Creating Colored Folders in SharePoint Online and OneDrive

In today’s digital age, organizing and managing your files and folders efficiently is crucial. SharePoint Online and OneDrive, both part of the Microsoft 365 suite, offer powerful tools for document management and collaboration. While they provide a variety of features to help you stay organized, adding a touch of color to your folders can make a significant difference in terms of visual clarity and user experience. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to create colorful folders in SharePoint Online and OneDrive, making your document management experience more visually appealing and efficient.

Microsoft is currently rolling out a new feature for SharePoint Online document libraries and  OneDrive for Business which will allow users to colorize their folders with a pre-set range of 16 colors. This colorization is applicable to both new and already existing folders. You can find more details about this feature and release timeline with Microsoft Roadmap ID 124980.

Create a new colored folder in SharePoint Online

Follow below steps to create a new colored folder in SharePoint Online document library:

1. Go to your SharePoint online document library

2. Click on + New button from document library command bar and select Folder

3. Enter name for your new folder, select desired color under Folder color option and click Create to create a new colored folder:

Create a new colored folder in SharePoint Online document library

Create a new colored folder in OneDrive for Business

Follow below steps to create a new colored folder in OneDrive for Business:

1. Go to your personal account in OneDrive for Business and select My Files from left navigation pane

2. Click on + Add New button from top left corner and select Folder

3. Enter name for your new folder, select desired color under Folder color option and click Create to create a new colored folder:

Create a new colored folder in OneDrive for Business

Note: Colored folders can only be viewed in My Files in OneDrive for Business with this feature rollout.

Change color of existing folder in SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business

If you already have existing folders in SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business and you want to change the color, you can do it directly from the folder context menu or through the rename folder option.

1. Go to your SharePoint online document library or OneDrive for Business

2. Locate the folder for which you want to change the color

3. Select the folder and open folder context menu – click on ellipses (…) if you are using List view OR right/second click on folder if you are using Tiles view

4. Use Rename or Folder color options to update the color of existing folders in SharePoint online document library or OneDrive for Business:

Change color of existing folder in SharePoint Online document library

Conclusion

Adding color to your folders in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business is a simple yet effective way to enhance your document management experience. It brings visual clarity, simplifies organizing folders, and helps prioritize tasks. Whether you’re using SharePoint for team collaboration or OneDrive for personal file storage, this feature can be a game-changer in keeping your digital workspace neat and efficient. Give it a try and experience the benefits of a visually appealing and well-organized document library!

Learn more

• Create Colored Folders in SharePoint Online using CLI for Microsoft 365
• SharePoint Online: Download document library files using JSON Formatting
• SharePoint Online: Display Country Flags using JSON Formatting
• SharePoint: Highlight selected list item rows using JSON formatting
• SharePoint JSON formatting: Check if date & time column is blank/empty
• Set a page template as default page template in SharePoint Online

• Microsoft 365
• OneDrive
• SharePoint
• SharePoint Online