# SharePoint Folders vs Metadata: Why Columns Make Documents Easier to Find

> Use metadata columns instead of folders in SharePoint and the same document shows up in every view it belongs to, triggers review reminders and goes through approval.

- URL: https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-folders-vs-metadata/
- Author: Daniel Anderson, Microsoft MVP (https://www.danielanderson.io/)
- Published: 2025-08-28
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQcvU-L2JzM

## Key takeaways

- Metadata is information about a document, like its category, owner, audience or review date, stored in columns on the library.
- With columns, one flat library can be filtered to exactly the documents you need, and each saved view gets its own link.
- Edit in grid view lets you tag many documents at once, filling values in like a spreadsheet.
- Rules and built-in approvals run from the columns, so review reminders and sign-off don't need a custom flow.

For most document libraries, use metadata rather than folders. A folder puts a file in one place. Metadata columns describe the file, so the same document appears in every view it belongs to, and the library can send review reminders and run approvals based on what's in those columns.

With folders, someone has to decide where each document lives, so the same file gets saved in two places. Names start carrying the information folders can't, like "Policy v3 changed by Mark", and finding anything depends on knowing the path the person before you chose.

## What metadata means in SharePoint

Metadata is data about data. Think of yourself as a document: your hair colour, eye colour and height describe you without being you. A document's title, author, owner, category, expiry date and audience do the same job for the file.

SharePoint already adds some. Every library tracks **Name**, **Modified**, **Modified By**, **Created** and **Created By**, and keeps version history, so you're always looking at the latest version and can go back to an earlier one. You don't need "v1", "v2" and "final final" in file names.

In my demo, a training manuals library adds its own: **Category**, **Subcategory**, **Audience**, **Owner**, **Approved by** and **Next review date**.

## How to add columns and tag your documents

1. In the library, select **Add column** and choose a type: single line of text, choice, date and time, multiple lines of text, person, yes/no and others.
2. Name it and save. The column appears in the library straight away.
3. Upload a document, open its **Details** (or **Properties**) pane and fill in the values.
4. For lots of files at once, select **Edit in grid view**. The library behaves like a spreadsheet, and you can fill values down a column.

A column created this way belongs to that library only. When I added an Approval date column to the training manuals library, it didn't appear in the site's other libraries.

## Find documents with filters and saved views

Once documents are tagged, you find them by filtering. In the training manuals library I filtered **Category** to Compliance and ethics, **Subcategory** to Best interest duty and **Audience** to New hires, and three manuals were left. The **Filters** pane does the same thing from a side panel.

When a filter is worth keeping, save it as a view. I created a "New hires" view filtered on Audience, and a "Cyber for advisers" view filtered on two columns. Every view has its own URL, so you can link straight to it from a SharePoint page: someone clicks "New hire training manuals" on the homepage and the library opens already filtered. If your team works in Teams, [put those links on a page and pin it as a Teams tab](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-page-teams-tab/).

## Let the columns run the process

**Review reminders.** Under the library's **Rules**, I created a rule on the Next review date column: 30 days before the date, email the document's owner to review it.

**Approvals.** Turn on approvals with **Configure approvals** (under **Integrate** or **Automate**, depending on your view) and the library gets an **Approval status** column. In my test, Frankie approved the request from the **Approvals** app in Teams and the library's status changed from Requested to Approved. Microsoft covers the setup in [Approvals in Lists and document libraries](https://support.microsoft.com/office/approvals-in-lists-2bd0954d-5797-4be3-b78a-846f26338e17).

## Pick your columns from the questions people ask

Here's how I'd set up a library's metadata, in order:

1. **Write down the questions the library needs to answer.** "Which compliance manuals do new hires need?" or "Which contracts expire this quarter?"
2. **Add three to five columns that answer them.** If a column doesn't help answer one of your questions, leave it out. You can add more later.
3. **Use choice columns where the values are known.** A category typed several different ways breaks every filter and view built on it.
4. **Check what SharePoint already does.** Before you build anything custom, ask whether SharePoint handles it natively. Reminders and simple notifications are built into the library's rules.
5. **Test it with one real question.** Filter the library to answer it. If you can't, a column is missing or the values are wrong.

The same columns help Copilot answer questions about the library; I cover that in [turning SharePoint into a Copilot knowledge base with metadata](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-copilot-knowledge-base-metadata/). If you want the steps as a worksheet, my free [Copilot-ready library checklist](https://www.danielanderson.io/checklist) walks through choosing the questions and columns for one library.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I use folders and metadata together in SharePoint?**
Yes. Columns work on documents inside folders. To see everything as one filterable list, edit a view and set Folders to show all items without folders.

**How do I reuse a column in several libraries?**
Create it as a site column instead of using Add column in one library, then add it to each library from the library settings. The column then means the same thing everywhere, and views built on it behave the same way.

**Which column types should I use?**
Choice for values you can list in advance, like category or audience. Date and time for anything with a deadline, so rules can act on it. Person for owners, so a rule can email the right person.

**What should I know before turning on approvals?**
Approvers need access to the document; requesting an approval doesn't grant it. Editing or deleting a file while its approval is open cancels the request, and the older content approval feature isn't connected to these approvals.