SharePoint admin guides
Step-by-step guides for SharePoint Online permissions, sharing, storage and migration. A new guide is added every week.
Newest guide
How to Copy Columns From One SharePoint Library to Another
Copy columns from one SharePoint library to another, even across sites, with SPO Scout's Copy Columns (Pro). Learn the steps, limits and safe use.
How to Find Duplicate Files in a SharePoint Library
Find duplicate files in a SharePoint library with SPO Scout's Find Duplicate Files (Pro). Scan the whole library, group likely copies, and clean up safely.
How to Set Version Limits for Every Library in a SharePoint Site
Set version limits across SharePoint libraries and lists with SPO Scout's Version Limits (Pro), and understand SharePoint trimming before changing limits.
Permissions and sharing
Who can see what, where inheritance was broken, and which links reach outside the organisation.
How to Audit External Sharing in SharePoint Online
The six kinds of SharePoint sharing to audit, and how SPO Scout lists shared items on a site and Anyone links in a library (Pro).
6 min readHow to Find Anyone Links in SharePoint Online
Find Anyone links in a SharePoint library in one scan: SPO Scout lists items with sharing links and each link's type, and can remove them all (Pro).
5 min readHow to See Who Is Inside SharePoint Permission Groups
See who is inside the SharePoint groups on a site's libraries, folders and files, not just group names: SPO Scout's expanded report lists members (Pro).
5 min readHow to Check What a User Can Access in SharePoint
SPO Scout's free User Permissions Report shows, in one search, what a person is granted directly or through SharePoint groups on a site and its lists.
5 min readSharePoint Permission Inheritance: How Broken Inheritance Works
How SharePoint permission inheritance works, why broken inheritance piles up, and how SPO Scout shows the exceptions in a site with who has access to each.
5 min readHow to See Who Has Access to a SharePoint File
See who can open a SharePoint file, and every file with its own permissions in a site, in one SPO Scout report. Group members and sharing links on Pro.
6 min readHow to Review SharePoint Access During Employee Offboarding
When someone leaves, disabling the account isn't enough. SPO Scout shows their direct and group access on each site, and each library's sharing links (Pro).
5 min readAudit SharePoint Permissions Before Microsoft 365 Copilot Rollout
Copilot respects permissions but makes forgotten access easy to find. How to find the permission debt first, site by site, with SPO Scout, before your rollout.
5 min readSharePoint Permission Levels Explained
Full Control, Edit, Contribute, Read and Limited Access explained, why Edit lets Members delete whole libraries, and how SPO Scout reports each level.
6 min readEveryone Except External Users in SharePoint: What It Means and What to Audit
What Everyone except external users means, when it's fine and when it isn't, and how SPO Scout shows where it's granted on a site's libraries and files.
6 min readHow to See Who Has Access to a SharePoint Folder
See who can open a SharePoint folder, and every folder with its own permissions in a site, in one SPO Scout report. Group members and links on Pro.
5 min readHow to Find Unique Permissions in SharePoint Online
Find the libraries, lists, folders and files with unique permissions in a SharePoint site, and who has access to each, in one SPO Scout report.
6 min readSharePoint Permissions Audit Checklist for Access Reviews
A practical checklist for auditing SharePoint permissions: what to review, in what order, and what evidence to keep.
11 min readMigration Cleanup: Resetting Permissions Across 65,000 Documents
A field account of restoring inheritance after a migration scattered unique permissions across a destination library.
Field story8 min readFrom Audit Nightmare to Done in Minutes
How a permission audit that previously took two weeks of manual work was completed in an afternoon.
Field story8 min readRemoved 8,000 Shared Links in 2 Hours Before a Compliance Audit
How accumulated "Anyone with the link" shares were found and cleaned up ahead of an audit deadline.
Field story9 min readHow to Generate a SharePoint Permissions Report Without PowerShell
Step by step: produce a SharePoint permissions report at site, library and item level, and export it for an audit file.
12 min read
Storage and version history
Find what is using space and keep version history under control.
How to Find Duplicate Files in a SharePoint Library
Find duplicate files in a SharePoint library with SPO Scout's Find Duplicate Files (Pro). Scan the whole library, group likely copies, and clean up safely.
7 min readHow to Set Version Limits for Every Library in a SharePoint Site
Set version limits across SharePoint libraries and lists with SPO Scout's Version Limits (Pro), and understand SharePoint trimming before changing limits.
8 min readHow to Reduce SharePoint Storage by Controlling Version History
Version history quietly consumes a large share of SharePoint storage. Learn how to measure it, set sensible version limits, and reclaim space safely.
9 min readSharePoint Library Storage Breakdown: See What Is Actually Using Space
Find out which file types, folders and version histories consume a library, without exporting everything to a spreadsheet first.
8 min read
Libraries, pages and migration
Copy structure between sites, recreate pages and check what a migration actually moved.
How to Copy Columns From One SharePoint Library to Another
Copy columns from one SharePoint library to another, even across sites, with SPO Scout's Copy Columns (Pro). Learn the steps, limits and safe use.
7 min readHow to Update SharePoint Metadata Without Changing Modified By or Adding a Version
SharePoint's edit forms stamp you as Modified By and add a version. SPO Scout's Edit Metadata sets column values and keeps Modified, Modified By and the version.
6 min readSharePoint Site Templates Are Not Enough: How to Truly Reuse Pages Across Sites
SharePoint site templates don't fully solve page reuse. Learn the limitations and how to copy pages across sites instantly without rebuilding everything.
8 min readHow to Copy a SharePoint Page to Another Site Faster with SPO Scout
SharePoint has page templates and site templates, but no simple modern authoring flow to copy a page from one site to another. Learn why cross-site page copying is still manual and how SPO Scout helps save time.
10 min readHow to Recreate SharePoint Pages After a Migration
Migrations frequently leave pages behind. Here is how to rebuild them without starting from a blank canvas.
9 min readValidate a SharePoint Migration by Comparing Libraries
How to check what actually landed after a migration — columns, content types, views and folder structure.
9 min readBulk Recreate SharePoint Library Structure Across Sites
Standardising library structure across hundreds of sites without rebuilding each one by hand.
8 min read
Choosing your tools
When a browser extension fits, when PowerShell does, and how the options compare.
SharePoint Browser Extensions for Admins: What Each One Does
The SharePoint browser extensions worth knowing in 2026, and why SPO Scout is our pick for admins: permissions, sharing links and Edit Metadata in one panel.
Comparison7 min readSharePoint Permission Reporting Tools Compared
SharePoint permission reporting tools compared, and why SPO Scout is a quick start: every exception, who has access, and no app registration.
Comparison6 min readSharePoint Admin Extension vs PowerShell: Which to Use When
PowerShell is not going away. This is an honest comparison of where a browser extension is faster and where scripting still wins.
Comparison10 min readHow a SharePoint Browser Extension Saves Hours and Money
Where the time actually goes in SharePoint administration, and which tasks a browser extension removes.
7 min readFrom PowerShell to No-Code SharePoint Administration
When a GUI tool is the right answer, when a script is, and how to decide without dogma.
Comparison8 min read10 Reasons SharePoint Admins Use a Browser Extension
The recurring SharePoint admin tasks that are faster from inside the browser than from a script or the admin center.
7 min read
Product news
Launches and Microsoft 365 update roundups.
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