- Does not support Managed Metadata column.
- Works with Internet Explorer only.
- Requires Microsoft ActiveX Plugin.
There are six major improvements including new features for Datasheet View:
- Improved UI with a nicer spreadsheet format
- Support for Managed Metadata column
- Removal of ActiveX dependency (Now it uses the html/JavaScript technology.)
- Support in cross-browser (Works with all browsers now.)
- Supports Quick Edit in filtered view (In SharePoint 2010 Datasheet view, the filter you preset will be missing and you need to reset the filter.)
- Supports Quick Edit within a Document Set (In SharePoint 2010, when you open a Document Set, the Datasheet View on the ribbon is disabled. To open a Document set in its own Datasheet view, you have to open Datasheet View for all documents first, locate the Document Set and then click it.)
The Quick Edit view allows you to change, add, delete and copy and paste the values of most fields including Text, Choice, Date, Number, Lookup, and Managed Metadata, although not all column features work nicely in Datasheet view. You can:
- Add and rename columns directly from the spreadsheet (New feature)
- Sort and filter data
- Open the edit form if some data types are not supportable for edit (Item edit menu still works.)
- Copy/move specific items or field values using hot keys (such as Ctrl + c, Ctrl + v, Ctrl + x)
- Add rows to create new items and delete rows to delete items
- Create list items by copying data from Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet applications
- Use the arrow keys to move around in the view
- Quickly insert values by using Auto Fill Handle
There are two ways to enter the Quick Edit mode. One is using the Quick Edit command on the ribbon, and the other is using the shortcut edit at the top of the list.
In SharePoint 2013 Quick Edit view, when you click on the content type field, it is greyed out. This means the content type is not editable in Quick Edit mode.
In SharePoint 2010, you can find a way to bulk edit content types in Datasheet view, but it is not so ideal (see: Datasheet view and edit content type).
It is possible to make mass changes in content types with SharePoint 2007 Datasheet view, where you can select content type from a drop-down list.
Custom field types are read-only in both SharePoint 2010 and 2013 Datasheet view.
If you do need to bulk change content types and custom field types in SharePoint 2013, you can turn to some third party tools.
In SharePoint 2007 and 2010, when you create a “Multiple lines of text” column in a list, you have a choice of three text types: Plain text, Rich text and Enhanced rich text. You can edit both Plain text and Rich text columns in datasheet mode, but not the Enhanced rich text column.
In SharePoint 2013, when you create a “Multiple lines of text” column in a list, you can only select from two text types: Plain text and Enhanced rich text. When you go to the editing page of the column, you can change the Enhanced rich text type to Rich text type. You can edit Plain text and Enhanced rich text column in the Quick Edit mode. But after changing to Rich text, you cannot edit this Rich Text column in Quick Edit mode. This seems weird but Microsoft says it is by design (see: SharePoint 2013: can’t edit Rich Text column in Quick Edit mode).
Quick Edit is not available for view where Group By is used. The option at the top of the list disappears and the command gets greyed out on the ribbon.
You might hate this as you have to stop, set the grouping to None, use Quick Edit and then set the grouping back again. This function works perfectly in SharePoint 2010.
Another limitation is that Quick Edit only works with a view in Default style. If you change to a style (Basic Table, “Boxed, no labels”, Boxed, Newsletter, “Newsletter, no Lines” , Shaded and Preview Pane) other than Default, the Quick Edit option at the top of the list disappears and the Quick Edit command on the ribbon is disabled. If you modify the view and change the style back to Default, then the Quick Edit will once again be available.
Quick Edit mode does not support all the “Excel-like” features that SharePoint 2007 and 2010 Datasheet View provide. The following features are not supportable in Quick Edit mode:
- Drag and drop columns to reorder them
- Adjust Datasheet View Column Width (see: SharePoint 2013 DataSheet View Column width)
- Adjust Datasheet View Column Height
- Select all items on a page using the quick select key Ctrl + A
When working with a large number of items, Quick Edit is not so “quick”. When I copy and paste a massive number of items, there is a red warning sign before each item. When you click on the sign, it says “Unable to communicate with server”. I cannot tell the exact item limit, even after several tests for items between 100 and 150. The performance is just unreliable. Several other people in the article Sharepoint 2013 Datasheet View Navigation performance Issues on large lists also tested the limit and it seemed to be 100.
Removal of Active X Dependency
The other big piece of news is that datasheet view is now powered not by an Active X control but in HTML 5 which makes is much easier to use and it can also be used on browsers other than IE. This is great news from a cross browser compatibility perspective but also for getting users up and running quickly.
Support in Document Sets
A big limitation in SharePoint 2010 of Document Sets was the inability to use datasheet view. Good news is that in SharePoint 2013 this has been address so that you can now edit metadata within a Document Set easily.
Filter and edit behavior
This one is more subtle but we have clients that use views extensively to filter huge amount of data to find what they want. Put simply in previous versions of SharePoint if you first apply some filters and then click on Datasheet view you will loose the filters that you had (which means that you would have to start doing the filtering again)
Now in SharePoint 2013 you can actually filter your content and if you click on Quick Edit it will keep your currently filtered view and allow you to edit these values.
Things to Know about SharePoint 2013 Quick Edit – Part 1