SharePoint Online Service Description

  • 17 minutes to read
  • Contributors
    • Shari Kjerland
    • Prabita
    • Denise Vangel-MSFT
    • v-rajagt
    • Peter Baumgartner

Microsoft SharePoint Online in Office 365 empowers people to share and work together, to inform and engage others across the company, to transform business processes, and to harness collective knowledge. In addition, SharePoint provides capabilities for organizations to protect and manage data and to build custom solutions. For a quick overview, see What is SharePoint?

To compare features across plans, see Compare Office 365 for Business plans.

What's new

For information about new features in SharePoint Online, see What's new in SharePoint Online.

System requirements

For system requirements for Office 365, the monthly subscription-based service available for business, education, and government organizations, please see Office 365 system requirements.

Note

An organization can deploy a hybrid SharePoint environment, which is composed of SharePoint Server 2013 or 2016, typically deployed on-premises, and SharePoint Online. To learn more, see Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2013 or Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2016.

SharePoint Online boundaries and limits

There are some limits to the SharePoint Online service managed by Microsoft, such as site collection quotas, file upload limits, and storage limits. For details, see SharePoint Online Limits.

To learn more about mobile support, see Use a mobile device to work with SharePoint Online sites.

Subscription options

Office 365 is available in a variety of plans to best meet the needs of your organization. For information about different plans, including standalone plan options and information on moving from one plan to another, see Office 365 Plan Options.

Each person who accesses SharePoint Online must be assigned to an Office 365 plan or SharePoint Online Plan 1 or SharePoint Online Plan 2 standalone service. However, a Firstline plan is not sold as a standalone offer, only as part of the Firstline subscription, such as SharePoint Online Firstline. Since Firstline workers can't be administrators, tenants with Firstline workers require at least one Enterprise administrator to manage SharePoint. Firstline workers won't see SharePoint navigation menus, so Firstline workers have to navigate to SharePoint sites directly by URL.

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business (formerly SkyDrive Pro) is personal online storage for a company's employees. It's the place where people can store, sync, and share their work files across multiple devices with ease and security. OneDrive for Business is included in SharePoint Online and can also be purchased as a standalone plan. The OneDrive for Business standalone option includes Office Online. To see which features are included in OneDrive for Business with Office Online, see the OneDrive for Business Service Description.

SharePoint Online Enterprise external users

External users inherit the use rights of the SharePoint Online customer who is inviting them to collaborate. That is, if an organization purchases an E3 Enterprise plan and builds a site that uses enterprise features, the external user is granted rights to use and/or view the enterprise features within the site collection they are invited to. While external users can be invited as extended project members to perform a full range of actions on a site, they will not have the exact same capabilities as a full, paid, licensed member within your organization. Learn more about what external users can and can't do.

Feature availability across Office 365 plans

Use the following table to determine whether a SharePoint feature is available in an Office 365 plan.
Developer features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
App Catalog (SharePoint)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
App Deployment: Cloud-Hosted Apps
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
App Deployment: SharePoint-Hosted Apps
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
App Management Services
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
BCS: App Scoped External Content Types (ECTs)
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
BCS: Business Data Web Parts
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
BCS: External List
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
BCS: OData connector
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
BCS: Rich Client Integration
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Client Object Model (OM)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom Site Provisioning Page
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Developer Site
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Forms Based Applications
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Full-Trust Solutions
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
InfoPath Forms Services
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes16
No
No
Yes
JavaScript Object Model
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Remote Event Receiver
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
REST APIs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Design Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Designer 2013
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Framework
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint 2010 workflows (out of the box)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint 2016 workflows
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes4
Yes4
Yes
Yes
Yes
IT Professional features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Active Directory synchronization
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Alternate Access Mapping (AAM)
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Anti-malware protection
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Claims-Based Authentication Support
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Customer Key for Office 365
No
No
No
No
No
No19
No
No
No
Data loss prevention
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Encryption at rest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Encryption in transit
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Host Header Site Collections
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Mobile Device Management for Office 365
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
OAuth
Yes8
Yes8
Yes8
Yes8
Yes8
Yes8
Yes8
Yes
Yes
Patch Management
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Quota Templates
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Read-Only Database Support
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Remote BLOB Storage
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Request Management
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Resource throttling
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Service Application Platform
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Health Analyzer
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
SharePoint admin center (Office 365)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No4
N/A
N/A
SharePoint central administration center
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Site Collection Compliance Policies
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Usage Reporting and Logging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Windows PowerShell Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Content features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Accessibility Standards Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Asset Library Enhancements/Video Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auditing
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auditing & Reporting (e.g., doc edits, policy edits, deletes)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Catalog
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Category page and catalog item page
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Content Organizer
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cross-Site Publishing
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Design Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Document Sets
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Document Translation in Word Online
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
eDiscovery Search
No
No
No
Yes6
Yes6
Yes6
Yes6
Yes
Yes
eDiscovery Hold
No6
No6
No
Yes6
No6
Yes6
No6
No
Yes
eDiscovery Export
No6
No6
No
Yes6
No6
Yes6
No6
No
Yes
External Sharing: External Access
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes9
Yes9
Yes9
Configurable for extranet
Configurable for extranet
External Sharing: Guest Link
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes9
Yes9
Yes9
No
No
Faceted navigation
No
No
No
Yes6
No
Yes7
No
No
Yes
Folder Sync
Yes1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes1
Yes
Yes2
Yes
Yes
Hybrid Auditing
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes18
Yes
Yes
Hybrid Taxonomy and Content Types
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes18
Yes
Yes
Image Renditions
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Information Rights Management (IRM)
No3
No3
No3
No3
No3
Yes
No3, 4
Yes
Yes
Managed metadata service
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Metadata-driven Navigation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multi-stage Disposition
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Office Online (create/edit)
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes15
Yes
Yes
Office Online (view)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Office ProPlus
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Office Web Apps Server integration
Included
Included
Included
Included
Included
Included
Included
Yes
Yes
Preservation hold library
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Publishing Analytics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Quick Edit
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Records management
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Recycle Bin (SharePoint admin center)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Recycle Bin (site collection)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Search web parts
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Shared Content Types
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Translation Services
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unique Document IDs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Video Search
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
WCM: Search Engine Optimizations (SEO)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Word Automation Services
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Insights features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Business Intelligence Center
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Calculated Measures and Members
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Data Connection Library
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Decoupled PivotTables and PivotCharts
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Field list and Field Support
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Filter Enhancements
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Filter Search
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
PerformancePoint Services
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Power BI Web Part
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Power View for Excel in SharePoint
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Power Pivot for Excel in SharePoint
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Quick Explore
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Integrated Mode
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Timeline Slicer
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Visio Online17
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Visio Services17
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Search features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Continuous crawls
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Deep links
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Event-based relevancy
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Expertise Search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Graphical refiners
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Highlighted content (Web Part)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Hybrid search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Intelligent search (Microsoft Graph)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Manage search schema
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
People cards
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Phonetic name matching
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Query rules—add promoted results
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Query rules—advanced actions
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Query spelling correction
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Query suggestions
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
On-hover preview
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ranking models
Yes5
Yes5
Yes5
Yes5
Yes5
Yes5
Yes5
Yes
Yes
Refiners
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
RESTful Query API/Query OM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Search results sorting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Search Web Parts
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
"This List" searches
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sites features
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Communication sites
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Community
Yes13
Yes13
Yes
Yes
Yes13
Yes13
No
Yes
Yes
Company Feed
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Cross Browser Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom Managed Paths
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Document libraries
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Governance
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hub sites
No20
No20
No20
No20
No20
No20
No20
No
No
Hybrid App Launcher
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes18
Yes
Yes
Hybrid OneDrive for Business and Sites
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes18
Yes
Yes
Large List Scalability and Management
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mobile Connectivity
Yes10
Yes10
Yes
Yes
Yes10
Yes10
Yes10
Yes
Yes
Multi-Lingual User Interface
Yes11
Yes11
Yes
Yes
Yes11
Yes11
Yes11
Yes
Yes
OOTB Web Parts
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Permissions Management
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Personal blogs
Yes12
Yes12
Yes
Yes
Yes12
Yes12
Yes12
Yes
Yes
Project site template
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Lists
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
SharePoint Ribbon
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Site designs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Site Themes (change the look)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Site usage page
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Task list
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Team Notebook
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Team Site
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Variations
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Site Feed (classic team site using SharePoint social (classic team site using SharePoint social)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Wikis
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yammer integration
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Add-Ons
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Enterprise F1
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise
Additional Storage
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Azure Provisioned Apps: Access Services
Yes14
Yes14
Yes14
Yes14
Yes14
Yes14
Yes14
No
No
Azure Provisioned Apps: Custom Code in Azure Lightweight Web Role (LWR)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No

Note

1 To use folder sync, you must have Office 2013 or later (Standard or Professional edition) or an Office 365 subscription that includes Office applications. Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Enterprise E1, and Office 365 Education plans do not include subscriptions to Office desktop applications. However, you can use folder sync if you have Office 2013 or later installed and subscribe to one of these plans.
2 Firstline workers have limited OneDrive for Business functionality. Firstline workers receive 2GB of storage and lack desktop sync capabilities. Firstline accounts do not include a OneDrive for Business Personal Site, so they do not benefit from a OneDrive for Business personal library with 1 TB or 5 TB of online storage.
3 Azure Information Protection is not included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on and will enable the supported Information Rights Management (IRM) features. Some Azure Information Protection features require a subscription to Office 365 ProPlus, which is not included with Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium, Office 365 Enterprise E1, Office 365 Education, or Office 365 Enterprise F1.
4 Because Firstline workers can't be administrators, tenants with Firstline workers need at least one Enterprise user to access the admin center.
5 SharePoint Online customers need to download and install the free Rank Model Tuning App to create and customize ranking models.
6 When you use eDiscovery features, the licensing requirement for a plan that permits that feature applies to all end users that are part of the eDiscovery action (Search, Hold, Export).
7 Authenticated SharePoint Online users can access private site collections with faceted navigation.
8 Some providers may be blocked in your country/region.
9 Sharing a document, library, or site by email with someone outside of your organization. Administrators do have the ability to turn it on, but will get a warning message indicating that it could make files shared accessible outside of your country. Users who attempt to share with someone outside of the organization will receive the same warning message.
10 You can view documents in any Mobile browser. You need to install the Office Mobile app to edit documents. Office Mobile is currently available for Windows phones and tablets, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, and iPad.
11 Help is available only in Simplified Chinese and English.
12 Comments on blogs cannot be added.
13 Organization community website is available, but public community-provided help is not available.
14 Access 2010 is not supported.
15 For Office Online, F1 users should have access to Office Online (live tiles) for content creation. However, they have limitations associated with the core commercial mobile apps. The following are included: Yammer, StaffHub, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, SharePoint, and Groups. The following are not included: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
16 InfoPath Forms that contain user code (Sandbox) can only be consumed in InfoPath Rich Client.
17 Visio Online consumption (view capability) is available for free. Visio Online create and edit capabilities require a license. For more information about Visio Online, see the Visio Online Service Description.
18 F1 users can access SharePoint Server in a hybrid setup, but Office 365 F1 does not include CAL rights to access the server; these rights must be purchased separately.
19 Customer Key is available in Office 365 Enterprise E5. Customer Key enables you to control your organization's encryption keys and then configure Office 365 to use them to encrypt your data at rest in Microsoft's data centers. Data at rest includes data from Exchange Online and Skype for Business that is stored in mailboxes and files that are stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. Customer Key helps you meet compliance obligations because you control the encryption keys that Office 365 uses to decrypt data. For more information, see Controlling your data in Office 365 using Customer Key.
20 Coming soon.