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Diagnose and fix slow list rendering performance in SharePoint Server 2019

Mason Copeland 60 Reputation points
2025-12-03T09:04:44.09+00:00

Im with a SharePoint Server 2019 on-prem environment, and I’m trying to figure out how todiagnose and optimize a performance issue where certain large lists take a long time to load, even when they’re well under the list view threshold. Some views load instantly while others hang for several seconds, and the slow behavior is inconsistently.

What are the recommended steps for this

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint Server | Development
Answer accepted by question author
  1. Steven-N 15,720 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-03T11:13:53.22+00:00

    Hi Mason Copeland

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum

    Based on my research, the root cause in virtually all such cases is not the total number of items, but how SharePoint executes the specific query for that view. When a view uses a non-indexed column in the first filter condition, in sorting/grouping, or displays many expensive column types (especially lookup, Person/Group, Managed Metadata, calculated, or multiple lines of text or multi-valued ones are the worst and cannot be indexed at all), SharePoint must perform full-table scans or costly joins even on lists with just a few thousand items. This explains both the long delays and the intermittent behavior.

    In this context, I highly recommend you follow the below instructions as a practice approach for this situation:

    1/ Enable Developer Dashboard (on-demand)

    $contentService = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]::ContentService
$contentService.DeveloperDashboardSettings.DisplayLevel = "OnDemand"
$contentService.Update()

    Then reproduce the slow view and click the dashboard icon (top-right) to check the SQL/query times.

    2/ Create the required indexes (List Settings → Indexed columns):

    • Index all columns used in filtering, sorting, or grouping (max 20 per list).
    • Make the most selective indexed column the first filter.

    If it still slow, you can consider running SQL Profiler or Extended Events during a slow load to see the exact expensive query and verify the necessary indexes exist in the database.

    Link references:

    Living Large with Large Lists and Large Libraries

    Software boundaries and limits for SharePoint Servers 2016 and 2019

    Optimize page performance in SharePoint

    Hope my answer will help you, for any further concern, kindly let me know in the comment section.

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-12-03T09:04:54.9966667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    To diagnose and fix slow list rendering performance in SharePoint Server 2019, you can follow these recommended steps:

    1. Analyze View Configuration: Check the configuration of the views that are performing poorly. Ensure that you are showing only the necessary columns and that you are not using complex grouping options, as these can significantly increase rendering time. For instance, collapsed grouping options can take longer to render than expanded ones.
    2. Use the Page Diagnostics for SharePoint Tool: This tool can help analyze the performance of your SharePoint pages. It generates reports showing how pages perform against a predefined set of rules, which can help identify issues with specific views.
    3. Check SQL Performance: Monitor SQL Server performance to ensure that the database is not a bottleneck. Look for long-running queries or locks that could be affecting performance.
    4. Review Indexing: Ensure that the lists are properly indexed. Indexing can significantly improve query performance, especially for large lists.
    5. Examine Custom Scripts: If there are custom scripts or web parts on the pages, review them for performance issues. Custom scripts can sometimes lead to increased load times if they are not optimized.
    6. Monitor Web Front-End Load: Check the load on the web front-end servers. High load can lead to slow performance, so ensure that your servers have adequate resources and are not being overwhelmed by requests.
    7. Use Developer Tools: Utilize browser developer tools (such as the F12 tools in Internet Explorer or Edge) to monitor network requests and identify any delays in loading resources.
    8. Compare with Baseline: If possible, compare the performance of the slow views with a baseline of non-customized views to identify any specific customizations that may be causing the delays.

    By systematically going through these steps, you can identify and address the factors contributing to slow list rendering performance in your SharePoint environment.

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