# What Is a SharePoint Document Set and When Should You Use One?

> A SharePoint document set is a folder-like container with its own metadata, allowed content types, shared columns and a custom view. Learn when to use one.

- URL: https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-document-sets/
- Author: Daniel Anderson, Microsoft MVP (https://www.danielanderson.io/)
- Published: 2024-10-27
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gvV_3V9ad4

## Key takeaways

- A SharePoint document set is a content type that behaves like a folder: one container for related documents, with its own columns such as a meeting date, a project manager or a status.
- Document sets are off by default. A site collection admin activates the Document Sets feature under Site collection features, then the library needs Allow management of content types turned on before the document set content type can be added.
- Shared columns copy a value from the document set to every document inside it, so a Meeting type chosen once applies to all the minutes and agendas in that meeting.
- The welcome page view lets the inside of a document set show different columns from the library's top level, so set-level metadata stays at the top and document-level metadata shows inside.
- Use a document set when the container itself has information worth recording, like a project, a meeting or a matter. If it's only a place to put files, a column on the library usually does the job better.

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](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-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).

1. **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**.
2. **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**.
3. **Add its columns.** On the new content type, add site columns. Mine were **Meeting type** (choice), **Meeting date** (date only) and **Meeting chair** (person).
4. **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**.
5. **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.
6. **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.

Video: From my 2023 document sets series: activating the feature, adding the content type to a library and turning off New folder. The settings are in the same places today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgvVeMAzWjI

## 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](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-document-set-project-template/).
- **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.

Video: Adding a site column to a document set and creating a separate view for inside the set (2023 interface). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-hk-WsjAMI

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](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-folder-permissions/) covers breaking inheritance.

Video: Members read-only at the library level, with edit access granted on one document set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIQ_AN_YpRM

## 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](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-copilot-knowledge-base-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:

1. **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.
2. **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](https://www.danielanderson.io/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](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/copilot-content-type-hub-metadata/).