SharePoint Online: Add Choice Field to List using PowerShell
Requirement: PowerShell to add a choice field to list in SharePoint Online.
How to Add Choice Field to SharePoint Online List?
The choice column in SharePoint Online is used to provide a pre-defined set of choices for the metadata column. Based on the settings you configure, This field may accept a single value or multiple values. When configured for single selection, it is a drop-down list or radio buttons and displayed as checkboxes when we configure it for multiple selections. To add a choice field from Web UI, follow these steps:
- Browse to your SharePoint Online site and navigate to the target list in which you want to add the Choice column.
- Under the List tab, click on the “Create Column” button in the ribbon.
- Provide the Name to your new column, specify the type as “Choice (menu to choose from)”
- Scroll down and enter choices to the given list as one choice per line
- Fill in other optional values such as Choice field type (Dropdown/Radio button/Checkbox) and click on “OK” to create a Choice field in the SharePoint Online list.
PowerShell to Create Choice Field in SharePoint Online List:
Here is the PowerShell CSOM script to add a choice column to the SharePoint Online list.
#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
#Custom function to add column to list
Function Add-ChoiceColumnToList()
{
param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $SiteURL,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $ListName,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $Name,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $DisplayName,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $ChoiceValues,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $DefaultValue,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)] [string] $Description=[string]::Empty,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)] [string] $IsRequired = "FALSE",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)] [string] $EnforceUniqueValues= "FALSE",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)] [string] $Format ="Dropdown",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)] [string] $FillInChoice="FALSE"
)
#Generate new GUID for Field ID
$FieldID = New-Guid
Try {
$Cred= Get-Credential
$Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.Username, $Cred.Password)
#Setup the context
$Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL)
$Ctx.Credentials = $Credentials
#Get the List
$List = $Ctx.Web.Lists.GetByTitle($ListName)
$Ctx.Load($List)
$Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
#Check if the column exists in list already
$Fields = $List.Fields
$Ctx.Load($Fields)
$Ctx.executeQuery()
$NewField = $Fields | where { ($_.Internalname -eq $Name) -or ($_.Title -eq $DisplayName) }
if($NewField -ne $NULL)
{
Write-host "Column $Name already exists in the List!" -f Yellow
}
else
{
#Frame Choices
$ChoiceOptions=[string]::Empty
$Choices = $ChoiceValues.Split(",")
foreach ($Choice in $Choices)
{
$ChoiceOptions = $ChoiceOptions + "<CHOICE>$Choice</CHOICE>"
}
#Define XML for Field Schema
$FieldSchema = "<Field Type='Choice' ID='{$FieldID}' DisplayName='$DisplayName' Name='$Name' Description='$Description' Required='$IsRequired' FillInChoice='$FillInChoice' Format='$Format'><Default>$DefaultValue</Default> <CHOICES>$ChoiceOptions</CHOICES></Field>"
$NewField = $List.Fields.AddFieldAsXml($FieldSchema,$True,[Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.AddFieldOptions]::AddFieldInternalNameHint)
$Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
Write-host "New Column Added to the List Successfully!" -ForegroundColor Green
}
}
Catch {
write-host -f Red "Error Adding Column to List!" $_.Exception.Message
}
}
#Set parameter values
$SiteURL="https://crescent.sharepoint.com"
$ListName="Projects"
$Name="ProjectDepartment"
$DisplayName="Project Department"
$Description="Enter the Project Department"
$ChoiceValues="IT,Sales,Operations,Marketing,HR"
$DefaultValue="IT"
$Format="RadioButtons" #Override default parameter value Dropdown
#Call the function to add column to list
Add-ChoiceColumnToList -SiteURL $SiteURL -ListName $ListName -Name $Name -DisplayName $DisplayName -Description $Description -Format $Format -ChoiceValues $ChoiceValues -DefaultValue $DefaultValue
This PowerShell script adds a new choice column for given parameters.
Add Choice Field to SharePoint Online List using PnP PowerShell
The Choice column allows users to select from a predefined list of values when entering data into the list. Let’s see how to add a choice field to a SharePoint Online list using PnP PowerShell:
#Config Variables
$SiteURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$ListName= "Projects"
#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials $Cred
#Add Choice Field
Add-PnPField -List $ListName -DisplayName "Department" -InternalName "Department" -Type Choice -AddToDefaultView -Choices "Sales","Marketing","Purchase", "IT", "HR"
Similarly, you can also add a choice column to the SharePoint Online list from XML.
#Config Variables
$SiteURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$ListName= "Projects"
#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials $Cred
#Genrate New GUID for List ID
$FieldID = ([GUID]::NewGuid()).GUID
#Define XML Schema for Choice Field
$FieldXML= "<Field Type='Choice' Name='Priority' ID='$FieldID' DisplayName='Priority'>
<CHOICES>
<CHOICE>(1) High</CHOICE>
<CHOICE>(2) Normal</CHOICE>
<CHOICE>(3) Low</CHOICE>
</CHOICES>
<Default>(2) Normal</Default>
</Field>"
#Add Choice Field to list from XML
Add-PnPFieldFromXml -FieldXml $FieldXML -List $ListName
Change the Field type to “MultiChoice” if you need a multiple-choice column. Set Format=’RadioButtons’ for radio buttons choice.
Hi!
Very useful article!
Is there a way to add a choice value via PnP in a specific position?
Thanks!!
how to set the choice column values if these are coming from different folder name in the document library?
Here you go: This script creates a choice column with all folder names in the library as choices!
SharePoint Online :how to set checkbox value from Powershell
Use: How to Get-Set Choice Field Value in SharePoint Online using PowerShell?