# How to Build a Tools and Apps Dashboard in SharePoint > Give people one page for every tool they use: a Microsoft List in gallery view for the full catalogue, and Quick links for one-click shortcuts and filtered views. - URL: https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-tools-apps-dashboard/ - Author: Daniel Anderson, Microsoft MVP (https://www.danielanderson.io/) - Published: 2022-12-27 - Updated: 2026-10-26 - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voStNVLiApk ## Key takeaways - I build a SharePoint tools dashboard as a Microsoft List with columns for the name, description, URL, a help contact, a logo and a category, shown on a page through the List web part in a gallery view. - A gallery view turns each list item into a card with the logo on it, and the List web part can show that view on any page with the command bar hidden. - Separate views per category, such as Productivity, Finance and HR, let one list feed several sections of the same page. - The Quick links web part suits a short set of shortcuts, including links to filtered views of a document library, like paid or rejected invoices. - Square 1080 x 1080 pixel PNGs with a transparent background turn Compact quick links into circles instead of squares. To build a tools and apps dashboard in SharePoint, create a Microsoft List with a row for each tool (its name, a description, the URL, who to ask for help, a logo and a category), make a gallery view of it, and add that view to a page with the List web part. For a handful of shortcuts people use every day, the Quick links web part is quicker to set up and can point at anything with a URL, including a filtered view of a library. There are usually more tools in play than anyone can remember the address of: the Microsoft 365 apps, the HR system, the expenses tool, the booking system, the odd SaaS product one team swears by. A dashboard on the intranet or a department site gives people one place to start, and building it on a list means the page updates whenever the list does. ## Before you start - **Pick the site.** A dashboard for the whole organisation belongs on the intranet home site, usually a communication site. A dashboard for one team can sit on its own site. [Team sites vs communication sites](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-team-site-vs-communication-site/) covers the difference. - **You need edit access** to create the list and edit the page. Everyone who uses the dashboard only needs read access. - **Collect the logos first.** Most vendors publish a brand kit with their app icons. Square PNGs work best on cards and in quick links. ## How do you build the tools list? 1. On the site, select **New**, then **List**, and choose **Blank list**. I called mine Our tools. 2. Add the columns. All of them are standard column types: - **Description**, Multiple lines of text - **URL**, Hyperlink, so you can show friendly text like "Open the Word home page" instead of the raw address - **Help**, Person, for the subject matter expert people should ask - **Logo**, Image - **Category**, Choice, with values such as Productivity, Finance and HR 3. Add a row for each tool. The URL can point anywhere, inside Microsoft 365 or not, so your HR system and booking tools sit alongside Word and Viva Connections. ## How do you turn the list into a dashboard view? 1. Open the view menu (**Switch view options**), select **Format current view**, and under **Choose layout** select **Gallery**. 2. Select **Edit card** to open the card designer. Choose which columns show on each card, drag them into order, and decide whether column names show as labels. I showed the logo and the help person's profile picture, and hid most of the labels. 3. Use **Save view as** to keep it as a named view, such as Gallery. In the video I created the view with **Create new view** and **Show as Gallery**. Either route gets you the same card layout. ## How do you add the dashboard to a page? 1. Edit the page and add a section. A one-column section gives the cards room. 2. Add the **List** web part and choose your tools list. 3. In the web part properties, choose the gallery view you saved and turn on **Hide command bar**. 4. Republish the page. Because the categories are a column, you can make a view for each one (Productivity, Finance, HR) and put a separate List web part in its own section for each. One list then feeds the whole page, with each section showing its own slice. ## When are Quick links the better choice? The Quick links web part suits a short, stable set of links: six or eight things people click every day. Add the web part, select **+ Add links**, paste a URL or pick a site or file, and choose a layout. The layouts are **Compact**, **Filmstrip**, **Grid**, **Button**, **List** and **Tiles**. Each link can have a custom image, a description and alternative text. Quick links can also point at a filtered view of a document library, which turns a big library into a one-click dashboard. Video: Quick links that open filtered views of an invoices library: paid, approved and rejected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV886DADW3k In that demo I used a library built from SharePoint's **Invoices** library template. I filtered the library on its Status column to show paid invoices, copied the URL and added it as a quick link called All paid invoices, then did the same for approved and rejected. Clicking a link opens the library already filtered, and the filters pane stays open so people can change the filter from there. In my own sites I'd save each filter as a named view with **Save view as** and link to the view instead. A saved view has its own address and appears in the library's view list, so it doesn't depend on a long filtered URL. ## How do you make circle quick links? Quick links show square images by default. To get circles, make the image itself a circle on a transparent background. 1. Make a square canvas, 1080 x 1080 pixels, in the image tool you use. I used Canva in the video, with an image generated in Microsoft Designer. 2. Drop a circle frame across the whole canvas and place your image inside it. 3. Download the result as a PNG with a **transparent background**. 4. In the Quick links web part, set the layout to **Compact**, add a link, and change its image to your PNG. The link now shows as a circle. Compact quick links also sit well in a vertical section down the right of a page. For the **Grid** layout I use 16:9 images, 1920 x 1080 pixels. Video: Circle quick links: a circle frame, a transparent PNG and the Compact layout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-nNlYvFhA ## Run the dashboard from a list someone owns The page takes minutes to build. These are the decisions I'd make about the list behind it before the dashboard goes live. 1. **Give the list one owner.** Someone in IT or the intranet team adds tools when they're bought and removes them when they're retired. Delete the row and the card disappears from every page that shows the list. 2. **Make it read-only for everyone else.** On a communication site most people are visitors, which is what you want. On a team site, members can edit lists by default, so I'd give the tools list its own permissions before it goes on the home page. [Folder permissions in SharePoint](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-folder-permissions/) covers how breaking inheritance works. 3. **Use the Help column.** A named person against each tool answers the question people actually have when they open the dashboard: who do I ask? 4. **Keep categories in one Category column.** One list with a Category column gives you a view per department and a filter on the cards, and a new tool only has to be added once. 5. **Target where the audience differs.** If some tools only matter to one department, Quick links support audience targeting per link, and I cover targeting on a home page in [building a personalised intranet home page](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-intranet-home-page/). If the dashboard is meant to surface documents or pages rather than tools, the [Highlighted content web part](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-highlighted-content-web-part/) is built for that. And if your team works in Teams all day, pin the dashboard page as a channel tab, as I show in [adding a SharePoint page as a tab in Teams](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-page-teams-tab/). ## Frequently asked questions **Can a SharePoint quick link go to a filtered library view?** Yes. Filter the library, then either copy the address from the browser or save the filter as a view and copy the view's address. Paste it into the Quick links web part with + Add links, then give the link a clear title, because SharePoint uses the view's page name by default. **What image size should I use for SharePoint quick links?** Use square images, such as 1080 x 1080 pixels, for the Compact layout, which displays icons at 48 x 48 pixels. Filmstrip images display at 212 to 286 pixels wide. For Grid, I use 16:9 images at 1920 x 1080. **Can I show a Microsoft List as cards on a SharePoint page?** Yes. Create a gallery view on the list with Format current view, then add the List web part to the page and choose that view in its properties. Turn on Hide command bar so the page shows the cards without the list toolbar. **Can different people see different links on the same dashboard?** Yes, if the links are in a Quick links web part. Turn on Enable audience targeting in the web part, then set Audiences to target on each link. The full setup is in [building a personalised intranet home page](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-intranet-home-page/).