The Attempted Operation Is Prohibited Because It Exceeds the List View Threshold: What Site Owners Should Check

When you try to open a SharePoint list or library and see the error message “The attempted operation is prohibited because it exceeds the list view threshold,” your site contains more items than SharePoint can display in a single view. SharePoint enforces a default limit of 5,000 items per view for lists and libraries to maintain server performance and database stability. This article explains why the threshold exists, how to identify the items causing the issue, and the practical steps you can take to restore access without deleting your data.

Why the List View Threshold Exists and How It Affects Your Site

SharePoint stores list and library data in a SQL Server database. When a user opens a view, SharePoint runs a database query to return the items that match the view filter. If the query returns more than 5,000 items, the database must scan a large number of rows, which can slow down the server for everyone on the site collection. The list view threshold prevents these large queries from degrading performance for other users.

The threshold applies to the number of items returned by a single view, not the total number of items in the list or library. A library can hold hundreds of thousands of files as long as each view shows fewer than 5,000 items. The error appears when a view has no filter or a filter that matches more than 5,000 items. The same restriction applies to folders that contain more than 5,000 items.

How the Threshold Affects Different Operations

The threshold blocks several operations beyond opening a view:

• Adding a new column or changing a column type on a list with more than 5,000 items.
• Creating a new view that does not include a filter on an indexed column.
• Deleting or renaming a column on a list that exceeds the threshold.
• Running workflows or Power Automate flows that query the entire list without a filter.

Site owners can still add, edit, and delete individual items. The restriction only applies to operations that require scanning the entire list.

Steps to Identify and Fix the List That Exceeds the Threshold

1. Open the site collection storage metrics
   Go to the SharePoint admin center. Select Active sites and click the site collection name. Under Storage metrics, you will see a list of every list and library with its item count. Note the list or library that has more than 5,000 items.
2. Navigate to the large list or library
   Open the site and go to the list or library you identified. If you cannot open the default view, add /_layouts/15/start.aspx#/Lists/YourListName/AllItems.aspx to the URL, replacing YourListName with the actual list name. This opens the list in a simpler view that may load.
3. Create an indexed column
   In the list settings, select Indexed columns. Add an index on a column you can use for filtering. For libraries, index the Title or Created column. For lists, index a column that has unique or near-unique values, such as ID or a custom date column.
4. Create a new view with a filter on the indexed column
   Go to Create view in the list settings. Select a view type. In the Filter section, add a filter on the indexed column. For example, filter ID is greater than 0 or Created is greater than [Today]-30. Save the view. This view will return fewer than 5,000 items and will not trigger the error.
5. Set the new view as the default
   In the list settings, under Views, click the new view and select Set as default. All users will now see this filtered view when they open the list.
6. Remove or archive old items to reduce total count
   If you need access to all items without filters, reduce the total item count below 5,000. Delete outdated items or move them to an archive library. Use a site collection administrator to delete items in bulk from the list.

Using the SharePoint Online Management Shell to Bypass the Threshold

Site collection administrators can use PowerShell to modify a list that exceeds the threshold. This method is useful when you cannot open the list settings through the browser.

1. Connect to SharePoint Online
   Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator. Run Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com and sign in with your admin credentials.
2. Get the list object
   Run $web = Get-SPOWeb -Identity "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite" then $list = $web.Lists["YourListName"].
3. Add an indexed column
   Run $list.Fields["Title"].Indexed = $true; $list.Update() to create an index on the Title column.
4. Create a filtered view
   Use the New-SPOView cmdlet to create a view with a filter. Example: New-SPOView -List $list -Title "FilteredView" -Fields "Title","Created" -Query "0".

If the Error Persists After Creating a Filtered View

The list view threshold error still appears for some users

This usually happens when the user has a personal view set as default. Each user can override the default view. Ask the user to go to the list, click the view dropdown at the top right, and select the new filtered view. Then they should click Set as current view.

The error occurs when opening a specific folder

SharePoint counts items in a folder toward the 5,000 limit. If a folder contains more than 5,000 items, the folder view triggers the error. Move items out of the folder into subfolders so each folder contains fewer than 5,000 items. Alternatively, use metadata navigation and remove the folder structure.

The error appears when running a Power Automate flow

Power Automate flows that use the Get items action with a large list can hit the threshold. Add a filter query in the Get items action that uses an indexed column. For example, use ID gt 0 to limit the result set. The flow will process items in batches of 5,000 or fewer.

The site collection administrator cannot open the list settings

If the list has more than 30,000 items, the browser may time out when loading the settings page. Use PowerShell to add the indexed column and create the view as described in the PowerShell section above. You can also use the SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell module with the Set-PnPListItem command to update items in batches.

Item	Using Indexed Columns	Using Archiving
Description	Create a filtered view on an indexed column to stay under 5,000 items per view	Move or delete items to reduce the total list size below 5,000
Effect on existing data	All items remain in the list	Items are removed from the current list
User impact	Users see a filtered view by default	Users lose access to archived items unless restored
Time to implement	10 to 20 minutes	Hours to days depending on item count
Best for	Active lists that need to retain all items	Lists with outdated data that no longer needs to be accessed

The list view threshold is a safety feature, not a bug. By creating indexed columns and filtered views, you can continue working with large lists without performance issues. If you cannot reduce the view size, consider splitting the list into multiple smaller lists or migrating to a database solution that supports larger datasets. Always test new views with a small group of users before setting them as the default for the entire site.