Add an enterprise keywords column to a list or library

Applies to: SharePoint Online, SharePoint Server 2016, SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise.

Users add enterprise keywords to items on a SharePoint site to use for tagging and to develop a folksonomy. Enterprise keywords can obtain some of the knowledge of the people who use the content. To simplify inserting keywords, you can add a distinct enterprise keywords column to a list or library. Users then can choose the item to apply a keyword to, and type the desired word/phrase in the item properties.

To add an enterprise keywords column to a list or library:

1. From a list or library, click Library Settings or List Settings on the ribbon for the library or list. For SharePoint_Online, press Settings and then select Library settings or List settings.

2. In the Permissions and Management column, choose Enterprise Metadata and Keyword Settings.

3. On the settings page, in the Add Enterprise Keywords section, tick the checkbox for Add an Enterprise Keywords column to this list and enable Keyword Synchronisation.

Disable or enable Metadata Publishing

You can decide whether the terms/keywords that are added to the Managed Metadata or enterprise keywords columns in a list or library become usable as social tagging keywords.

For example, a list with sensitive information should conceal those keyword values. Restricting access to keywords can be done by disabling Metadata Publishing.

Note: Automatically, terms from a local term set that was produced in the context of a specific site collection are excluded from Metadata Publishing. Local term sets are unavailable for social tagging reference or as Enterprise Keywords.

To disable or enable Metadata Publishing, follow these steps:

1. Find the specific list or library to configure Metadata Publishing.

2. On the List or Library tab of the ribbon, press List Settings or Library Settings. For SharePoint_Online, pick Settings and then select Library settings or List settings.

3. Under Permissions and Management, click Enterprise Metadata and Keywords Settings.

4. In the Metadata Publishing section, under Save metadata on this list as social tags, choose one of the following:

• To publish values in Managed Metadata and enterprise keywords fields to social tagging and My Site profiles, tick the check box.

• To stop values in Managed Metadata and enterprise keywords fields from being released to social tagging and My Site profiles, empty the check box.

5. Press OK.

More about enterprise keywords

SharePoint products harvest the enterprise keywords into a single, non-hierarchical term set. You can locate this special term set (called the Keywords set), by using the Term Store Management Tool.

The keywords that users add are available to others when they use the list or library. For instance, when users enter related characters in the Enterprise Keywords column of the list, SharePoint presents the keyword in a suggestion message.

Furthermore, if you insert an enterprise keywords column to a list or library, SharePoint duplicates any established document tags into the enterprise keywords column when the documents are uploaded to the list or library. This aids synchronise current keywords with the managed metadata features.

Term Store Administrators can open or close the Keywords set. The state of the set determines how users work with an enterprise keywords column in a list or library. If you place an enterprise keywords column in a list or library, site users can type keyword values. If the Keyword set is closed, users cannot register new keywords, but must use current enterprise keywords or a managed term. If the Keywords term set for the site is open, users can insert any text value to this column.

If appropriate, an administrator who has permission to manage can change how SharePoint products manage these keywords, and move them into a specific managed term set. Then, the keywords are accessible for the consistent usage types as the remaining terms in that term set.