Libraries FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Libraries.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Libraries Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before employees can browse libraries?
Yes. Libraries requires a licence and is disabled by default, so an admin must first enable it in Admin → Apps → All Apps. Then create at least one library and give it a category. Every item lives in a category, so a library with no categories has nowhere to put its first item.
Who can create a new library?
The Who can create a library? setting under Permissions in Libraries Settings decides it. The default is App admins only. The other choices are Managers and above — by role, People managers — anyone with direct reports, whatever their role, Everyone with access to the app, and Specific people — choose groups below. Business admins, Libraries app admins, and anyone granted Contributor for Libraries under Apps → Libraries → Admins & Contributors can always create one, whatever this is set to.
What permission does a new library start with?
New libraries start with the Who can add or remove items in new libraries setting, which defaults to Admins only. The choices are Everyone, Admins and specific users, and Admins only. When you pick Admins and specific users, a Specific users for new libraries list appears. Everyone on that list starts as a contributor on each new library; existing libraries are not changed.
Permissions and access
What is the difference between Visibility and “Who can add or remove items?”
They answer two separate questions. Visibility decides who can see the library: All Users or Specific Audiences. Who can add or remove items? decides who can add, edit, and delete its items. A library can be visible to everyone while only admins change its contents.
Who can edit a library, and who can change its audience?
Libraries app admins, business admins, the person who created the library, and anyone named as its Manager can rename it and organise its categories. Only a Libraries admin or the creator can change its Visibility, its audience rules, or Who can add or remove items?. A named Manager sees those controls read-only. Disabling or deleting a library is for Libraries admins only.
How does “Admins and specific users” work?
With Admins and specific users, only admins and the people you name in the library’s Specific users panel can add, edit, and delete items. Each named person is a Contributor or a Manager; both can manage items, and a Manager can also rename the library and organise its categories. Anyone named there can open the library, even if the audience rules would not show it to them. The library’s creator can always manage its items, at every setting.
Which audience rules can I use to target a library?
You can target by Department, Location, Job Family, Job Title, Organizational Role, Group, Platform Role, or Individual User. A person who matches any one rule can see the library. A department rule matches a person’s primary department or any of their additional departments. A location rule includes every location beneath it, so a rule on a region reaches everyone at the sites in that region.
“Why can’t I see a library my coworker can see?”
The library is probably set to Specific Audiences, and the coworker matches one of its rules while you do not. Ask an admin to check your department, location, and job title in your profile, since the rules read those. A department rule counts additional departments too, and a location rule covers every site beneath the chosen location. A library can also be disabled, which hides it from everyone except the people who manage it.
“Why can’t I add items to this library?”
The library’s Who can add or remove items? setting does not include you. Under Admins only, only admins and the library’s creator can. Under Admins and specific users, you must be named on the library as a Contributor or Manager. Under Everyone, anyone who can see the library can add items.
Day-to-day
What types of items can I add to a library?
In a Mixed Content library the Add Item form offers Simple link, File, Form, and Wiki. Form and Wiki appear only while the Forms and Wikis apps are turned on. File uploads a document, such as a PDF or an Office file. An Images & Videos only library offers a single Media option for images and videos. The library type is chosen at creation and cannot be changed afterwards.
Can I disable a library without deleting it?
Yes. A Libraries admin can disable a library from its actions menu and enable it again later. Items, categories, and audience rules are all kept. While it is disabled, only admins, the library’s creator, and its Managers can open it. Items added to a disabled library send no new-item notifications.
What view options are there?
The main Libraries page has two views: Modern View (a card grid) and Tree View (a collapsible hierarchy). Default Library View in Settings picks the starting view, and it defaults to Modern View. Each category has its own layout: Card view, Large view (the default), or Compact view. Its sort order is Admin defined, A to Z, or Z to A. Categories in an Images & Videos library always show a card grid.
Why are employees getting notifications about new items?
The Notify Users When New Items Are Added setting is on; it defaults to off. When it is on, everyone who can see the library gets an in-app notification and an email, each subject to their own notification preferences. Items added together in one go are announced once, not one notification per item. Turn the setting off if the volume is too high.
When something looks wrong
“I searched for something and got no results — is search broken?”
Search matches words in library names and descriptions, category names, and item titles and descriptions. It does not match an item by the name of its library or category. With several words, a result needs to match only one of them. If Include Libraries in Global Search is on, library items also appear in the platform-wide search bar.
“The item says the source is unavailable”
The item links to a form, wiki, or other record that was later deleted, archived, or deactivated. The item shows as unavailable instead of opening a dead page. Restore or republish the record, or replace the item with a current link. With governance automation on, a deleted record is flagged as critical and an archived or inactive one as medium.
Governance and gap analysis
What does governance automation check?
When Enable Governance Automation is on, Libraries scans enabled libraries once a week. It flags libraries where nothing (the library, its categories or its items) has been updated within the review interval — a library manager can also save the library unchanged to confirm it is still accurate — stale items, broken external links, and items whose linked record is gone or inactive. The Review Interval for Every Library (days) accepts 7 to 365 and defaults to 90; an item is flagged at 80% of it. Check for Broken Links checks up to 50 external links per weekly run. Send Governance Review Reminders sends Inbox reminders only, with no email.
What is knowledge gap analysis?
Enable Knowledge Gap Analysis shows searches that returned no results on the Insights tab, so you know which content to add. It is off by default. Search terms are kept for about 90 days and are recorded anonymously unless this setting is on; turning it on also records who searched. Send Gap Analysis Summaries sends a weekly Inbox summary to organization admins and Libraries admins. Each weekly summary covers the last 30 days, and none is sent unless those 30 days hold at least 50 searches and at least one search that found nothing.
Licensing and limits
Does Libraries require a licence?
Yes. Libraries requires a licence and is disabled by default. An admin enables it per organization in Admin → Apps → All Apps.
Are there limits I should know about?
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Library name | 100 characters, unique in your organization (not case-sensitive) |
| Library description | 500 characters |
| Library banner image | under 4 MB; PNG, JPEG, or WebP |
| Item title | 255 characters |
| Item description | 500 characters |
| Link URL | 2,048 characters |
| Uploaded file, image, or video | 100 MB per item |
| Image formats | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, SVG |
| Video formats | MP4, WebM, QuickTime, AVI |
| File formats | PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, ZIP, plain text, CSV |
| Uploaded caption file | 2 MB |
| Governance review interval | 7 to 365 days (default 90) |
| AI agent gap report | 7 to 45 days of search history |
More help
- Libraries Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Libraries questions from these articles.