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Gallery View

Gallery View displays SharePoint list items or library files as a visual card grid, featuring a prominent image thumbnail (from an Image column or a file preview) alongside other metadata fields/columns.

Common Use Cases

  • Photo libraries: display event photos or marketing assets as thumbnails for quick visual browsing and selection
  • Employee directory: combine profile photos with Name, Department, and Role fields for a visual org card layout
  • Product catalog: showcase products with images, descriptions, and pricing metadata in a browseable card grid
  • Training resource library: display course thumbnails alongside course name, duration, and audience for a visual catalog
  • Project portfolio: show project thumbnails with key stats (owner, status, budget) in a card layout for executive portfolio reviews
  • Brand asset library: allow the marketing team to browse logos, icons, and templates visually rather than navigating file name rows

Benefits

  • Visual browsing efficiency: thumbnails allow users to identify the right document or record at a glance, reducing time spent opening and closing items
  • Configurable card layout: choose exactly which metadata fields appear on the card to provide the right context without overwhelming the visual design
  • Automatic document thumbnails: for Office files and PDFs, SharePoint generates preview thumbnails automatically; no manual image upload required
  • Responsive design: Gallery View adapts to screen size, reflowing the card grid from multiple columns on wide screens to a single column on mobile
  • Bulk selection support: card checkboxes enable multi-select for bulk operations like move, copy, or delete

Key Considerations

  • Lists need an explicit image source: custom lists must include an Image column populated with images; Gallery View on a list without images relies on a stock icon image.
  • Not ideal for dense data: Gallery View trades column density for visual appeal. Use Standard View for data-heavy records with many fields
  • Limited sorting options: Gallery View offers the same sort control as Standard View but the visual layout makes multi-column sorting less intuitive
  • No inline editing: Gallery View does not support inline editing. You would need to click a card to opens the item details panel to make edits