How SharePoint Lists and Libraries handle attachments
Their are many differences between a List and Library in SharePoint Online. This post only describes the differences with respect to storing and working with attachments.
Topic
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Library
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List
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Search in attachment
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When a file is stored in a Library the search will give a very accurate result of where the search term is found. In below example the search is carried out for the word “PI” and the word has been found in 2 attachments and the location of the word is displayed in the search results as well.
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When the file is stored in a list the search will give the list items where the search key has been found. The search will not tell if the search string was found in a file or in the list item. The user must open the list item and check each file for the search string manually. |
Versions
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Version history of attachments is supported.
In a Document Library it is possible to restore previous version.
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Version history of attachments not supported.
A major drawback of a SharePoint lists is that attachments are not versioned along with other changes to a List tem when List versioning is enabled. |
Check-in/Check-Out
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Supported |
Not Supported |
Drag and drop files
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Supported |
Not Supported |
eDiscovery feature
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Supported |
List attachments will not work with the eDiscovery feature |
Document Preview
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Supported |
Not Supported |
Download copy option
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Supported |
Not Supported |
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Conclusion
To summarize; if you want to store and organize, share and collaborate on your documents then our advise is to use a SharePoint Document library.
Only use a SharePoint List occasionally and as secondary type of storage place for documents that are not accessed frequently.