How to Display Content Across Multiple SharePoint Sites Using the Highlighted Content Web Part
Summary
The Highlighted Content web part retrieves and displays content from SharePoint lists, libraries, and sites across your organization. It allows you to aggregate documents, news, and list items from multiple locations without duplicating content. Common uses include displaying recent news across site collections, aggregating documents from departmental sites, and rolling up project status updates. This article explains how the Highlighted Content web part works, its configuration options, performance considerations, and practical application patterns.
What the Highlighted Content Web Part Does
The Highlighted Content web part queries SharePoint content based on filters you define and displays results in a single location. Instead of visiting multiple sites to find documents or announcements, users see curated, aggregated content on a single page. For official configuration details, see Use the Highlighted content web part.
Core Function
When you add a Highlighted Content web part to a page, you specify:
Content source: Which SharePoint locations to search (current site, a specific site collection, all sites, or a custom list of sites)
Content type or filter: Which items to include (documents, announcements, project updates, or items with specific properties)
Display settings: How many items to show, how to sort them, and how to format the display
The web part queries the specified sources, filters results, and displays them on the page. Results update based on a scheduled refresh, typically every few minutes to several hours depending on load.
What It Is Not
The Highlighted Content web part does not move, copy, or duplicate content. It displays a link to the original item stored in its original location. If someone edits the original document, the updated version appears in the Highlighted Content web part immediately.
The Highlighted Content web part is not a replacement for navigation or site structure. It is a summarization and aggregation tool. If your organization primarily needs to help users find documents, focus first on library organization and search; use Highlighted Content web part to call attention to specific items.
Content Sources
When you configure a Highlighted Content web part, you choose where it searches for content.
Current Site
Display content from lists and libraries on the same site where the web part appears. This scope is narrowest and most performant. Use "Current Site" when you want to highlight specific items within a site's own content—for example, recent documents from a site library or announcements posted on that site.
Site Collection
Display content from all sites within a single site collection. A site collection includes a root site and any subsites below it. This scope is moderate and appropriate for departmental hierarchies. Use Site Collection scope when a department or function has multiple subsites and you want to aggregate their content.
All Sites
Display content from all SharePoint sites in your organization. This scope is broadest and requires the most processing. Use All Sites scope sparingly. Large organizations may have tens of thousands of items; querying all sites on every page load can slow performance. See the Performance and Limits section below.
Specific Sites
Specify a custom list of sites to search. This scope is flexible and performant. If you want content from five particular sites but not others, explicitly listing them is more efficient than searching all sites.
Filters and Configuration
After selecting a content source, you filter results using content type, managed properties, and other criteria.
Content Type Filter
Filter by content type to narrow results. For example, select "News" to display only announcement items, or select "Document Set" to display container items. You can select a single content type or leave this blank to include all content types in the source.
Managed Properties
Filter using managed properties—indexed attributes available to search and queries. Common properties include:
Modified Date: Show only items modified in the last week, month, or custom range
Author: Show items created by a specific person or role
Content Type: Show specific content types (redundant with Content Type filter but available as an alternative)
Tags: If your organization uses content tags, filter by tag
Custom Properties: If your organization has created custom managed properties (for example, "Department", "Project", "Status"), use them to filter
To use managed properties effectively, you must know which properties exist in your organization's search schema. Your SharePoint administrator can provide a list of available managed properties. See the FAQ section for guidance on discovering properties.
Sort and Layout Options
After filtering, specify how results appear:
Sort order: By modification date (newest first), creation date, alphabetically, or by other criteria. Newest-first is most common for news and recent updates.
Number of items: Specify how many items to display. For a summary view, show 3-5 items. For a complete index, show 10-20. More items increase page load time.
Display template: Choose how items appear—as a simple list, as tiles with images, or as compact rows. The choice depends on content type and user preferences. News and documents with thumbnails benefit from tile view; lists of status updates work well in row view.
Practical Use Cases
News Aggregation
Display recent news articles from across the organization on a central intranet homepage. Configure a Highlighted Content web part to:
Source: All Sites
Content Type: News
Filter: Modified in the last 30 days
Sort: Newest first
Count: 8 items
Layout: Tile view with images
Result: Users see the eight most recent news items across the organization without visiting individual departmental sites.
Document Rollup
Aggregate recent documents from departmental libraries. Configure:
Source: Specific Sites (list the four departmental site URLs)
Content Type: Document
Filter: Modified in the last 7 days
Sort: Newest first
Count: 12 items
Layout: Compact list
Result: A project manager sees recent documents from four departments on a single page without opening each library.
Status Update Dashboard
Roll up project status updates from a team collaboration site collection. Configure:
Source: Site Collection
Content Type: Status Update (custom content type)
Filter: Created by current team, modified in the last 14 days
Sort: Newest first
Count: 10 items
Layout: Tile view
Result: Leadership sees the most recent project updates without visiting each project site.
Cross-Functional Initiative Hub
Display announcements and documents related to an organization-wide initiative. Configure:
Source: Specific Sites (explicit list of participating department sites)
Content Type: News or Document
Filter: Tagged with "Initiative 2026"
Sort: Newest first
Count: 15 items
Layout: Tile view
Result: Initiative participants see relevant content from all participating departments in one place, with cross-departmental visibility.
Performance and Limits
The Highlighted Content web part queries SharePoint search indexes, not the actual libraries and lists. Search indexes update on a schedule, typically within 15 minutes of an item being created or modified.
Expected Delays
New items may not appear in a Highlighted Content web part immediately. Plan for a 15-minute to 1-hour delay between content creation and visibility. If real-time updates are required, Highlighted Content web part is not appropriate; use a custom Power App or direct library view instead.
Large Queries
Querying very large content sources (all sites, all document libraries) is slower than querying a single site or site collection.
Current Site: Fast (typically under 1 second)
Site Collection: Fast to moderate (typically 1-3 seconds)
Specific Sites (5-10 sites): Moderate (typically 2-5 seconds)
All Sites (hundreds or thousands of sites): Slow (potentially 10+ seconds, may time out)
Avoid All Sites scope for high-traffic pages. If you need content from many sites, use Specific Sites and explicitly list them instead.
Query Complexity
Complex filters using multiple managed properties are slower than simple filters. A filter combining "Content Type = Document" and "Modified = Last 7 days" and "Author = Specific person" is slower than filtering by Content Type alone.
For performance-critical pages, keep filters simple. Use a single managed property filter when possible. If you need complex filtering, consider using Power Automate to create a curated list in advance.
Recommended Limits
Number of items displayed: 3-12 for summary views, up to 20 for dedicated aggregation pages
Content scope: Site Collection or smaller; avoid All Sites unless absolutely necessary
Filter complexity: One to two filters maximum for frequently-viewed pages
Common Mistakes and Pitfalls
Expecting real-time updates. Highlighted Content web part relies on search indexes, which have a built-in 15-minute to 1-hour delay. If someone creates a document, it does not appear in the web part immediately. For workflows requiring real-time visibility, use a different approach.
Using All Sites scope unnecessarily. All Sites scope searches your entire SharePoint environment. On large tenants, this can slow pages significantly. Use Specific Sites or Site Collection scope instead, explicitly listing the sites you want to include.
Overloading pages with multiple Highlighted Content web parts. Each web part triggers a separate query. A page with five Highlighted Content web parts may perform poorly. Limit to one or two per page, or use a dedicated aggregation page rather than placing multiple on a busy homepage.
Not planning for content changes. If you delete a source site, the Highlighted Content web part continues searching for it and may fail. If you rename a site, update the Highlighted Content web part configuration. Document which web parts depend on which sites so you can update them when changes occur.
Misunderstanding managed properties. Not all attributes are indexed as searchable managed properties. Tags, metadata columns, and custom properties are searchable only if explicitly added to the search schema by an administrator. Before designing a filter around a specific property, verify that it is available.
FAQ
Can I filter by a custom column in a SharePoint list? Only if the column is indexed as a managed property. Standard list columns (Title, Author, Modified Date) are always indexed. Custom columns must be explicitly configured as searchable managed properties by your SharePoint administrator. Contact your administrator to confirm which custom properties are available.
How often does the Highlighted Content web part refresh? The web part displays results from the search index. Search indexes refresh based on your tenant's search crawl schedule, typically every 15 minutes to 1 hour. The web part itself may cache results for several minutes. Plan for a 15-minute to 1-hour delay between content creation and visibility.
Can I use Highlighted Content web part to display items from a specific folder? Not directly. The web part queries by content type and managed properties, not folder location. If you need to display content from a specific folder, create a view of that folder, or use Power Automate to create a filtered list of folder items.
What happens if a source site is deleted? The Highlighted Content web part will no longer find content from that site. The web part will not display an error; it will simply show fewer results. If the deleted site was a primary source, you may not see any results. Update the web part configuration to remove the deleted site from your sources.
Can I use Highlighted Content web part in Power Automate or Power Apps? No. Highlighted Content web part is specific to SharePoint pages. To query and display similar content in Power Apps or Power Automate, use the SharePoint "Get Items" connector and filter results manually in Power Automate or build a custom app in Power Apps.
Is there a maximum number of items a Highlighted Content web part can display? Technically no, but practically yes. Displaying more than 20-30 items on a single page degrades performance and usability. Most aggregation scenarios need 5-15 items to highlight. If you need to expose hundreds of items, consider creating a dedicated search page or library view instead.
Can I display images or thumbnails? Yes, if the source content includes images or thumbnails. If you choose the tile layout, thumbnails display automatically. Not all content types have thumbnails; documents with preview-capable file types (Word, PowerPoint, PDF) display previews; generic file types do not.
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