Term Store in SharePoint

When working with a document management system in SharePoint, it is important to keep everything organized. Many times, people use different names for the same thing. For example, one person tags a file as HR, another as Human Resources, and someone else as People Department. This makes search results confusing and slows down work.

The SharePoint Term Store solves this problem. It is a central place to keep and manage common terms that can be used across all sites and libraries. Instead of creating separate choice lists in every library, you can create one shared list of terms. This makes tagging consistent, improves search, and keeps document management simple.

In this tutorial, I will explain:

• What is the Term Store in SharePoint
• Access the Term Store from a SharePoint
• How to create Groups, Term Sets, and Terms in SharePoint

Term Store in SharePoint

The Term Store serves as a central repository of standardized tags for your organization. For example, instead of people tagging a document as “Marketing,” “Sales & Marketing,” or “Promotions,” the Term Store ensures everyone uses the same term. This consistency improves search results, keeps content organized, and simplifies document management.

It is part of Managed Metadata in SharePoint, which means terms are stored in one place but can be reused across many sites, libraries, and pages.

The Term Store has three main building blocks:

• Term Groups: Big folders to organize terms (for example, Departments or Projects).
• Term Sets: A collection of related tags (for example, a Department set might include HR, Finance, IT).
• Terms: The actual tags you use (for example, HR).

Types of term sets:

• Local Term Sets: Available only in a specific site collection.
• Global Term Sets: Available across the whole tenant (all sites).

Access the Term Store in SharePoint

The Term Store is where all your managed metadata is stored and maintained. Accessing it depends on your role in SharePoint. Admins have complete control, while site owners or contributors can work with specific term sets assigned to them.

There are two main ways to access the Term Store:

• From the SharePoint Admin Center (Admins Only)
• From a SharePoint Site (Site Owners / Contributors)

From the SharePoint Admin Center (Admins Only)

If you are a SharePoint Administrator, you can open the Term Store through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. This gives full control over global term sets that are available across all sites in your tenant.

Follow the steps below:

1. In the SharePoint Admin Center, select Content service. Then click Term store.

2. The Term Store Management Tool will open, allowing you to:
   • Create and manage global term sets
   • Assign Term Group Managers and Contributors
   • Control access and structure for all sites in the organization

Admins can ensure consistency across the entire organization. Any changes made here affect all sites, libraries, and lists that use these global term sets.

From a SharePoint Site (Site Owners / Contributors)

If you are a site owner or contributor and do not have admin access, you can still open the Term Store directly from your SharePoint site. This is useful for managing local term sets or working with specific term sets assigned to your site.

Option 1: Term Store Management (Using Site Settings)

1. Open your SharePoint site. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner.
2. Select Site Information, then click View all site settings.
3. Under Site Administration, click Term store management.

4. The Term Store opens most term sets are read-only, except those where you have the Term Group Manager or Contributor role.

Option 2: Using Site Content Types

1. From your site, go to Site Contents -> Site Settings.
2. Click Site content types.

3. From the content type gallery, use the link to the Term Store.

Create Groups, Term Sets, and Terms in SharePoint

Once you have accessed the Term Store (using Admin Center or Site), you can start creating your taxonomy to organize terms.

Create a Term Group in SharePoint

A Term Group is the top-level container that holds related term sets. Think of it like a folder for organizing tags.

Follow these steps:

1. In the Term Store Management Tool, click three dots on Taxonomy (the top-level node).
2. Select Add term group.

3. Give the group a name (for example, Departments or Projects).

3. Add a Group Manager and Contributors who can add or edit terms in this group.

Note: Clearly label name groups so everyone knows which terms belong there.

Create a SharePoint Term Set

A Term Set is a collection of related terms. For example, a department’s term set could include HR, Finance, and IT.

Follow the steps below:

1. Click the three dots in the Term Group we just created.
2. Select Add term set.

3. Give the term set a name (for example, Departments).

Note: Term Sets can be Open (anyone can add new terms) or Closed (only assigned contributors can add terms).

Add Terms in SharePoint Term Set

Terms are the actual tags you will apply to content in SharePoint.

1. Click the three dots in the Term set we just created.
2. Select Add Term.

3. Enter the name of the term (for example, HR).

4. Repeat to add all terms you need (for example, Finance, IT, Marketing).

Note: You can create sub-terms for a deeper structure, such as Region -> Country -> City.

SharePoint Term Store helps keep your document management organized and consistent. By creating Term Groups, Term Sets, and Terms, everyone can tag content the same way, making search and navigation easier.

You can access the Term Store from the Admin Center or directly from a site, depending on your role. For faster setup, SharePoint also lets you import terms in bulk using a CSV file, saving time and ensuring consistency across all sites and libraries.

I hope this SharePoint tutorial was helpful to you.

Additionally, you may find the following interesting tutorials:

• Add Custom HTML/CSS to SharePoint Modern Page
• Enable Users to Add New Terms to SharePoint Term Store
• Create SharePoint Term in Term Store Using Power Automate
• Enable Sensitivity Labels On PDF Using PowerShell
• Add Synonyms to SharePoint Term Store Metadata Terms