This Modern SharePoint tutorial explains the Modern SharePoint online Highlighted content web part.
I will show, how to add and configure a SharePoint Highlighted content web part to a modern site page and how users can use the filter, image, and audience target in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part in SharePoint Online modern site.
We will also learn about Dynamic filtering in the SharePoint Highlighted content web part with a few examples based on a SharePoint Online environment.
We can also use the SharePoint Highlighted content web part in SharePoint Server Subscription Edition and SharePoint Server 2019.
What is a Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part?
Microsoft provides the Highlighted Content Web Part to display content dynamically from various sources like a SharePoint document library, SharePoint site, or from a set of SharePoint sites, from the SharePoint site collection, or all SharePoint sites.
We can display different types of content like documents, images, pages, videos, news, events, tasks, contacts, links, etc.
The SharePoint online Highlighted content web part displays the most recent documents by default.
We can add and display a maximum number of 200 images or items in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
How to add a Highlighted Content web part modern SharePoint
Now we will discuss, how we can add and display the highlighted content web part to the modern SharePoint site page,
- Go to the SharePoint site page and Choose Edit Page at the top right corner of the SharePoint site page.
- Click + circled icon then add a new Section. In search, enter highlighted content and select the Highlighted content web part.
- After adding the highlighted content Web Part, it automatically displays the eight most recently opened documents that are presented on the current SharePoint site page as shown below:
This is how to add the highlighted content web part to the modern SharePoint site and you can see here, by default, it is displaying us the more recent documents.
Read SharePoint Quick Links Web Part
Configure the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part
Now we will discuss how we can edit and configure the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- Edit the highlighted content web part, it opens the properties pane of the highlighted content web part as shown below:
- Now we can see two options in the property panel of the Highlighted content web part, they are:
- Filter
- Custom query.
Now, if we select the Filter option, then we can see another three options come under the Filter option in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part. They are,
- Content
- Filter and Sort
- Layout
If we select the Custom query option, then we can see another two options comes under the Custom query option in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part. They are,
- Query
- Layout
Now let us learn how to use the filter in the Modern SharePoint highlighted content web part,
Content: In the content option we can select the source content that we want to display in the highlighted content web part. Under the Content option in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- Source
- Type
Content – Source
In the Content – Source, we can choose the source content from various options mentioned below:
- This site: We can show the SharePoint document from the current SharePoint site.
- A document library on this site: In this option, we can select a certain modern SharePoint document library from which we want to reveal the documents in the Highlighted content web part.
- This site collection: It will show records from the higher-level site and subsites that are suggested in the modern SharePoint site collection.
- The page library on this site: It displays the documents from the modern SharePoint site Pages document library.
- Select sites: This option allows us to select SharePoint sites, frequent sites, or recent sites to show the documents. We can select a maximum of 30 SharePoint sites.
- All sites: All the SharePoint site documents are shown from all of the SharePoint sites in this option.
Content-type
In the Content-type, we can select the various content type that we want to show in the highlighted content web part from the various options mentioned below :
- Pages, Documents, Videos, News, Events, Images, Tasks, Issues, Contacts, Links, and All.
Content-type as Documents
If we select the Documents as the content type, then we can see the Document type option in addition to filtering the documents like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Filter and sort: In the Filter and sort option we can able to filter by various options like modified by, created by, etc., We also have various options to sort the highlighted content web part like Most viewed, Most recent, etc.,
In the Filter, we can choose the source content from the below options:
- The title includes the words: We can able to filter the documents by searching the document title name.
- Content includes the words: By searching the content name we can able to sort the documents.
- Recently added: In the recently added option we can able to filter an item by entering the time period such as Last year, Last Month, Earlier this year, etc.,
- Recently changed: In the recently changed option we can able to sort and filter an item by entering the time period such as Today, Last Month, Yesterday, etc.,
- Created by: We can able to sort the items by the SharePoint site users. If we choose the Current SharePoint user option, then it will display the items created by the current SharePoint user who is using the SharePoint site. If we choose the Selected user option, then we have to enter the users’ names in the text box to filter an item.
- Modified by: If we choose the modified by section option, then we can able to sort the items by SharePoint Current SharePoint user or Selected User.
- Managed property: It is used to filter the records of the documents, this option is available for all the content sources except the document library. A managed property can be a Built-in or custom property.
In the below example, I filtered the documents by selecting Title includes the words called “Training”. We can see that it filters the documents containing the keyword called Training and displays it in the SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
In the same manner, we can able to sort and filter items or documents Created by option, where we can select Current SharePoint user or Specify Selected Users as shown below.
Read SharePoint Image Web Part
Highlighted content web part managed property filter
Let us see how we can use managed property filters in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
We can use multiple filters in the SharePoint highlighted content web part to filter the documents. Here for the same type properties, we can use OR operations and for different type properties, we can use AND operation to filter the documents.
In this example, I have added a site column called Department as a type choice, which has a value as Power Platforms, Python, and SharePoint in the SharePoint document library.
Now, Under the Filter option select Managed property, In the text box, we can enter the site column name to filter the documents based on the departments. Select the Managed property name from the drop-down. Now pass the value in the text box to filter and display the document in the web part.
In this multiple filter example, you can see that I passed the Python and SharePoint values in the text box. It also filters the Python and SharePoint documents and displays them in the highlighted content web part.
This is how to able to sort and filter the records or documents in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part using managed property filter.
In the sort, we can sort the documents by using the sorting options in the SharePoint online modern highlighted content web part.
We can sort the record or item by
- Most viewed: Shows the most viewed documents, records, or even sites.
- Most recent: Display the most recent documents.
- Trending: Displays the documents or items based on the user’s activity.
- Managed property descending: Filters the document in a descending manner
- Managed property ascending: Filters the document in an ascending manner.
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Highlighted content web part audience targeting
Let us discuss the audience targeting modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part,
- Audience targeting is helpful when you want to share details that are applicable only to a separate batch of people.
- You can present information to specific groups of people by using audience targeting. For example, you can create an event for a specific project for particular team members.
- It takes some time to reflect on the targeted users when you change or created an audience group.
- Initially, we have to enable audience targeting for the SharePoint library as well as in the Highlighted content web part, to utilize audience targeting.
Follow the below steps to enable audience targeting SharePoint library:
- In the site contents page select the SharePoint Library click on the ellipses and then select Document Settings as shown below:
- From the settings list, choose the Audience targeting settings.
- Enable audience targeting then select the OK button.
Here we can see the Audience column is added in the Document library, select the document that you wish to target to specific audiences. Click on the i circle icon and then in the properties pane, select Edit all.
Maximum we can add 50 audiences in the Audience area. Click Save.
Audiences will then appear in the Site pages list.
Follow the below steps to enable and use the audience targeting modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part:
If we use audience targeting to a highlighted content web part, only the users targeted can able to view the contents. If we didn’t apply the audience targeting to the web part then all the users can view the web part contents.
- Select Edit Page at the top right of the SharePoint site page.
- Click Edit web part on the left side of the Highlighted content web part.
- Enable audience targeting toggle to ON in the property panel.
This is how to enable audience targeting for the SharePoint Online modern Highlighted content web part.
Highlighted content web part layout
Let us now discuss the default layouts presented in the SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- We can select different layouts like Grid, List, Carousel, and Filmstrip to display the documents or reports in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- If we want to display the title of the highlighted content web part, we can enable the title and commands toggle control option to ON under the layout option else we can turn off the toggle control.
- We can mention how many items are to be displayed in the highlighted content web part, by default it displays 8 times. The maximum number of items that we can display is 500.
- If there are no items to display in the highlighted content web part, then we can select the Hide this web part if there’s nothing to show option.
Now let us see how the Query works in the Modern SharePoint highlighted content web part,
To filter the documents we can choose the custom query in the highlighted content web part, There are two ways that we filter the documents, they are
- KQL (Keyword Query Language)
- CAML (Collaborative Application Markup Language)
Modern SharePoint highlighted content KQL Query
- To filter the records, we can select the KQL syntax query in the Modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- Select the Custom Query option in the SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- To use the KQL query we have to select the Source as This site, This site collection, and Select sites in the highlighted content web part.
- In the Query box, enter the KQL query and Select Apply button.
In this below example I have added query as title:” Python”, so it filters the documents in the SharePoint site where the title includes the word “Python”.
This is how to work with the KQL query filter option in the SharePoint highlighted content web part.
Modern SharePoint highlighted content CAML Query
- To filter the records, we can select the CAML syntax query in the Modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- Select the Custom Query option in the SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- To use the CAML query in the SharePoint highlighted content web part we have to select the Source as Document library and SharePoint site Pages library on this SharePoint site in the highlighted content web part.
- In the Query box, enter the CAML query in the SharePoint highlighted content web part and Select Apply button.
In this below example, you can see the SharePoint highlighted content web part CAML query code, which I have entered in the Query (CAML) textbox, so it filters the Power Platforms documents from the Department and displays it in the SharePoint online modern highlighted content web part.
<View><Query>
<Where>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name="Department"/>
<Value Type='Choice'>Power Platforms</Value></Eq>
</Where></Query></View>
This is how to work with the CAML query filter option in the SharePoint highlighted content web part.
Highlighted content web part Task List in Modern SharePoint
Let us see how we can display the task list items in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part,
Yes, it is possible to display the task list items in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
There is no direct way to create a task list app in the modern SharePoint online. But there is an alternative way that we can create a Task List.
Initially, we have to create a task list app in the Classic SharePoint site view and then we can easily configure and display the created task list items in the Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
To achieve this, follow the below steps:
- Select Site contents and select Return to Classic SharePoint.
- In the SharePoint Classic view, Select add an app as shown below:
- In the search box, enter Tasks and then select the Task List app.
- Name the Task List and select Create.
- Now we can see the Task list is created, Now select Exit Classic experience.
- On the Modern SharePoint page, click site contents to view the created Task list as below:
- We can open and add an item to the created Task List by selecting +new task. In the below screenshot you can see I have already added two task list items as ‘Add Task List’ and ‘Task2’. In the same way, you can also add a new item to your Task list.
- Open the SharePoint site page and edit the highlighted content web part to the SharePoint modern site page.
- Select the Content source and then under the Filter option select the content type as Tasks in the property panel of the Highlighted content web part.
- We can see that the web part displays the task list items inside the highlighted content web part like below. Select Republish to commit your changes.
- Once the site page is published we can see the expected output as shown below:
This is how to display the task list items in the SharePoint online modern highlighted content web part.
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SharePoint Online Highlighted content web part folder
No, it is not possible to get documents and display them from a specific folder from the document library in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
But the Highlighted content web part will pick all the documents from various folders or subfolders (nested folders) inside the SharePoint document library.
For example, below you can see, that I have created various folders and subfolders inside a document library and uploaded a few documents inside it.
Now, in the SharePoint Highlighted content web part, if I choose Source as A document library on this site and Choose the Document library, you can see, it is displaying the documents from various folders and subfolders inside the document library (Courses).
This is how to display documents from folders and nested folders from a SharePoint document library in a Highlighted Content web part.
Read How to Customize SharePoint Modern list form using JSON
Highlighted content web part sort by title in Modern SharePoint
Let us discuss how we can sort the documents by title in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part,
yes, we can sort the documents by using the sorting options in the SharePoint modern online highlighted content web part.
We can sort the record or item by the below options
- Most recent: Display the most recent documents.
- Most viewed: Shows the most viewed documents, records, or even sites.
- Trending: Displays the documents or items based on the user’s activity.
- Managed property ascending: Filters the document in an ascending manner.
- Managed property descending: Filters the document in a descending manner.
This is how to sort the items by title in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part hide author
- No, it is not possible to hide the author in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- There is no option to remove the ‘edited by’ and ‘date’ part of the card view in the Highlighted Content web part on a SharePoint modern page.
Read SharePoint column formatting examples
Highlighted content web part list items in Modern SharePoint
Let us see how we can display the list items in the SharePoint online highlighted content web part,
yes, we can display the list items in the SharePoint modern online highlighted content web part. As of now, the below-mentioned templates are supported,
- Events
- Issues
- Tasks
- Links
- Contacts etc.,
In the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part, Select the Content source, and then under the Filter option select the content type in the property panel of the Highlighted content web part.
In the below example, I have selected the Content Source as ‘This site’ and the Content type as ‘Events’ so it will display the events list items from the current SharePoint site.
This is how to display the list items in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
Highlighted content web part add columns SharePoint Online
No, currently we cannot add or customize the columns in the highlighted content web part of modern SharePoint.
Highlighted content web part images in Modern SharePoint
Let us see how we can display images and limit the images to be displayed in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part,
It is possible to display images in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part,
- In the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part, Select the Content source, and then under the Filter option select the content type in the property panel of the Highlighted content web part.
- Under the Layout option, we can also limit the number of items that we want to display in the Highlighted content web part.
In the below example, I have selected the Content Source as ‘This site’ and the Content type as ‘Images’ so it will display the Images from the current SharePoint site.
We can also limit the number of images to be displayed in the highlighted content web part. Here in the below screenshot, you can see that I have entered 6 in the Show up to this many items at a time text box under the layout option.
Now we can also see only 6 images were displayed in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
This is how to display images and limit the number of images to be displayed in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
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Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part links
Let us see how we can display links in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part,
- It is possible to display links in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- But there is no direct way to make the links work in the highlighted content web part.
- In the below screenshot, you can see that I have selected the Source content as ‘This site’ and the content type as ‘Links’.
- But the links from my current SharePoint site are not displaying in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
There is an alternative way that we can display the links in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
To achieve this follow the below steps:
- Open the SharePoint site, Select Site contents and click + New, and select Document Library.
- Enter the name of the Document library and Select Create.
Now, we can see that the document library is created, open the document library, and select the + New and Click Link option.
- Now we can enter the URLs and Name in the text box, and select Create. We can create a set of links to display it in the highlighted content web part.
- We can put all our links in the library which we created to display that in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
In this example, you can see that I have Created three links, in the All Links document library which I want to display in the highlighted content web part,
- Now edit the highlighted content web part, and select the Content source as ‘A document library on this site ‘, and under the Document library option select the document library which we created as ‘All Links‘ in the property panel of the Highlighted content web part.
- Select Republish to commit your changes.
- Now we can see the expected output in the modern SharePoint highlighted content web part.
- When we click on the links in the highlighted content web part it redirects to the mentioned URL.
This is how to display links in the modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part.
Related SharePoint tutorials:
- How to hide document library in SharePoint Online
- Create a SharePoint list view
- File viewer web part in SharePoint Online modern site
- SharePoint Online modern list properties web part
- How to change a SharePoint site from private to public
- SharePoint Current user filter web part
In this SharePoint tutorial, we learned the SharePoint Online Highlighted Content web part, and how to add a highlighted content web part to the SharePoint Online modern site page. And also covered below topics:
- Configure Highlighted content web part
- Highlighted content web part managed property filter
- Highlighted content web part audience targeting
- Modern SharePoint highlighted content KQL query
- Modern SharePoint highlighted content CAML query
- Highlighted content web part Task List in Modern SharePoint
- SharePoint Online Highlighted content web part folder
- Highlighted content web part sort by title in Modern SharePoint
- Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part hide author
- Highlighted content web part list items in Modern SharePoint
- Highlighted content web part add columns SharePoint Online
- Highlighted content web part images in Modern SharePoint
- Modern SharePoint Highlighted content web part links
After working for more than 15 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Office 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (9 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.
This article doesn’t explain how to sort by title