How to Audit SharePoint Online Folder Activity

Effective folder management is crucial for keeping SharePoint Online document libraries and lists organized. This involves key tasks such as creating folders, moving them, and deleting unnecessary or empty folders.

• Navigate to the desired SharePoint Online site’s document library or list.
• Click New and select Folder from the drop-down menu.
• Enter a name for the folder and click Create.

Note: Folder creation in SharePoint Online lists is disabled by default. To enable it, go to Settings»List settings»Advanced settings, select Yes straight to the Folders section, and click OK.

You can also add a folder to a document library or list in SPO by running the following PnP PowerShell cmdlets.

# To connect to the desired SharePoint Online site 
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "<SiteUrl>" -ClientId "<ClientID>" –Interactive 

# To add a folder to a document library or list 
Add-PnPFolder -Name  "<FolderName>" -Folder "<FolderPath>"

• Select the folders to move, then click the Move to option from the top.
• Select a destination in the current library or another SharePoint site’s document library.
• If the site isn’t listed, choose it using the More places option. Then click Move here to move the folders.

Alternatively, you can use the following PnP PowerShell cmdlets to move the folder within the same site or to a different SharePoint site.

# To move a folder to another document library or folder in the current site 
Move-PnPFolder –Folder "<LibraryName>/<FolderName>" -TargetFolder "<DestinationLibrary>/<DestinationFolder>" 

# To move a folder to a document library or folder in another site 
Move-PnPFile –SourceUrl "<LibraryName>/<FolderName>" -TargetUrl "/sites/<SiteName>/<DestinationLibrary>/<DestinationFolder>"

• Access the document library or list of the desired SharePoint Online site.
• Select the folders and click Delete. You can also right-click or hit ellipses (...) in the folder to find the delete option.
• Then hit the Delete button in the pop-up window.

To delete a folder using PnP PowerShell, run the following cmdlets.

# To move a folder to the site recycle bin 
Remove-PnPFolder –Name "<FolderName>" -Folder "<LibraryName>/<ParentFolderName>" –Recycle 

# To permanently delete a folder from the SPO site 
Remove-PnPFolder –Name "<FolderName>" -Folder "<LibraryName>/<ParentFolderName>"

Over time, SharePoint Online sites may accumulate empty folders that no longer serve a purpose. These folders can clutter your document libraries and hinder users from navigating and managing content effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to find empty folders in the SPO site to remove them for an organized structure.

Find and remove empty folders in a SharePoint site

Note: To quickly identify empty folders in SharePoint, sort any of the child count columns in ascending order. Folders with a child count of zero will indicate that they are empty and can be safely removed or reorganized.

After finding the empty folders, select them, click Delete, and confirm the deletion when prompted.

Find and delete empty folders in SPO using PnP PowerShell Script

To delete empty folders in all document libraries in your SPO site, run the following script in PowerShell 7. Before running the script, replace <SiteUrl> and <ClientId>.

Connect-PnPOnline -URL "<SiteURL>" -ClientId "<ClientId>" -Interactive
Function Get-EmptyFolders([Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Folder]$Folder){
$FolderSiteRelativeURL = $Folder.ServerRelativeUrl.Substring($Web.ServerRelativeUrl.Length+1)
$SubFolders = Get-PnPFolderItem -FolderSiteRelativeUrl $FolderSiteRelativeURL -ItemType Folder
Foreach($SubFolder in $SubFolders){
If(($SubFolder.Name -ne "Forms") -and (-Not($SubFolder.Name.StartsWith("_")))){
Get-EmptyFolders -Folder $SubFolder}}
$Files = Get-PnPFolderItem -FolderSiteRelativeUrl $FolderSiteRelativeURL -ItemType File
$SubFolders = Get-PnPFolderItem -FolderSiteRelativeUrl $FolderSiteRelativeURL -ItemType Folder
If ($Files.Count -eq 0 -and $SubFolders.Count -eq 0){
$ParentFolder = Get-PnPProperty -ClientObject $Folder -Property ParentFolder
$ParentFolderURL = $ParentFolder.ServerRelativeUrl.Substring($Web.ServerRelativeUrl.Length+1)
Remove-PnPFolder -Name $Folder.Name -Folder $ParentFolderURL -Force -Recycle
Write-Host -f Yellow ("Deleted Folder: $($Folder.Name) at $($Folder.ServerRelativeURL)")}}
$Web = Get-PnPWeb
Get-PnPList -Includes RootFolder|
Where-Object { $_.BaseType -eq "DocumentLibrary" -and -not $_.Hidden }|
ForEach-Object {Write-Progress -Activity "Processing $($_.Title)"
Get-EmptyFolders $_.RootFolder}
Write-Host "Empty folder cleanup process completed."

When a folder is accidentally deleted in SharePoint Online, it can disrupt workflows and lead to potential data loss. Fortunately, deleted folders are first moved to the site’s recycle bin, and if deleted again, they are moved to the second-stage recycle bin. This provides a total of 93 days’ grace period to restore the lost content.

Follow these steps to quickly restore deleted folders in SharePoint Online.

In SharePoint Online, poorly managed folder permissions can lead to unauthorized access, putting data security at risk. When team members switch to another project, their access to SharePoint folders should be adjusted to prevent potential data exposure. Properly managing folder access in SharePoint ensures that only the right users can view confidential data, keeping your organization secure.

How to view and change the folder access permission in SharePoint Online?

You can edit the folder access permission in SharePoint Online by following the steps below.

Note: You can share a folder with other additional users, groups, or tenant-wide using the Share option in the Manage Access window.

How to create unique permissions for a folder in SharePoint Online?

Folders and files in a SharePoint Online site inherit permissions from the parent folder, list, or library by default. However, you can set unique permissions to control access at the folder level without affecting other contents on the site.

To customize permissions for a SharePoint folder, follow the steps below.

When you create a SharePoint Online site or a team in Microsoft Teams, a default document library is automatically created. Each standard channel in Teams corresponds to a folder in this library, enabling file storage and organization.

Folders provide a simple way to group files within a document library using a hierarchical structure, making it easy to organize content. However, as your setup grows, folders may face scalability limitations and lack advanced features compared to document libraries.

Here are the key differences between document libraries and folders in SharePoint Online.

Folders in SharePoint Online help organize files, but they can lead to challenges such as complex permission management and performance issues. To overcome these challenges, it’s essential to implement effective practices.

Here are the common limitations and best practices to optimize folder usage in SharePoint Online.

Limitations of using folders in SharePoint Online

Best practices for using folders in SharePoint Online