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SharePoint document libraries are getting some major upgrades! We’re excited to share several improvements rolling out now (or very soon) that make libraries more user-friendly, powerful, and intelligent. You’ll notice an updated user experience, new AI-powered actions that bring Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities into document libraries, and the ability to create custom forms for document collection in all document libraries. All these changes are aimed at helping SharePoint users work smarter and more efficiently with their files every day.
The M365 Roadmap entries associated with these changes are as follows:
|
Area |
Roadmap ID |
Rollout status |
|
Updated Document Library User Experience |
500870 |
Nov 11 – These changes will begin rolling out to TR customers. |
|
Forms for streamlined document collection |
489834 |
Oct 22 – These changes started rolling out to TR customers. |
|
AI Actions in document libraries |
488297 |
As of Oct 29, this feature is 100% generally available to all Copilot premium subscribers |
Last updated: 4 Nov 2025. We’ll keep this table up to date as the rollout progresses.
User Experience Improvements
We’re introducing a refreshed document library experience that’s cleaner, faster, and easier to navigate. These updates build on the familiar OneDrive user interface to highlight the unique power of document libraries.
These improvements are coming to document libraries opened inside SharePoint sites. For now, document libraries opened inside Teams (in the channel files tab) or inside the OneDrive app will not be affected. And if you’re working in highly customized, tailored SharePoint sites, don’t worry! Your SPFX, column formatting, and view formatting customizations will continue to work as they do today.
Let’s take a tour of the new experience!
Streamlined command bar with AI actions
The command bar has been reorganized for simplicity and efficiency. New + Upload actions are now combined into a single “Create or Upload” hero button, docked at the upper right.
For individuals with a Microsoft 365 Copilot Premium license, we’ve placed AI Actions front and center. This is a set of intelligent, Copilot-powered commands that let you quickly get insights from your files without even opening them. These capabilities include:
- Summarize – Instantly generate a concise summary of a document’s content. This is great for getting the gist of a long report or proposal without reading it end-to-end.
- Ask a question – Pose a natural-language question about the file and get an answer grounded in the file’s content. For example, you could ask “What are the key dates in this document?” or “Who is the target audience?” and Copilot will respond with the relevant info drawn from the text.
- Compare – Select two files and let the AI compare them for you. It will highlight differences or changes between the documents, saving you from manual side-by-side reading. This is especially useful for version comparisons or files like contracts and proposals where you want to see what’s changed.
- Generate an FAQ – Automatically produce a list of Q&A pairs based on the document’s content. The AI will devise likely questions someone might ask about the document and provide answers. This turns a document into a quick-reference FAQ – handy for onboarding materials, policy docs, or lengthy guides.
- Create an Audio overview – This creates a spoken-word overview of the selected document that you can listen to. This is perfect for when you prefer auditory learning or need to digest content in the background while doing something else.
To learn more about AI goodness that’s coming to document libraries and the rest of SharePoint, check out our recent blog post on the SharePoint Knowledge Agent.
Improved folder breadcrumb
The improved folder breadcrumb makes it simple to jump between folders faster and more intuitively. You can now see the current folder’s context clearly and jump back to any parent folder with a single click. When at the root of a library, the “Other Libraries” sub-menu allows you to navigate between libraries in the same site.
The dropdown next to the folder name in the breadcrumb lets you create a new folder or upload files directly to the current folder. For those of you who have built muscle memory over the years to move your mouse to the upper left corner of the page when you want to add a new file, this change is for you!
Views and filters, front and center
Custom views are now displayed prominently as pills (tabs) right below the breadcrumb, making it clear which view you’re in, and easy to switch views or add new ones. Active filters show up as pills on the right, so you can instantly see how the current view is filtered down. You can hover over a filter to see what column the filter is applied to, click a filter to remove it, or remove all active filters by tapping Clear.
Once you've customized the sorting, filtering, or grouping within a view, an indicator will appear above the view pill to remind you that others don’t see your unsaved filters yet. This helps you prevent those classic workplace situations where “it works on your screen!” but others see something different when they load the same view.
Inside this menu, you can:
- “Save view”: Saves these changes to the current view so others will see them when they load this view.
- “Save view as”: Allows you to save your current state to a new view.
- “Reset view changes”: Is a command that allows you to easily bring your view back to its original, saved state.
View options menu
This new menu consolidates common view customization settings in one place. Under this menu, you’ll find layout choices, sort and group settings, column visibility toggles, and quick access to configure formatting.
Forms for Streamlined Document Collection
In the same way you use forms in Microsoft Lists to collect structured data, you can now create a form tied to any folder in a document library (including the root folder!) to collect files and metadata from people. To access this powerful functionality, click the "Forms" button that now appears in the command bar.
Imagine you need to gather documents from a group (for example, collecting project proposals, bid documents, invoices, or creative assets). Instead of chasing people down through emails and Teams messages and convincing them to go to the right folder and upload, you can simply create a form in your document library and share out the link. You can customize the form with specific instructions and prioritize the metadata fields that are most important to include with submission. Colleagues you invite can just click the link to open the form, drag and drop, fill out the required metadata fields, and hit submit. Everything lands in your library, fully organized with necessary metadata files captured.
Some benefits of document library forms include:
- No need to grant folder access: You can gather files from others without giving them direct access to the library or site. The form link is all they need to contribute, which simplifies permissions management.
- Consistent metadata every time: The form ensures that each file uploaded comes with the necessary information. You can define which fields (columns) contributors must fill out such as project name, category, or any custom metadata. This way, you won’t end up with files missing critical tags or info.
- Controlled submissions: As the form owner, you have control over what kinds of files are accepted and how many. For example, you might allow only specific file types (say, PDFs or images) or limit the number of files per submission to avoid overload. This keeps the collected content clean and relevant.
No more emailing files around. No more manual metadata entry. No more confusion over where to drop documents. With Forms, SharePoint libraries become not just a place where you store files, but a proactive tool to collect what you need, when you need it, with minimal effort. It’s available now – give it a try and see how it can simplify your work.
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