How to Make SharePoint List Column (Form Field) Read Only?

How to make a column read only in SharePoint 2010? Well, There are many ways. Here are some:

1. Make column read only in SharePoint list programmatically
2. use jQuery to make SharePoint field read only
3. Using SharePoint designer to set field read only in list forms.

Programmatically Set SharePoint list field to Read-Only using C# object model code or PowerShell script: 

To make a SharePoint field read-only, We can set the " ReadOnlyField" property of SPField to "True" using either PowerShell script or C# code. Here is how: 

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
#Get the Web
$web = Get-SPWeb "http://sharepoint.crescent.com/sites/pmo"
#Get the List
$List = $Web.Lists["Project Metrics"]
#Get the Field 
$Field = $List.Fields["Project ID"]
#Set the field to Read only
$Field.ReadOnlyField = $true
$Field.Update()

See the detailed implementation at: Hide Columns in SharePoint List NewForm, EditForm and DispForms.

But the problem is: As soon as you set "ReadOnlyField" to true, field will be hidden from all list forms and list settings. Instead, make the "ShowInNewForm" and "ShowInEditForm" Properties to False to hide them from NewForm.aspx and EditForm.aspx but still make it visible on list settings and DispForm.aspx.

Alternatively, you can create a Field with ReadOnly Property and add the field wherever required.

$SPSite = Get-SPSite "http://sharepoint.crescent.com"
$SPWeb = $SPSite.RootWeb
$SPcolumn = '<Field Type="Number" DisplayName="Project ID" Required="FALSE" 
               ReadOnly="TRUE" ShowInDisplayForm="TRUE"ShowInViewForms="TRUE" EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
                  Indexed="FALSE" Min="1" Max="10000" Group="Crescent PMO Site Columns" 
                    ID="{b81c7da6-1317-46fa-a32b-9f446c30b6e9}" StaticName="ProjectID" Name="ProjectID"></Field>'
$SPWeb.Fields.AddFieldAsXml($SPcolumn)

See more at: Create Site Column Feature for SharePoint 2010

However, these methods not satisfying our requirement. What we want is the field to be present in all SharePoint list forms with "Read-only" mode! So, lets see help from jQuery solution.

Make a SharePoint List form field read only with jQuery 

To make a column read only, Place the below code in a text file, upload to any SharePoint library, Add a CEWP to the "NewForm.Aspx" and/or "EditForm.aspx" or wherever required. Specify this script as "Content Link" from content editor web part properties pane.

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.1/jquery.min.js"
       type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">

$(document).ready(function()
{
//Set the Field to Read only and change its background colour
$("input[title='Metrics ID']").attr("readonly","true").css('background-color','#F6F6F6');
//You can disable the field also:  $("input[Title='Metrics ID']").attr("disabled", "disabled");
});

</script>

Output goes like this: SharePoint 2010 read only field in edit form
To disable a Choice field (Drop Down) use:

$("Select[Title='Department']").attr("disabled", "disabled");

To Disable Multiline Plain text fields

$("input[Title='Description']").attr("disabled", "disabled");

How to make a field read only in SharePoint Designer:

To make a SharePoint list column read only in EditForm.aspx, follow these steps:

1. Open the SharePoint site in SharePoint Designer
2. Navigate to the List. Under the "Forms" section, click on "New"
   
3. Create a new EditForm by giving it a name, and choosing other properties in the below screen.
   
4. Edit the newly created Edit form in SharePoint designer, Click on the target property to select
5. Change the "DisplayMode" property from "Edit" to "Display" in the properties pane.
   
6. Save and close.

Output: Read only field in SharePoint list form using SharePoint Designer
Years back, there was a similar requirement for SharePoint 2007 and I used JavaScript: Make Read-Only fields in SharePoint List Forms using Javascript