Progress tracking unavailable in this browser mode.

List Items and Content Types

SharePoint lists store rows of data called list items. Each item has fields (columns) that hold values. PnP PowerShell gives you full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) control over list items.

Reading List Items

Retrieve all items from a list:

powershell

Get-PnPListItem -List "Projects"

For large lists, use a CAML query with the -Query parameter to filter server-side and improve performance:

powershell

$query = "<View><Query><Where>
    <Eq><FieldRef Name='Status'/><Value Type='Text'>Active</Value></Eq>
</Where></Query></View>"

Get-PnPListItem -List "Projects" -Query $query

Key Concept: CAML (Collaborative Application Markup Language) is SharePoint's XML-based query language. Using -Query filters data on the server, which is far more efficient than retrieving all items and filtering locally with Where-Object.

Adding New Items

Create a new list item by passing a hashtable of field values:

powershell

Add-PnPListItem -List "Projects" -Values @{
    Title       = "Website Redesign"
    Status      = "Active"
    Priority    = "High"
}

Updating Items

Update an existing item by its ID:

powershell

Set-PnPListItem -List "Projects" -Identity 5 -Values @{
    Status = "Completed"
}

Deleting Items

Remove a list item by ID. Use -Force to skip confirmation:

powershell

Remove-PnPListItem -List "Projects" -Identity 5 -Force

Content Types

Content types define reusable sets of columns and behaviors. View available content types with:

powershell

Get-PnPContentType

To see content types specific to a list:

powershell

Get-PnPContentType -List "Projects"

Adding Content Types to Lists

Apply an existing site content type to a list:

powershell

Add-PnPContentTypeToList -List "Projects" `
    -ContentType "Document" -DefaultContentType

Key Concept: The -DefaultContentType switch makes the added content type the default for new items. Without it, the content type is available but not pre-selected when users create items.

Exercises

0/4 completed

Write a CAML query command to get items from the 'Tickets' list where the Priority field equals 'High'. Store the CAML XML in a $query variable, then pass it to Get-PnPListItem.

Loading editor...