Overview of large lists and libraries

You can store up to 30 million items or files in a list or library. However, as the number of items increases, you might notice certain operations take longer.  Filtered views of large lists have a similar experience to other lists. When a list view shows more than 5,000 items, you might run into a list view threshold error. Creation of site template is blocked on sites with lists or libraries that exceed the List View Threshold (LVT) threshold of 5000 items. Views showing many items work best in the modern experience. To avoid errors you might see in the classic experience, we recommend you use the modern experience.

The List View Threshold (LVT) limit is in place to help get consistent performance across all users with queries to the back-end database. Here's some information about the limits, how it all works, and how to change the LVT value.

Why is 5,000 such a magic number?

To minimize database contention SQL Server, the back-end database for SharePoint, often uses row-level locking as a strategy to ensure accurate updates without adversely impacting other users who are accessing other rows. However, if a read or write database operation, such as a query, causes more than 5,000 rows to be locked at once, then it's more efficient for SQL Server to temporarily lock the entire table until the database operation is completed.

Note: The actual number is not always 5,000, and can vary depending on your site, the amount of activity in the database, and your site's configuration.

When the whole table is locked, it prevents other users from accessing the table. If this happens too often, users will experience a degradation of system performance. Therefore, thresholds and limits are essential to help minimize the impact of resource-intensive database operations and balance the needs of all users.

What happens behind the scenes when you access many items in a list or library?

The following diagram summarizes the key points about what happens behind the scenes when you access many items in a list or library. list of screenshots one.png

List or library data in a site collection is stored in a SQL Server database table, which uses queries, indexes, and locks to maintain overall performance, sharing, and accuracy.
Filtered views with column indexes (and other operations) create database queries that identify a subset of columns and rows and return this subset to your computer.
Thresholds and limits help throttle operations and balance resources for many simultaneous users.
Privileged developers can use object model overrides to temporarily increase thresholds and limits for custom applications with SharePoint Server versions.
Administrators can specify dedicated time windows for all users to do unlimited operations during off-peak hours with SharePoint Server versions.
Information workers can use appropriate views, styles, and page limits to speed up the display of data on the page.

Resource throttles and limits

Lists and libraries have specific maximum limits, as shown in this table.

Feature	Maximum limit
Number of items in a list or library	30 million
Size of an individual file item or item attachment	10 Gigabytes

The following table summarizes information about resource throttles and limits that you need to be aware of. These throttles and limits are set on the Resource Throttling page in Central Administration with SharePoint Server versions. For specific limits and requests for your site, contact your administrator.

Notes:

To assist with management, the administrator is not subject to the following resource throttles and limits.
Not all of these settings are available through the UI, and only with SharePoint Server versions.

Threshold or Limit	Default value	Description
List View Threshold	5,000	Specifies the maximum number of list or library items that a database operation, such as a query, can process at one time. Operations that exceed this limit are blocked. To give you time to make alternative plans, you might be warned on the List Settings page when your list has exceeded 3,000 items. The warning contains a help link to this topic.
Unique permissions limit	50,000	Specifies the maximum number of unique permissions allowed for a list or library. Every time you break the inheritance of permissions for an item or folder, it's counted as 1 unique permission toward this limit. If you try to add an item that would lead to exceeding this limit, you're prevented from doing so. Note: The supported limit of unique permissions for items in a list or library is 50,000. However, the recommended general limit is 5,000.
Row size limit	6	Specifies the maximum number of table rows internal to the database used for a list or library item. To accommodate wide lists with many columns, each item is wrapped over several internal table rows, up to 6 rows and up to a total of 8,000 bytes (excluding attachments). For example, if you have a list with many small columns, one that contains hundreds of Yes/No columns, then you could exceed this limit, in which case you would not be able to add more Yes/No columns to the list, but you still might be allowed to add columns of a different type. Administrators can only set this limit by using the object model, not through the user interface. Note: SharePoint Online doesn't use row-wrapping, so this specific limit does not apply. However, there is a still an overall limit on the number of columns based on their storage size, up to a maximum of 8000.
List View Lookup Threshold	12	Specifies the maximum number of join operations, such as those based on lookup, Person/Group, or workflow status columns. If the query uses more than 8 columns, the operation is blocked. However, it's possible to programmatically select which columns to use by using maximal view, which can be set through the object model.
List View Threshold size for auditors and administrators	20,000	Specifies the maximum number of list or library items that a database operation, such as a query, can process at one time when performed by an auditor or administrator with appropriate permissions. This setting works in conjunction with Allow Object Model Override.
Allow Object Model Override	Y	Specifies whether developers can perform database operations, such as queries, that request an override of the List View Threshold to the higher limit specified by the List View Threshold for auditors and administrators. An administrator must enable an object model override, and then developers with appropriate permission might then programmatically request that their query use the higher List View Threshold to take advantage of it.
Daily time window	None	Specifies a time period during which resource thresholds and limits are ignored. An administrator can configure a time window during "off-peak" hours in 15-minute increments and up to 24 hours, such as 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM or 1:30 AM to 5:15 AM. A database operation or query started within the daily time window continues until completion (or failure) even if it doesn't finish within the specified time window.

Working with the List View Threshold limit

SharePoint has resource throttles and limits that govern the amount of data and throughput that can be managed. The List View Threshold is, by default, approximately 5,000 items, and is set to allow users to work with large lists but keep good performance. For SharePoint, the List View Threshold limit can't be changed, and is in place to allow users on shared tenants to always have good performance on queries. To work around the limit, we've outlined some actions you can do to keep your queries within the limit.

There are many ways you can work with or query a SharePoint list or library without receiving a List View Threshold warning. Using the following ideas, you can get the info you need and stay within the 5,000 item List View Threshold.

For all versions of SharePoint, manage the number of items returned using indexing, filtering, folders, offline data, the Search box, personal views, relational lists, and RSS feeds.
For Server versions of SharePoint, use an administrator scheduled Daily Time Window where limits are raised.
For Server versions of SharePoint, the SharePoint Server administrator can adjust settings to allow more expensive operations. Learn more here.

Learn more details on these approaches for all SharePoint versions here, and for SharePoint Server versions here. Learn more about working with List Forms with large number of Lookup columns here.

Overview of large lists and libraries

Why is 5,000 such a magic number?

Resource throttles and limits

Working with the List View Threshold limit

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