SharePoint: Make Libraries More Visual

Key insights

• Gallery View
  Create it from the library's view settings to turn a plain file list into a clean, card-style layout. This visual format displays files, folders, and document sets with thumbnails and makes scanning items faster without any coding.
• Card customization
  Choose which fields show on each card, pick thumbnails, and adjust layout and styling to highlight key metadata. Custom cards help users spot the right document quickly and reduce time spent opening files.
• Views & filters
  The updated interface surfaces saved views, filters, grouping, and sorting in a single pane for fast reorientation. Relying on views reduces the need for nested folders and prevents duplicate copies.
• Command bar & OneDrive shortcuts
  Core actions like Create and Upload sit at the top for quicker access, while OneDrive shortcuts let users access files without full library sync. This lowers sync conflicts and simplifies daily tasks.
• Copilot AI actions
  Built-in AI can summarize documents, extract key data, and answer queries across metadata, boosting accuracy and speeding research or review. Use these actions directly from the library for contextual results.
• Custom upload forms
  Admins can create branded forms that collect required metadata at upload time and enforce permissions. This streamlines intake workflows and helps keep libraries organized and compliant.

SharePoint Maven Inc. released a concise how-to video that shows a simple way to make a SharePoint document library look and feel modern in minutes. In the clip, the presenter converts a standard file list into a clean, card-style layout using the Gallery View, and he emphasizes that no coding or custom formatting is required. The step-by-step approach highlights creating the view, customizing cards, and choosing thumbnails and visible fields to improve usability. Overall, the video positions this single view as a quick visual upgrade for teams tired of long, dense lists.

What the video demonstrates

The video opens with a plain document library and then walks viewers through selecting the Gallery View option from the library’s view settings. Next, the presenter customizes the card layout by picking which fields to show, adding thumbnails, and adjusting basic styling so items appear as visual cards. He shows how document sets, folders, and files all become more engaging when presented in this format, which helps users scan content faster. Finally, the clip reiterates that administrators can apply these settings without scripting or developer tools.

Importantly, the author frames the change as a usability improvement more than a cosmetic one, and he demonstrates practical touches like setting default image fields and choosing which metadata to surface on the card. The video also notes that thumbnails and visuals can make it easier to identify files at a glance, which reduces time spent opening and previewing documents. As a result, teams that rely on visual cues or need to differentiate media and design files will find the view especially useful. Moreover, the approach works within the native SharePoint settings so it fits usual governance controls.

How to create and customize the Gallery View

The presenter begins by opening the library’s view settings and choosing to create a new view, then selects the Gallery View option to switch the layout. He walks through choosing the card fields, picking thumbnails, and setting the order of displayed metadata so important details appear first. The video highlights the ease of making these changes and saving the view for the whole team to use, which keeps the process simple for site owners. In addition, the demo shows how to toggle between grid and gallery modes when different tasks demand denser lists.

The tutorial also covers practical choices, like using a dedicated thumbnail column versus relying on system-generated previews, and adjusting the size of cards to balance visual appeal with on-screen density. He advises configuring which fields appear on hover or in the card footer to avoid clutter while keeping essential facts visible. Consequently, administrators can tune the layout for document-heavy teams or for libraries that host rich media and presentations. Still, the presenter cautions that maintaining consistent metadata makes gallery cards more reliable and useful.

Benefits for users and teams

First, the video makes a clear case that the Gallery View improves scanning speed because images and summarized metadata help people find the right file faster. Moreover, the visual layout reduces scrolling through long filename lists and makes libraries feel modern and approachable, which can help adoption among occasional users. The author also notes that teams working with design assets, images, and presentations will see the biggest gains from thumbnails and card previews. Therefore, organizations can often boost productivity by encouraging the right view for specific content types.

In addition, the change can help cut down on folder proliferation because visual views make it easier to group and filter without creating duplicate copies. The video points out that combining the view with metadata-driven filters lets users see items grouped by project, status, or owner without migrating content. As a result, libraries become more data-driven and easier to manage. However, teams must keep metadata quality high to fully realize these benefits.

Tradeoffs and implementation challenges

While the visual approach offers clear advantages, the video and practical experience suggest several tradeoffs to consider before switching broadly. For example, a gallery consumes more vertical space per item, which reduces the number of visible items on a screen and may require more scrolling on large libraries. Furthermore, thumbnails do not always exist for all file types, and generating or maintaining images requires either built-in previews or manually uploaded thumbnails.

Accessibility and performance also pose concerns: screen readers may need careful labeling to work well with card layouts, and very large libraries can slow page rendering when many previews load at once. Governance teams must balance a desire for visual polish with requirements for searchability, metadata standards, and consistent naming. Consequently, administrators should test the view with representative users and monitor performance before rolling it out widely.

Practical recommendations for adoption

Start by piloting the Gallery View in a few libraries that host visual content or where faster scanning will deliver immediate value, such as marketing or design repositories. Train users on the few metadata fields that feed the card display and provide a simple guide so contributors add thumbnails or descriptive titles consistently. In addition, keep the grid or list view available as an alternative so power users can switch to denser displays when they need to process many items quickly.

Finally, measure results by tracking user feedback and basic metrics like time to find files and frequency of view switches, and adjust the card settings based on that data. If teams face accessibility or performance problems, reduce thumbnail size, limit the number of cards shown, or refine filters to reduce load. By balancing visual appeal with structure and governance, organizations can adopt the gallery approach while managing the real tradeoffs the video highlights.

Keywords

SharePoint document library view, visual SharePoint document library, SharePoint thumbnail view, modern SharePoint library view, customize SharePoint document library, SharePoint file preview thumbnails, make SharePoint library more visual, SharePoint tiles view