Different type of view in SharePoint document library (Root & Sub Folder)


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When we want to have a default view at the root level of the library and different default view for subfolders.
By default, the default view will be applied to the whole document library but when we want to have a different view with its own sorting, filtering, etc. we can use the method below:

e.g: in my document library I created a column Project Manager; When I see the library this is how it looks like :

Different type of view in SharePoint

If I untick the project manager field in the ‘All Documents’ view, then the subfolders and documents inside the folders also will not have the project manager field. Of course, we can create a different view but every time we click the folder the subfolder will be using the default view and we need to manually select the view from the top.

  1. Enable content type management for the library, from Library Settings > Advanced Settings.
  2. Create a view to use at root level (top level) of library e.g: View name is Library View, make it as the default view and expand the folders section and choose show this view: in the top level folder the setting should be like the screenshot below :
    Different type of view in SharePoint2
  3. Create another view to be used inside the folder e.g.: View name is inside Folder,  set this as the default view also, and expand the folders sections and in the show this view choose in folders of content type : Folder.
    Different type of view in SharePoint 3
    Now the library setting should look like this:SharePoint has allowed us to have 2 default views! The show in column tells us that the ‘Library View’ view is the default for the Top-level (or root) of the library and the ‘inside Folder view is the default when in any Folder.That’s it now when you now navigate to the library you will see the ‘Library View’ and then clicking to navigate inside a folder will automatically switch to the ‘inside Folder View’.
    Different type of view in SharePoint