Display List from Top-Level Site to SubSite in SharePoint

Requirement: We have an announcement list in the Top-level site of a SharePoint 2013 site collection and wanted it to appear on each subsite!

Solution: Requirements to show Lists/Libraries from Root site to Sub-site or Sub-site to Root site are quite common. In short, the solution idea is: Export the List view web part to the web part gallery (so that it’s stored on the root site’s web part gallery) and insert the web part to subsite pages wherever required. Here are the detailed steps.

Tips: You can also use SharePoint Content Query web part (or Content Search Web Part) if you have publishing feature turned ON!

Step 1: Export the Source List View Web Part using SharePoint Designer 2013

  1. Open your Site in SharePoint Designer, navigate to the Lists and Libraries node in the left navigation tree view. Click on the All Items view to open it in SharePoint Designer.
    display a list or library from sharepoint subsite to the top level site
  2. Go to Insert Tab, Click on the Dataview and choose your Source List from the dropdown.
    display a list or library from sharepoint 2013 subsite to the top level site
  3. Now click on the Web Parts tab, Click on the Site Gallery button from the ribbon.
    show list from parent site to subsite
  4. Provide a Name and description to the web part you export and click on OK.
    show library from subsite to parent site
  5. You’ll get a prompt: “Do you want this Web Part to always show list data from the current web site? If you select No, the web part will show data from the list at the path your list location, relative to the site in which it is used.” Confirm “Yes” to the prompt.

This saves the list view web part along with the list contents to the site collection web part gallery, and you can insert it to any page within the site collection.

Step 2: Insert the Web Part to Target Page(s):

  1. Go to your Subsite (or target site), Click on Site Settings gear, Choose Edit Page
  2. Under Insert Tab, Click on Web Part
  3. Navigate to the Miscellaneous tab, pick the web part you exported in step 1, and insert it to the relevant section of your page.
    display subsite library from parent site to subsite

That’s all! You’ll get the list from the parent site, and its content gets updated whenever there is a change made on the source. Please note, this method works only within the same site collection!

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. Passionate about sharing the deep technical knowledge and experience to help others, through the real-world articles!

4 thoughts on “Display List from Top-Level Site to SubSite in SharePoint

  • Very useful, Thank you for the post, it’s absolutely helped my task.

    Reply
  • Everything works just fine except for the Delete. When I delete a document or item, it’s give item Does not exists error.

    Any ideas?

    Reply
  • Hi,
    Thank you for this informative post.
    i have a scenario where i am using SharePoint Library which is having folder and files in parent site. By following the steps mentioned in post i am able to see the folders in subsite.
    But when we are clicking on folder it is give item Does not exists error.
    Help is Appreciated.
    ——————————————————————————
    No item exists at https://domain/Pages/Library.aspx?RootFolder=/Test doc library/Test&FolderCTID=0x0120000D6E3CB5C5C6DA499B4D8CA8E73414DD&View={E3034E6C-681B-4BA0-90DB-EE1879E0142D}. It may have been deleted or renamed by another user.
    —————————————————

    Thanks in Advance

    Reply
  • Hi This is great thanks.
    Only problem once we’ve added the new Web Part to a page, the View Menu is always expanded when the page opens, Is the any way of stopping this from happening please

    Reply

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