ShareMaster is shaped by your feedback. Tell us what to build next →
Features All features overview
Migration Tools Overview Structure and content OneDrive ↔ SharePoint Content only Structure only Move / Copy Upload from this computer Download to this computer Dropbox to SharePoint Resume and incremental runs
Recycling Bin Overview Browse a site's recycle bin Empty recycle bins in bulk Restore and purge history
Archive Overview Configure the tenant On Demand Archive Restore Archived Files Archive Savings Report Blob Viewer
Optimise Storage Tools Overview Delete all items in a list Delete all files and folders in a library Remove empty folders Remove duplicate files Reduce image sizes Delete sites and subsites
SharePoint Tools Overview Tenant Explorer SharePoint Explorer Easy Settings Fix renamed groups List Explorer Search the Preservation Hold Library
Replace Overview Replace in SharePoint Replace in local files Find password-protected files
Shared Links Overview Report shared links Report unique permissions Remove a person from sharing links Remove shared links Remove unique permissions
Version History Overview Version trimming Version trimming report Reset file version
Reports Overview Inventory report Folder inventory Site and subsite storage Security matrix Teams permissions Pre-migration analysis Compare items Dropbox to Microsoft 365 compare Duplicate file report Empty folder report Image size report Recycle bin report Unused licences Report history
Developer Tools Overview Query Builder PnPjs Console Property Bags SPFx Customizers Webhooks Customisation audit
V2 Pricing Demos Blog Guides Use cases Compare Tools Alerts FAQ Contact
Sign in Start free trial
  1. Home
  2. Documentation
  3. SharePoint tools

View Creator

Make a list or library view, step by step

A view decides which items a list shows, which columns, in what order, grouped how and with what totals. View Creator builds one step by step: pick a site and a list, start blank or from a copy of one of the list's views, name it and say who sees it, choose the columns, filter (with Query Builder's rows, or CAML you paste), sort and group, totals and the item limit. Review shows the view in words, its schema and a preview of its first 30 items, and nothing is created until you press Create view and confirm.

Makes changes. Adds one new view to one list, after you confirm. It never changes or removes an existing view. Making the new view the list's default changes what everyone sees first when they open the list: the old default is backed up first, and you can make it the default again from the Done page or History.
On this page What it does How it runs What you need What it will not do

What it does

  • Which lists you may add a view to, and whether it can be for everyone or only for you.
  • How many items a filter matches, before anything is created (Test, and the Review preview).
  • Whether a filter, sort or group will run into the list view threshold on a big list, and which column to index.
  • The view's CAML, to copy into another tool.

How it runs

  1. Sign in. One tenant, asked when you click the tile. Any of the three credentials works.
  2. Site and list. Pick a site, then a list or library. Each list says what you may make there: public and personal views, personal views only, or none.
  3. Start. Describe it (AI fills the steps for you to check), start blank (the default view's columns, no filter) or copy one of the list's views. A copy is saved as a NEW view; the original is not changed.
  4. Name and type. A name the list does not already have; Standard, Datasheet, Calendar (pick its start and end dates), Gallery (cards) or Board (pick the choice or yes/no column its columns come from); Everyone or Only me (fixed once created); and whether it becomes the default view.
  5. Columns, filter, sort, totals. Columns in the order they show. A filter as rows, or as CAML: paste a <Where>, <Query> or whole <View>. Convert to rows reads it back; a filter the rows cannot show stays as CAML and is created exactly as typed. Test reads up to 30 matching items.
  6. Review and create. The view in words, its schema and a preview. Create view asks once more, creates it, then reads it back: if SharePoint stored anything differently, it says so.
  7. Remove or put back. SharePoint tools → History lists every view View Creator made. "Remove this view" removes one only if it is still as View Creator made it and is not the list's default: the whole view is backed up first, and "Put this view back" makes it again from that backup.

What you need

  • Build with AI (optional): your own AI key in Settings → AI keys. It sends your words, the list's name, item count, column names, types and choices, its views' names and the view you are building. No items, people, site or tenant names, unless you tick "Also send a few sample rows" for one request: then up to 5 rows of the columns you tick, shown before sending. The AI never creates the view; each answer's cost and the session's total show under the box.
  • Manage Lists on the list for a view everyone sees; Manage Personal Views for one only you see.
  • No tenant role and no admin consent: every call is SharePoint's own API, so a browser sign-in works.

What it will not do

  • One list at a time. Existing views are not edited in place: copy one, and the copy is a new view.
  • Only me is not offered on the certificate: SharePoint would make the view for the app, and no person could see it.
  • Over 5,000 items, a filter whose first column is not indexed only looks through the first 5,000 items, and a sort or group by on a column that is not indexed is refused. View Creator warns and names the column; index it in List Explorer.
  • At most 12 lookup, person and managed metadata columns in one view (SharePoint's own limit).
  • Calendar needs a date column (start and end may be the same); Board needs a single choice or yes/no column. The preview lists their items as rows; SharePoint draws the calendar, cards or board.

See every feature