare the current document with the last version

Compare the current document with any previous version

Overview

When versioning is turned on in a document library, previous versions of a document are stored in the library. This helps you to better manage content as it is revised. Versioning is especially helpful when several people work together on projects, or when information goes through several stages of development and review, because you can compare the changes made between different versions.

You can use the integration between Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and later or Office SharePoint Server 2007 and later and Office Word 2007 and later to compare a document with any of its previous versions. This integration provides the following options:

• Major Version     This option compares the current document with the last major version of the document.

• Last Version     This option compares the current document with the previous version. If the previous version is a minor version, you compare with that. If the previous version is a major version, you compare with that.

• Specific Version     This option compares the current document with any previous version that you choose. When you choose this option, you can also change the settings that Word uses to compare documents. For example, you can choose whether to compare comments, formatting, or case.

The following illustration shows the options available when you click the Compare button on the Ribbon, which is part of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface. Note that these options are available only when you open a document that is saved in a document library that has versioning turned on.

When you compare versions, by default Word displays the two source documents — the original document and the version that you are comparing it with — in separate panes on the right side of the window. These documents scroll synchronously with the compared document so that you can see the changes in context. Note that the source documents that are being compared are not changed in any way, and you cannot edit them in these panes while you are comparing them. You can hide these documents if you want by clicking Show Source Documents on the Review tab or, in later versions, when you click the Compare button on the Ribbon. The compared document appears in a third pane, and tracked changes indicate differences between the original document and the revised document. You can accept or reject these changes and edit the compared document as you normally would.

When you finish accepting or rejecting changes in the compared document, you can use Save As to save the new, compared document to the document library. This document will begin with a fresh version history, which does not incorporate the version history of either of the source documents.

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Compare the current document with the last major version

The document that you want to compare versions for must reside in a document library that has versioning turned on, and the document needs a version history with at least one previous major version.

To compare the current document with the last major version:

1. If the library is not already open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

   If the name of your library does not appear on the Quick Launch, click to view all site content, and then click the name of your library.

2. Click the name of the file that you want to open. The document opens in Word.

   Note: You do not need to check out the file.

3. In Word, on the Review tab, click Compare.

4. Click Major Version.

   Word opens the last major version and compares the versions in a separate document.

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Compare the current document with the last version

The document that you want to compare versions for must reside in a document library that has versioning turned on, and the document needs a version history with at least one previous version.

To compare the current document with the last version, whether the last version is a major or minor version:

1. If the library is not already open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

   If the name of your library does not appear on the Quick Launch, click to view all site content, and then click the name of your library.

2. Click the name of the file that you want to open. The document opens in Word.

   Note: You do not need to check out the file.

3. In Word, on the Review tab, click Compare.

4. Click Last Version.

   Word opens the last version and compares the versions in a separate document.

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Compare the current document with any previous version

The document that you want to compare versions for must reside in a document library that has versioning turned on, and the document needs a version history with at least one previous version.

To compare the current document with a specific version:

1. If the library is not already open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

   If the name of your library does not appear on the Quick Launch, click to view all site content, and then click the name of your library.

2. Click the name of the file that you want to open. The document opens in Word.

   Note: You do not need to check out the file.

3. In Word, on the Review tab, click Compare.

4. Click Specific Version.

5. In the Versions saved dialog box, click the version that you want to compare with the current document, and then click Compare.

   Word opens the selected version and compares the versions in a separate document.

Change the comparison settings

In the Versions saved dialog box, click More to see the available comparison settings. These settings determine which elements of the documents are compared. By default, all the comparison settings are selected. Any changes that you make to these settings are then be used as the default settings in future comparisons.

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Find someone

The search bar in your Contacts list, in the Microsoft Lync main window, is your main entry point to both find and communicate with people.

What do you want to do?

Find a contact

Add a new contact

Search for additional participants

Find a contact

You can find contacts who are already in your Contacts list as well as people who work in your organization whom you haven't added to your Contacts list.

1. Open Lync, and, in your Contacts list, type a contact's name, email alias, email address, phone number, and if applicable, the extension. As you type, the search results adjust to display the most likely contacts.

2. If you don't find the name or number that you're looking for in the search results, you may be able to refine the results by searching for keywords such as skill or area of expertise. If your organization has enabled this feature, Lync communications software searches for these words or phrases in the Microsoft SharePoint profiles of the users.

   Note: If the person you are searching for is not part of your organization, you'll need to add them as a contact individually. There is not a search mechanism for federated partners, outside of Skype Directory search.

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Add a new contact

You can use the search bar to add a new contact even if the person does not work in your organization, or is in an organization that is recognized or joined to your organization's network (known as being federated).

1. Open Lync, and, in the search box, type a name, email address, or phone number. As you type, the search results adjust to display the most likely contacts.

2. In the search results, point to the contact that you want to add, click the plus sign (+), and then click the appropriate group.

The modes of communication you can use to contact the person depend on whether they are in an organization that is federated to your organization.

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Search for additional participants

When you are in a conversation or meeting, you can add contacts in several ways. One way is to click the People Options menu in the conversation window, and then click Invite by Name or Phone number. This opens the Invite by Name or Phone Number dialog box, which contains a search box and Contacts list where you can type contact names and phone numbers. However, in Lync, calling PSTN (telephone) numbers is supported only if:

• The meeting organizer uses an Audio Conferencing Partner to provide PSTN conferencing with Lync.

• The meeting is scheduled, or is a Meet Now meeting. Lync conversations, such as those initiated by a user from the Contacts list, do not include PSTN conferencing support.

You can also click contacts from your Contacts list, and drag them onto the conversation window.

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Format numbers as text

If you don't want a number to be treated as a value that can be calculated (for example, an item number), you can format the number as text. It's easy to tell at a glance if a number is formatted as text, because it will be left-aligned instead of right-aligned in the cell.

1. Select the cell or range of cells that contains the numbers that you want to format as text.

   Tip: Although not always practical, it generally works best to format empty cells as text before you enter numbers in them.

2. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then in the left navigation pane, click Text.

Note: When you enter a number that begins with a zero, Excel deletes the zero by default. If this is not what you want, you can create a custom number format that forces Excel to retain the leading zero. For more information, see Keep leading zeros.

Insert scanned text or images into Word

If you've got a printed document or picture that you want to insert into your Word document, there are a couple of ways you can do that.

Note: If you're looking for instructions on how to connect your scanner or copier to Microsoft Windows, please visit the manufacturer's support website for your device.

Scan an image into Word

To scan an image into a Word document, you can use a scanner, a multi-function printer, a copier with scan capability, or a digital camera.

1. Scan your image or take a photograph of it with your digital camera or smartphone.

2. Save the image as a standard image format such as .JPG, .PNG or .GIF. Place it in a folder you can access on your computer.

3. In Word, place your cursor where you would like to insert the scanned image and on the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Pictures.

   

4. Select your scanned picture from the dialog box, and click Insert.

   

Scan text into Word

The best way to scan a document into Microsoft Word is to use our free Office Lens app on your smartphone or tablet. It uses your device's camera to capture the document and can save directly into Word format as an editable document. It's available for free on iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone and Android.

If you don't want to use Office Lens, the next best option is to scan your document as a PDF using your scanner's native software and then open that PDF file in Word.

1. In Word click File > Open.

2. Navigate to where your PDF file is stored, and open it.

3. Word will open a dialog box confirming that it is going to attempt to import the text of the PDF file. Click OK to confirm, and Word will import the text. Word will do its best to preserve the formatting of the text as it appears in the PDF.

   

See Edit PDF content in Word for more information.

Note: The accuracy of the text recognition depends on the quality of the scan and on the clarity of the text you scanned. Handwritten text is seldom recognized, so scanning typed or printed text will give the best results. Always proofread the text after opening it in Word to ensure the text was accurately recognized.

Alternatively, your scanner may have come with an application that allows you to do Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Check the documentation for your device, or contact the manufacturer of your device, for more information.

Do you have a question about Word that we didn't answer here?

Post a question in the Word Answers community forum

Help us improve Word

Do you have suggestions for how we can improve Word? Visit Word UserVoice and let us know!

See also

• Insert pictures in Office 2013 and Office 2016

• Insert a signature

• Scan app for Windows: FAQ

Add and request read receipts and delivery notifications

A delivery receipt confirms delivery of your email message to the recipient's mailbox, but not that the recipient has seen it or read it. A read receipt confirms that your message was opened.

In Outlook, the message recipient can decline to send read receipts. There are other scenarios where read receipts are not sent, such as if the recipient's email program doesn't support read receipts. There is no way to force a recipient to send a read receipt.

Newer versions Office 2007

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Request read and/or delivery receipts for all messages that you send

1. On the File menu, select Options > Mail.

2. Under Tracking, select the Delivery receipt confirming the message was delivered to the recipient's e-mail server or Read receipt confirming the recipient viewed the message check box.
   

   Tip: As a best practice, consider tracking only single messages of importance instead of all messages. Recipients who occasionally receive a notification that a read receipt is requested on your message are more likely to send a read receipt than if they are prompted every time that they receive a message from you.

3. Click OK to apply your changes.

Track a single message

1. In a new email message, on the Options menu, in the Tracking group, select the Request a Delivery Receipt check box or the Request a Read Receipt check box.

2. Compose your email and click Send.

Track receipt responses

1. Open the original message that you sent with a request for a delivery or read receipt. This message is usually located in the Sent Items folder.

2. On the Message tab, in the Show group, choose Tracking.

   Note: Tracking doesn't appear until at least one receipt has been received. After you receive the first receipt in your Inbox, it might take several minutes before the Tracking button is available.

Track all messages that you send

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

2. Under E-mail, click E-mail Options.

3. Under Message handling, click Tracking Options.

4. Select the Read receipt check box or the Delivery receipt check box.

   

   Tip: As a best practice, we recommend that you consider tracking only single messages of importance instead of all messages. Recipients who occasionally receive a notification that a read receipt is requested on your e-mail message are less likely to turn off all read receipts for future messages.

Track a single message

• In the message, on the Options tab, in the Tracking group, select the Request a Delivery Receipt check box or the Request a Read Receipt check box.

  

Track receipt responses

1. Open the original message that you sent with a request for a delivery or read receipt. This message is usually located in the Sent Items folder.

2. On the Message tab, in the Show group, click Tracking.

   

   Note: Tracking does not appear until at least one receipt is received. After you receive the first receipt in your Inbox, it might take several minutes before the Tracking button is available.

Change the processing of receipt responses

1. On the Tools menu, click Options > E-mail Options > Tracking Options.

2. Select the processing options that you want by doing one or more of the following:

   • Automatically record responses in the original item    
     Select the Process requests and responses on arrival check box.

   • Delete notifications about delivered and read messages    
     Select the Process receipts on arrival check box.

   • Move receipts out of your Inbox after processing    
     Select the After processing, move receipts to check box.

     Í

3. To select a folder other than Deleted Items, click Browse, and then choose your destination folder.

Import a .pst file into Outlook for Mac from Outlook for Windows

To help you transfer messages and other items from a Windows-based computer to a Mac, Outlook 2016 for Mac can import Outlook Data Files (.pst) that are created in Outlook for Windows.

1. Transfer the .pst file from your Windows computer to your Mac.

2. On the Outlook for Mac File menu, select Import…

3. Choose Outlook for Windows archive file (.pst), and then choose Continue.

4. Locate the data file on your computer, and then choose Import.

5. When the import process is complete, choose Finish.

   The imported items appear in the navigation pane under On My Computer.

Related information

Create an Outlook Data File (.pst) to save your information

2016 2011

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To help you transfer messages and other items from a Windows-based computer to a Mac, Outlook 2016 for Mac can import Outlook Data Files (.pst) that are created in Outlook for Windows.

1. Transfer the .pst file from your Windows computer to your Mac.

2. On the Outlook for Mac File menu, select Import…

3. Choose Outlook for Windows archive file (.pst), and then choose Continue.

4. Locate the data file on your computer, and then choose Import.

5. When the import process is complete, choose Finish.

   The imported items appear in the navigation pane under On My Computer.

Related information

Create an Outlook Data File (.pst) to save your information

Import a .pst file from Outlook for Windows

To help you transfer messages and other items from a Windows-based computer to a Macintosh computer, Outlook for Mac can import Outlook Data Files (.pst) that are created in Outlook for Windows.

1. Transfer the .pst file to your Macintosh computer.

2. On the Outlook for Mac File menu, click Import.

3. Click Outlook Data File, and then click the right arrow.

4. Select Outlook for Windows Data File, and then click the right arrow.

5. Locate the data file on your computer, and then click Import.

6. When the import process is complete, click Done.

   The imported items appear in the navigation pane under On My Computer.

Note: Outlook for Mac can only import Unicode-based .pst files which are the standard format for Personal Folders files for Outlook (for Windows) 2003 and later versions. ANSI-formatted .pst files, also known as Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders Files, were the standard personal folder format for saving data in Outlook for Windows in versions 97-2002. This file format can't be imported into Outlook for Mac. If you have the older version of ANSI-formatted .pst file, there is no automated procedure to convert that file to the newer file format. However, you can create a new Outlook Data File (.pst) in Microsoft Outlook for Windows 2003 or later, and then import items from the older file into the new file. You can then import the new .pst file into Outlook for Mac. For more information about how to create .pst files and importing items, see Help for your version of Outlook for Windows.

Open an Outlook Data File (.pst or .olm)

You can import an Outlook for Windows Data File (.pst) or an Outlook for Mac Data File (.olm). These data files can contain large amounts of data of multiple item types. Outlook Data Files are frequently used as an archive or to transfer data between computers.

1. On the Outlook for Mac File menu, click Import.

2. Click Outlook Data File, and then click the right arrow.

3. Select a data file type, and then click the right arrow.

4. Locate the data file on your computer, and then click Import.

5. When the import process is complete, click Done.

   The imported items appear in the navigation pane under On My Computer.

   Note: Outlook for Mac can only import Unicode-based .pst files which are the standard format for Personal Folders files for Outlook (for Windows) 2003 and later versions. ANSI-formatted .pst files, also known as Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders Files, were the standard personal folder format for saving data in Outlook for Windows in versions 97-2002. This file format can't be imported into Outlook for Mac. If you have the older version of ANSI-formatted .pst file, there is no automated procedure to convert that file to the newer file format. However, you can create a new Outlook Data File (.pst) in Microsoft Outlook for Windows 2003 or later, and then import items from the older file into the new file. You can then import the new .pst file into Outlook for Mac. For more information about how to create .pst files and importing items, see Help for your version of Outlook for Windows.

Open Entourage items from an archive or an earlier version

You can import items such as e-mail messages, contacts, and events from Entourage 2004, Entourage 2008, or Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition. You can also import from an Entourage archive, which has an .rge extension.

1. On the Outlook for Mac File menu, click Import.

2. Click Entourage information from an archive or earlier version, click the right arrow, and then follow the instructions.

   Notes: 

   • If you used a Microsoft Exchange account with Entourage, all items in the Exchange account are downloaded from the Exchange server after the import process is complete. Any rules or schedules related to the Exchange account will need to be reconfigured in Outlook.

   • If you import items from Entourage 2004 or Entourage 2008, category information for items in an Exchange account aren't imported to Outlook. However, with Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition, category information will be downloaded from the Exchange server.

   • Outlook doesn't include Project Center. If you used the Project Center in Entourage and then import your Entourage information into Outlook, Project Center associations are converted to categories. For example, if you added items to a project that was titled "Research Paper" in Entourage, these items are assigned a category that is called "Research Paper" in Outlook.

   • Custom views, search settings, and event travel time information from Entourage aren't imported into Outlook. Outlook events don't include any travel time information.

Move an item from an archive folder to another folder in Outlook

1. Select the item that you want to move.

2. On the Home tab, click Move, and then click Choose Folder.

3. In the search box, enter the name of the folder that you want to move the item to, and click Move.

   Tip: To copy an item from an archive folder to another folder in Outlook, you can simply drag the item to the folder where you want to place the copy.

See also

Import information into Outlook

Import iCal or Address Book items into Outlook

Export or manually archive Outlook items

Automatically archive or back up Outlook items

Introduction to libraries

A library is a location on a site where you can upload, create, update, and collaborate on files with team members. Each library displays a list of files and key information about the files, such as who was the last person to modify a file. Most sites include a library when you create the site. For example, a team site has a Documents library where you can organize and share your documents.

As you need more libraries, you can choose from several ready-to-use library apps and add those to your site. You can also customize libraries in several ways. For example, you can control how documents are viewed, managed, and created. or track versions of files, including how many and which type of version. You can even create custom views, forms, and workflows to help you manage your projects and business processes.

How to links

If you're just looking to create or work with libraries and need the how-to information, here are common and useful tasks that you can do.

• Create, add, view, and rename document libraries

• Video: Set up document storage and sharing in Office 365

• Ways to work with site library files in File Explorer

• Create a folder in a document library

• Delete a file, folder, or link from a SharePoint document library

• Upload, create, or delete files in a library

• Create a column in a list or library

• Create, change, or delete a view of a list or library

• Enable and configure versioning for a list or library

• Set a file template for a document or form library

• Sync a library to your computer

• Use workflows with a library

• Set permissions and advanced settings on a library Understanding permission levels in SharePoint

• Work with photos in a picture library

• Set up an Asset Library to store image, audio, or video files

• Manage lists and libraries with many items

• Manage large document and record libraries by using metadata (see Introduction to managed metadata)

How does a typical team use a library?

A marketing team at Contoso creates a team site where they plan to manage projects and documents. They pick a site owner to manage the site. The site owner gets the Full Control permission level when she is added to the Owners group for the site. She shares the site and gives everyone permission to contribute to it. The team decides to use the Documents library for managing press releases, budget files, contracts, proposals, and other team documents.

The site owner uploads important documents to get the team started using the library as a central location. Then she turns on versioning, so the team has a history of how files evolve and can restore a previous version, if necessary. The site owner also adds standard templates to the library for marketing reports, sales contracts, campaign plans, and budget worksheets. Each template contains the company logo and a format that everyone has agreed to use. When members create a new file from the document library, they can easily select which template they want to use.

As team members add files and collaborate on documents, they organize the library by adding columns and creating views to help them find documents quickly. For example, the site owner adds a "Project Name" column so members can filter or sort by that column. Other team members add public views that group by fiscal quarter, and filter for contracts that expire within six months. Each member also creates personal views to help them find information quickly and complete their work.

After much discussion at a staff meeting, the team decides to set alerts at the library level to report updates once a week. Each member can decide how to set up additional alerts or RSS feeds on specific files, as necessary.

The team also commits to an important "best practice" in this new world of collaboration. When members want to share a document, they resist the temptation to attach it to an email message, and instead email a link to the document. Emailing a link is easy to do from the library and points people to the latest version on the team site.

A critical responsibility for this team is proposing marketing campaigns to drive sales and revenue. When team members develop a new campaign plan, they co-author documents and track minor versions of the files. Co-authoring lets multiple people edit a document at the same time, without having to worry about reconciling changes. If they make a mistake in one version of a document, they can restore a previous version. When they finish the campaign plan, they can create a major version and then send it for approval by their legal department and their manager. When the file is approved, other employees in the company can view the file.

The site owner researches the online documentation and training, and learns how to set up a workflow, associate it to the library, and automate the process of gathering feedback, collecting signatures, and publishing the final document.

After three months of use, the Documents library and site have become critical to the marketing team and helped improve their productivity and visibility throughout their enterprise. They can't imagine working without it, and are exploring other ways to use SharePoint technologies to collaborate better.

Ways to work with libraries

Here are some ways to work with libraries and make them more useful for your group (organized loosely from basic to more advanced):

Use and create views     You can use a view to see the files in a library that are most important to you or that best fit a purpose. The contents of the library don't change, but each view organizes or filters the files to make them easier to find and to browse in a meaningful way. For more information about views, see Create, change, or delete a view of a list or library.

Track versions     If you need to keep previous versions of files, libraries can help you track, store, and restore the files. You can choose to track all versions in the same way. Or you can choose to designate some versions as major, such as adding a new chapter to a manual, and some versions as minor, such as fixing a spelling error. To help manage storage space, you can optionally choose the number of each type of version that you want to store.

Tip:  If your team plans to use co-authoring, we recommend turning on at least major versioning in the library, just in case someone makes a mistake and uploads a document of the same name in a library where everyone is co-authoring. This way, if you lose changes, you can restore a previous version of the document.

For more information about versioning, see Enable and configure versioning for a list or library.

Co-author or check-out of files     When you edit a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint document from a library without checking it out, other people can edit it at the same time (that's co-authoring). When you check out a file, you ensure that only one person can edit the file until it is checked in. You can require documents to be checked out in libraries that contain sensitive documents, or when you want to carefully track the evolution of documents. But be aware that requiring checkout will make it impossible for people to co-author documents. Using check-out, people will be prompted to leave a comment about what they changed in the document, but check-out will also slow down the editing and reviewing processes. For more information, see Document collaboration and co-authoring or Check out, check in, or discard changes to files in a library.

Edit files from desktop programs    When you store documents on a SharePoint site, you can create, edit, and co-author documents directly from compatible desktop programs, such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, without even going to the site. For example, you can edit a PowerPoint presentation at the same time as other people are editing it (also known as co-authoring). You can also manage check-in and checkout directly from PowerPoint. In addition, you can use OneDrive for Business or Outlook to take library contents offline, work with them from a remote location, and then smoothly synchronize changes when you come back online.

Stay informed about changes    To stay updated when documents in a library change, set up alerts, subscribe to RSS feeds, or follow documents. The main difference between alerts, RSS, and following are where you receive the notifications. Both alerts and RSS feeds inform you about updates, and both allow you to customize how much information you receive. You can set up alerts or RSS to find out when anything changes in a library. If you care about only a specific document, set up an alert or follow the document. Alerts can arrive as email or text messages. RSS notifications arrive in a consolidated feed that you can read in Outlook or another feed reader. If you follow a document, you'll receive a notification in your Newsfeed (if your organization is using Newsfeed). For more information about notifications, see Create an alert or subscribe to an RSS feed.

Require document approval     You can require documents to be approved before everyone can see them. Documents remain in a pending state until they are approved or rejected by someone who has permission to do so. You can control which groups of users can view a document before it is approved. This feature can be helpful if your library contains important guidelines or procedures that need to be final before others see them.

Set permissions    SharePoint groups and permission levels help you to efficiently manage access to contents. By default, permissions on libraries, folders within libraries, and documents are inherited from the site. Assigning unique permissions to a specific library or document can help you to protect sensitive content, such as contracts or budget information, without restricting access to the rest of the site. For more information about permissions, see Understanding permission levels in SharePoint.

Create workflows     A document library or content type can use workflows that your organization has defined for business processes, such as managing document approval or review. Your group can apply business processes to its documents, known as workflows, which specify actions that need to be taken in a sequence, such as approving documents. A SharePoint workflow is an automated way of moving documents or items through a sequence of actions or tasks. Three workflows are available to libraries by default: Approval, which routes a document to a group of people for approval; Collect Feedback, which routes a document to a group of people for feedback and returns the document to the person who initiated the workflow as a compilation; and Collect Signatures, which routes a document to a group of people to collect their digital signatures.

Note:  Only the three-state workflow is available in SharePoint Foundation.

For more information about workflows, see About the workflows included with SharePoint.

Define content types     If your group works with several types of files, such as worksheets, presentations, and documents, you can extend the functionality of your library by enabling and defining multiple content types. Content types add flexibility and consistency across multiple libraries. Each content type can specify a template and even workflow processes. The templates act as a starting point, for formatting and any boilerplate text and for properties that apply to the documents of that type, such as department name or contract number.

Audit Tracking    If you have a group of sensitive files, and it would be helpful to know how the documents were being used, you can define a policy that allows you to enable audit tracking of events, such as file changes, copies, or deletion.

Set policies    Policy settings enable document expiration, automatic deletion, or periodic review (through a workflow) of documents that have reached a specified age. As libraries evolve, using these disposition settings can save time and effort over trying to manually clean up hard disk space that is packed full or to avoid reaching quota limits.

Note:  Policy settings are not available in SharePoint Foundation.

Use a Document Center site    You can use a Document Center site when you want to create, manage, and store large numbers of documents. A Document Center is designed to serve as a centralized repository for managing many documents. Features, such as metadata and tree view navigation, content types, and Web Parts, help you organize and retrieve documents. "Content stewards" can quickly configure metadata-driven navigation to perform well for most libraries without explicitly creating indexes. Or content stewards can create indexes to enhance the performance over a wider range of filters and views. You can use a Document Center site as an authoring environment (where users check files in and out and create folder structures for those files) or a as content archive (where users only view or upload documents).

Note:  Document Center is not available in SharePoint Foundation.

Organizing libraries on a site

The way that you organize your files in a library depends on the needs of your group and on how you prefer to store and search for your information. Some planning can help you set up the structure that works best for your group. Libraries have several features that help you work with multiple files in one library. However, multiple libraries may suit your group better.

Storing documents in one library

You may want one library to serve diverse needs. For example, you might have several projects within the same group, or multiple groups working on the same project. Consider using a single library when:

• Your group needs to see summary information about, or different views of, the same set of files. For example, a manager may want to see all files grouped by department or by due date.

• People want to search for the files in the same location on a site.

• You want to apply the same settings to files, such as tracking versions of files or requiring approval.

• The groups that are working with the library share similar characteristics, such as the same levels of permission.

• You want to analyze information about the files in a spreadsheet, or to receive consolidated updates about the files.

To work efficiently with documents in one library, you can organize files in a library by adding columns, defining views, or creating folders.

Storing documents in multiple libraries

You may want to create multiple libraries when there are distinct differences among the sets of files that you want to store and manage, or among the groups of people who work with the files. Use multiple libraries when:

• The types of files that you want to store and manage are distinct, and you don't expect people to frequently view summaries of the files or to search the files together.

• The groups of people who are using the files are distinct and have distinctly different permission levels.

• You need to apply different settings, such as versioning or approval, to different sets of files.

• You don't need to analyze the files together or receive consolidated updates about the files.

• You want to provide different sets of options for creating new files, or you want the options on the New menu of a library to appear in a different order.

The following are some ways that you can work efficiently with multiple libraries.

Set up site templates and columns    If your organization wants to establish some consistent settings across its libraries, it can set up site templates and site columns. You can share the settings across multiple libraries so that you don't have to recreate the settings each time.

Send files to another location    If you want a file to be available in multiple libraries, you can store it in one library, and then send a copy to other libraries. You can choose to be reminded to update any copies of the document when you make changes to the original.

Create library templates    If you want to establish some uniform settings for libraries or reuse characteristics across libraries, you can save a library as a template. Library templates are available as an option on the Add an App page on your site.

Organizing files in a library

There are several ways to organize files in a library. You can add columns, define views, and create folders. Each approach has its own advantages, and you can combine each approach together to fit the unique needs of your library and your team.

Adding columns

By default, libraries track the name of a file, as well as information about the status of a file, such as whether it is checked in. But, you can specify additional columns that help your group to categorize and track files, such as a campaign name or a project number, or other information that's important to your team. You have several options for the type of column that you create, including a single line of text, a drop-down list of options, a number that is calculated from other columns, or even the name and picture of a person on your site.

Columns provide column headers that make it easy for people to sort and filter documents. When you display files in a library, you can temporarily sort or filter the files by pointing to the name of a column, and then clicking the down arrow beside the name. This is helpful if you need to see the files in a certain way, but you have to repeat the steps the next time you view the library.

For more information about adding columns, see Create, change, or delete a column in a list or library.

Defining views

Will users often want to see: all the documents related to a specific project, all documents that belong to a particular department, or group the documents by the month they are due? If you expect to view the files in a certain way frequently, you can define a view. You can use this view any time that you work with the library. When you create a view, it is added to the Current Views drop-down list located in the library ribbon.

A library view is a selection of columns on a page that displays items in a library, and often defines a specific sort order, filter, grouping, and custom layout. Libraries can have personal views and public views. Anyone who has been assigned to the Members group on the site (which has the Contribute permission level) can create a personal view to see the files in a certain way or to filter for only the files that they want to see. If you have permission to design a library, you can create a public view that anyone can use when viewing the library. You can also make any public view the default view, so that people automatically see that view of the library.

If members of your group view the libraries on a mobile device, you can even create mobile views that provide limits, such as number of items displayed in a view, that are optimal for the bandwidth and limitations of the devices.

For more information about views, see Create, change, or delete a view of a list or library.

Creating and using folders

Folders are containers that use can use to group and manage content in a library or list. If folders are enabled for the library, you can add folders to most types of libraries. If your library contains many items, folders also improve the efficiency of accessing those items. When you create a folder, behind the scenes you are creating an internal index. This internal index is also created for the root folder, or top-level of a library or list. When you access items in a folder, you are effectively using this internal index to access the data.

If a library contains many items that can be grouped in a particular way, you can use folders to organize content within the library. Good examples of groups include projects, teams, departments, product categories, age ranges, alphabetical listings, and alphabetical subgroups (A-C, D-F, and so on). Folders can help people to scan and manage lots of files in a familiar way.

By default, a library with folders enabled displays folders in the default view of the library without any filters. This is useful because users can choose the appropriate folder when they insert new documents. Displaying all the folders also makes it less likely that items will be incorrectly added outside the folders in the library. You can easily reorganize documents into different library folders by using the Open with Explorer command available on the library ribbon.

Note:  A library view can be set to Sort only by specified criteria, in which case the folders do not appear first before any items in the view. You may not want to use this view sort option if you want users to easily locate the correct folder.

Although library folders do not display in the site navigation, the site owner or a user with permission to design a site can enable the Tree View, which displays a Site Content section in site navigation, and lets you expand, collapse, and easily navigate folders of libraries.

For more information about folders, see Create a folder in a document library or Delete a folder in a library.

Using columns, views, and folders together

All three approaches can work together. The same columns you use to track documents in the default view of a library can be used to create a view with several filter criteria. People can sort and filter a view dynamically by clicking the column headers to find content at the spur of the moment. If a folder structure has been defined in the library, you can "flatten" a library view by setting the Show all items without folders option in the Folders section when you create or modify the view. Each approach can complement the other to get the right content at the right time and in the right way for you.

Types of libraries

Some libraries are created for you when you create a new site, such as the Documents library in a team site. You can customize these libraries for your purposes, or you can create your own additional libraries. Each type of library has a specific purpose and some have a different set of behaviors and features.

Important:  You may have fewer or more libraries available on your site, depending on the version of SharePoint that your site is based on, the plan of Office 365 your organization subscribes to, or whether certain features are enabled on your site.

Asset library     To share and manage digital media assets, such as image, audio and video files, use an asset library. An asset library makes it easier for users to discover and reuse digital media files that others have already created, such as logos and corporate images. An asset library also provides content types with properties and views for managing and browsing media assets, such as thumbnails and metadata keywords. For example, you may want to manage and store branded images and reusable content fragments from applications so they are available throughout your enterprise and consistently used.

Dashboards library    Contains Web Part pages, Web Part pages with Status Lists, and PerformancePoint deployed dashboards.

Data Connections library     To simplify the maintenance and management of data connections, use a data connection library. A data connection library is a centralized place to store Office Data Connection (ODC) files. Each of these files (.odc) contains information about how to locate, log on, query, and access an external data source. Centralizing ODC files in a data connection library also makes it possible to share, manage, and search data connection files from within a SharePoint site, and helps ensure that business data and reports, especially spreadsheets, maintain a consistent set of values and formula results as "one version of the truth".

Note:  To simplify the maintenance and management of data connection files for PerformancePoint, use the data connection library for PerformancePoint. In this library, you can store ODC and Universal Data connection (UDC) files.

Document library     For many file types, including documents and spreadsheets, use a document library. You can store other kinds of files in a document library, although some file types are blocked for security reasons. When you work with programs that are not blocked, you can create those files from the library. For example, your marketing team may have its own document library for planning materials, news releases, and publications.

Form library    If you need to manage a group of XML-based business forms, use a form library. For example, your organization may want to use a form library for expense reports. Setting up a form library requires an XML editor or XML form design program, such as Microsoft InfoPath. The form that people fill out is just an .xml file that contains the data (and only the data) that was entered into the form, such as the expense date and the amount. Everything else that makes up the expense report is provided by the form template. After people fill out forms, you can merge the form data or export it for analysis.

Picture library    To share a collection of digital pictures or graphics, use a picture library. Although pictures can be stored in other types of SharePoint libraries, picture libraries have several advantages. For example, from a picture library you can view pictures in a slide show, download pictures to your computer, and edit pictures with compatible graphics programs, such as Microsoft Paint. Consider creating a picture library if you want to store pictures of team events or product launches. You can also link to pictures in your library from elsewhere on your site, such as from wikis, and blogs.

Record library     To keep a central repository for storing and managing your organization's records or important business documents, use a record library. For example, your organization may need to adhere to compliance regulations which require an organized process for managing pertinent documents. A Records Center site can contain a number of record libraries for storing different types of records. For each library you can set policies that determine what records to store, how to route and manage the documents, and how long these records must be retained.

Report library     To simplify the creation, management and delivery of web pages, documents and key performance indicators (KPI) of metrics and goals, use a report library. The report library is a central place where you can create and save reports, such as Excel workbooks, and dashboard pages. When you publish an Excel workbook to a reports library, it is single-click enabled to open in browser view, which is a convenient way to see the workbook without adding it to a Web Parts page.

Process Diagram Library (Metric and US Units)    To store and share diagram process documents, such as those created with Microsoft Visio, use a Process Diagram Library. The Metric and US Units libraries are tailored to their respective measurements.

Wiki Page Library    To create a collection of connected wiki pages, use a wiki page library. A wiki enables multiple people to gather information in a format that is easy to create and modify. You can also add wiki pages that contain pictures, tables, hyperlinks, and internal links, to your library. For example, if your team creates a wiki site for a project, the site can store tips and tricks in a series of pages that connect to each other.

Note: Depending on your site and configuration, additional system libraries, such as the style library, site assets library, and site pages library, are automatically created for you. However, you cannot create these specific libraries through the user interface.