A SharePoint document set is a container for a group of related documents that you manage as one thing, and it carries its own metadata. It looks and opens like a folder, but because it’s a content type it can have columns (a meeting date, a chair, a project status), limit what can be saved inside it, start every new set with template files and pass its values down to the documents it holds.
Document sets aren’t switched on in a new site: Document set doesn’t appear on the New menu until you activate a site collection feature and allow content types on the library. In the video above I build one end to end for meetings, a Meeting document set with a type, date and chair, holding minutes and agendas.
What is a document set in SharePoint?
Under the hood a document set is a content type. A content type is a reusable bundle of columns and settings that describes one kind of item, such as a contract or a meeting. SharePoint ships a base Document Set content type. You create your own from it (Meeting, Project, Client matter), add the columns that describe that container, and add it to a library. For why columns beat folders in the first place, see folders vs metadata.
How is a document set different from a folder?
| Folder | Document set | |
|---|---|---|
| Available by default | Yes | No, activate the Document Sets feature first |
| Its own columns | Not by default | Yes, from its content type (choice, date, person and so on) |
| Pass values to the files inside | No | Yes, with shared columns |
| Control what can be saved inside | No | Yes, with allowed content types |
| Start with template files and folders | No | Yes, with default content |
| Different view inside versus outside | No | Yes, with the welcome page view |
In my meetings demo, the Meeting document content type was only allowed inside the Meeting document set, so New at the root of the library didn’t offer it and meeting documents could only be saved inside a meeting.
How do you turn on document sets?
Step 1 needs a site collection admin (on a group-connected team site, the group’s owners are).
- Activate the feature. Go to Settings, Site information, View all site settings. Under Site Collection Administration select Site collection features, find Document Sets and select Activate.
- Create your own document set content type. In site settings select Site content types, then Create content type. Give it a singular name, because it becomes the New menu label (New meeting). Set Parent category to Document Set Content Types and Content type to Document Set, then select Create.
- Add its columns. On the new content type, add site columns. Mine were Meeting type (choice), Meeting date (date only) and Meeting chair (person).
- Allow content types on the library. In the library, open Settings, Library settings, More library settings, then Advanced settings. Set Allow management of content types? to Yes and select OK.
- Add the content type to the library. Under Content Types select Add from existing site content types and pick yours. Add column, then Content type in the modern library also works once step 4 is done.
- Remove what you don’t want. I removed the default Document content type from the library and set Make “New Folder” command available? to No under Advanced settings, so the only way to start something new was New meeting.
Shared columns, allowed content types and the welcome page view
These settings live on one page: open the library settings, select your document set content type, then Document Set settings.
- Allowed Content Types decides what can be created inside the set. I allowed only a Meeting document content type (with a Meeting document type choice of Minutes or Agenda), so every Word, Excel and PowerPoint file I dragged in took that content type.
- Default Content adds template files and folders to every new set, which I cover in building a project template with document sets.
- Shared Columns copies values from the set to every document inside it. I shared Meeting type, so the minutes and agenda inherit “Status update” from the meeting without anyone tagging them. Change the value on the set and SharePoint updates the documents.
- Welcome Page Columns and Welcome Page View pick which of the set’s columns show on its welcome page and which library view is used inside it. I created a view called Inside document set, hid the meeting columns, grouped it by Meeting document type and chose it as the welcome page view. The library opens on All Documents with meeting type, date and chair, and clicking into a meeting switches to minutes and agendas grouped.
A document set can also have its own permissions: in a separate video I made members read-only on the library and gave them edit access on one set. Setting folder permissions in SharePoint covers breaking inheritance.
Use a document set when the container has its own facts
My test: does the container have information about itself that someone will want to filter, sort or report on? A project has a manager, a start date and a status. A client matter has a client, a matter number and a responsible partner. If yes, it’s a document set, and its columns turn the library view into a register of every project. Those same columns are what Copilot and search can use to tell one project from another, which I cover in turning SharePoint into a Copilot knowledge base with metadata.
If the answer is no, I wouldn’t use one. A folder called “Marketing” with no facts of its own is better as a Department column on the documents. I’d also hold back in two situations:
- Very large sets. There’s no limit on documents in a set, but views are still bound by the 5,000 item list view threshold, so a set expected to hold thousands of files needs indexed columns and filtered views from day one, or a library of its own.
- Different audiences. If every set needs its own permissions, you end up managing a unique permission scope per project. When groups of people need different access as a rule, a separate library or site is easier to look after.
My free SharePoint Document Sets Blueprint is a 23-minute walkthrough of document sets, content types, shared columns and the view setup above.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be an admin to use document sets? Only to set them up. Activating the feature needs a site collection admin, and changing Document Set settings needs permission to manage the library. After that, people create and fill sets with the same edit access they use to add files.
Can a document set contain folders? Yes. Folders are allowed inside a document set, and default content can create them for you in every new set. Metadata navigation doesn’t work inside a set, so filter with views and columns instead.
Can I use the same document set in several libraries? Yes. Create it as a site content type and add it to each library in the site. Content types are available in the site where they’re created and the sites below it. For the same content type across many sites, publish it from the content type gallery in the SharePoint admin center, which I cover in publishing content types from the hub.
