Differences between native and external lists

A SharePoint list comes in two flavors, native and external:

A native list has all its features and data built into SharePoint Products. There are a variety of default lists, such as Announcements, Calendars, and Tasks, custom lists that you can start from scratch, and the widest variety of features available.
An external list also has its features built into SharePoint Products, but the data is stored in a data source outside of SharePoint Products, such as a database. Someone, such as a business analyst, must first create the external list. Once created, an external list has many of the same features as a native list, but there are some differences that you should know about. They are listed in the following sections.

For more information, see Find content about external data.

Comparing list feature differences

Native List Feature	Supported in External Lists?	More information
Basic operations
Edit list name and description and navigation	Yes
Control navigation in Quick Launch	Yes
Do a local filter or sort operation by using column headers	Yes
Create and manage views	Yes	For more information, see Comparing list view differences.
Configure per-location views	No
View menu, Save View button, and Search box	No	These features only work with client-side rendered list views
Add, edit, and delete items with SharePoint forms and InfoPath forms	Yes
Enable or disable dialog forms	Yes
Add, edit, and delete items with Quick Edit	No
Share with others	Yes
Set list permissions	Yes
Set item-level permissions	No
Subscribe to Alerts and RSS Feeds	No	A developer can create an alert in the external data source by using the Event Framework.
Work with user ratings, tags, and notes	No
E-mail a link	Yes
Work with large lists	Yes	The list limits and thresholds are different.
Display data in the List Web Part	No	Use the Business Data Web Parts instead.
Column operations
Use formulas and calculated values	Yes
Add a new column	No	Can be defined in the external data source and the external content type.
Validate columns	No	Can be defined in the external data source.
Add, modify, and delete index columns	No	Can be defined in the external data source.
Create lookup columns	No	Alternatively, you can associate two or more external lists when you define an external content type.
Create unique columns	No	Can be defined in the external data source and the external content type.
Enforce list relationships	No	Can be defined in the external data source.
Use content types and add site columns	No
Create external data columns	No
Add managed metadata columns	No
Client operations
Synchronize data with Excel	Yes
Synchronize data with Visio	Yes
Synchronize data with Access	Yes
Synchronize data with Outlook	Yes
Synchronize data with Project	No
Use the Open with Access command	No
Additional operations
Use the Send To Command	No
Check-in and check-out items	No
Associate a workflow with a list	No
Create folders	No
Require approval	No
Attach files	No
Versioning (Content approval, item version history, draft item security)	No
Use target audiences	No
Add list data to Site Search	Yes	Making external list data appear in search results requires advanced configuration.
Integrate e-mail with the list	No
Set information management policy
Generate a file plan report	No
Save the list as a template	No
New Quick Step	No

Top of Page

Comparing column type differences

Native List column type	Supported in External Lists?	More information
Single line of text	Yes
Multiple lines of text	Yes
Number	Yes
Currency	Yes
Date and Time	Yes
Yes/No	Yes
Choice	No
Lookup	No
Person or Group	No
Hyperlink or Picture	No
Calculated	No
Managed Metadata	No
Full HTML Content with Formatting and Constraints for Publishing (Publishing HTML)	No
Image with formatting and constraints for publishing (Publishing Image)	No
Hyperlink with formatting and constraints for publishing (Publishing Hyperlink)	No
Rich media data for publishing	No
Summary Links data	No

Top of Page

Comparing list view differences

Native List view option	Supported in External Lists?	More information
All View types	No	In an external list, only the Standard View and Custom View in Designer is supported.
Select or clear columns to display	Yes	In the external content type of the external list, you can also specify the Title column.
Define a view audience (Public and Personal)	Yes
Define a local filter operation	Yes	External lists may also have one or more Data Source Filters defined in the external content type that filter the data at the external data source to help improve performance.
Define a local sort or filter operation	Yes	External lists may also have a pre-defined sort operation in the external content type that pre-sorts the data at the external data source to help improve performance.
Define a Tabular View	Yes
Create a Group By operation	Yes
Define Totals	Yes
Update a Style	Yes
Item Limit	Yes	External lists may also have a Page Number defined in the external content type that limit the data at the external data source to help improve performance.
Create Folders	No
Create a Mobile view	Yes

Top of Page

Differences between native and external lists

In this article

Comparing list feature differences

Comparing column type differences

Comparing list view differences

Need more help?

Want more options?

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!