I’ve seen the SharePoint list view threshold error many times when working with large SharePoint lists. This error happens when you try to load or filter too many items at once, usually more than 5,000. Since you’re here, you’re probably facing this error too. In this guide, I’ll explain why it happens and share the steps I follow to fix it.
Here I will guide you through:
- What Is List View Threshold Error?
- Why SharePoint Has the List View Threshold?
- When Did I Faced the List View Threshold Error?
- How Do I Fix this Threshold Error?
- Solution 1. Create Indexed Columns & Use Filters
- Solution 2. Use Folders or Metadata to Break Large Lists
- Solution 3. Design Views to Return Less Than 5,000 Items
- Solution 4. Use Power Automate or REST API with Pagination
- Solution 5. Enable “Modern Experience” in SharePoint Online
- Solution 6. Large List Resource Throttling (For SharePoint Server)
- How to Increase List View Threshold SharePoint Online?
- Conclusion: How I Avoid the Error Moving Forward
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Is SharePoint List View Threshold Error?
The list view threshold error occurs when you try to retrieve or display too many list items at once. SharePoint has a built-in threshold limit to protect the SQL backend from performance issues. By default, that limit is 5,000 items in SharePoint Online and also typically 5,000 in SharePoint Server environments.
Error Message Example:
Why SharePoint Has the List View Threshold?
After managing both SharePoint Online and SharePoint Server, I’ve learned that Microsoft enforces this limit to:
- Prevent large queries from overloading the database
- Ensure fair resource usage in a shared environment, especially in SharePoint Online.
- Keep the user experience responsive
If you’re wondering, “But why 5,000?”, it’s because SharePoint uses SQL Server row locking, and when too many rows are requested, SQL locks large sections of the table, leading to performance issues.
Microsoft clearly explains how to manage large lists or libraries to optimise SQL Server performance behind SharePoint.
When Did I Faced the List View Threshold Error?
Here’s when I typically hit the SharePoint list view threshold error:
- Trying to display a flat view of a large SharePoint list
- Using Power Automate to retrieve list items in bulk
- SharePoint Online Storage Quota Exceeded
- Querying large lists via REST API or CSOM
- Running large CAML queries without filters
- Opening lists with default views that weren’t optimized
I remember once working on a document management project where a SharePoint library had over 50,000 documents. Opening that view was impossible until I optimized it.
How Do I Fix the SharePoint List View Threshold Error?
Let me share the exact approaches I’ve used to fix or work around this error:
Solution 1. Create Indexed Columns & Use Filters
What I do:
- Identify frequently used filter columns (like Created, Modified, Status, or Category)
- Index those columns from List Settings > Indexed columns
- Create views that filter by indexed columns first
Example filter I use:
Show items where Status = Active
Solution 2. Use Folders or Metadata to Break Large Lists
For libraries with thousands of documents, I organize files into folders or use metadata filters.
This saved me when managing large HR document libraries in SharePoint Online.
Solution 3. Design Views to Return Less Than 5,000 Items
Even if your list has 100,000 items, you can avoid the SharePoint list view threshold error by designing views that return fewer than 5,000 items.
Best practices I follow:
- Sort only on indexed columns
- Limit item count to 100 or 500 per view
- Use filters like: Created >= [Today]-30
Solution 4. Use Power Automate or REST API with Pagination
When I build Power Automate flows for large lists, I enable pagination with a set threshold, e.g., 1,000 items per page. I’ve retrieved entire 50k+ lists this way without hitting the threshold error.
In REST API:
Use $top and $skiptoken parameters to paginate results.
Example REST API call I used:
_api/web/lists/getbytitle('LargeList')/items?$top=1000
You can read more about how pagination works in Power Automate from the official Microsoft guide.
Solution 5. Enable “Modern Experience” in SharePoint Online
The modern list experience in SharePoint Online handles large lists better. Switching to it fixed the SharePoint list view threshold error and many other issues, like SharePoint 2013 HTTP 404 Not Found, which I used to see in the classic experience.
To enable it, open List settings > Advanced settings > List experience > Modern experience.
Solution 6. Large List Resource Throttling (For SharePoint Server)
In on-premises environments, I’ve worked with admins to increase the list view threshold temporarily:
- Go to Central Administration > Manage Web Applications > Resource Throttling.
- Increase the List View Threshold from 5,000 to something higher, like 20,000.
- Always plan to revert the change afterwards to avoid long-term performance issues.
How to Increase List View Threshold SharePoint Online?
If you’re wondering how to increase list view threshold SharePoint Online, here’s the truth: you can’t. Microsoft has set the list view threshold limit to 5,000 items, and it cannot be increased or changed in SharePoint Online.
I’ve worked with large lists many times, and I used to think I could raise this limit like we can in SharePoint Server (on-premises). But Microsoft manages the SharePoint Online environment to keep performance stable for everyone, so increasing the threshold is not possible.
While the threshold can’t be increased in SharePoint Online, migrating your data to another SharePoint tenant or environment gives you the chance to reorganize and structure it better. I use the Automated SharePoint Migration Tool for that when needed.
Conclusion: How I Avoid the Error Moving Forward
I no longer fear the SharePoint list view threshold error because I’ve made it a habit to:
- Plan the list structure early
- Backup SharePoint Online to local storage to access data even if SharePoint goes down.
- Use indexed filters religiously
- Break large datasets into folders or metadata groups
If you’re stuck with this error, follow these steps, and I promise you’ll see smoother list performance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Can I completely remove the list view threshold in SharePoint Online?
No. SharePoint Online’s 5,000-item threshold is hardcoded by Microsoft to maintain performance for all tenants.
Q2. Why does SharePoint use 5,000 as the limit?
Because SQL Server locks become inefficient with large data queries. 5,000 is the balance between usability and performance risk.
Q3. Does Power BI face the same threshold?
Yes, Power BI also respects the list view threshold when using SharePoint lists as data sources.