News web part
The News web part displays news posts — announcements, updates and stories — on a SharePoint page, showing the newest posts automatically as they are published. It offers seven layouts and can pull from a single site, a whole hub, selected sites, or a per-person recommendation. Posts support rich formatting, images and video, can be pinned into fixed positions, scheduled for future publishing, and targeted to specific audiences. It is a dynamic web part, so it queries SharePoint each time the page loads.
Part of the SharePoint web parts reference · Verified against Microsoft documentation · Last reviewed 1 September 2026
The seven layouts
More choice than any other built-in web part, and the decision is mostly about how much vertical space you can spare and whether one story should dominate.
| Layout | What it looks like | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Top story | One large lead item, smaller posts alongside | There is a clear lead announcement |
| List | Compact, text-led rows | Space is tight, or headlines matter more than images |
| Side-by-side | Two-column rows of equal posts | Several stories of similar weight |
| Carousel | Rotating full-width posts | A small number of high-value stories |
| Tiles | A grid of image cards | A secondary “more news” block |
| Hub news | Posts grouped by originating site | A hub aggregating department news |
| Filmstrip | A carousel of cards that resize dynamically as they animate | Up to 12 posts should cycle on a timer without taking a full-width band |
The pattern that works on most homepages is Top story above the fold for the lead, then Tiles further down for everything else. A compact view toggle is also available, either always on for the List layout or only at narrow widths for the others, which is worth enabling for mobile.
The four news sources
- This site. Posts from the current site’s pages library. The default, and the one with a hidden constraint — see the troubleshooting section below.
- All sites in this hub. Every site associated with the hub, which is how a corporate hub produces one company newsfeed from many department sites.
- Select sites. Named individual sites, useful for a curated set that does not map to a hub.
- Recommended for current user. A personalised set built from the people someone works with, the sites they follow, and their Microsoft 365 activity.
Filtering is unavailable on the recommended source Since September 2022, filter options are not offered when the news source is set to Recommended for current user. If you need filtering, choose a different source.
Audience targeting, pinning and boost
These three features are what turn the News web part from a chronological feed into managed internal communications. Each has a catch.
Audience targeting
Enabled on the library, not on the web part: Site Pages library settings → Audience targeting settings → enable, then set audiences on each post. After that, people see only posts aimed at groups they belong to.
You cannot add targeting to a post after it has been viewed Audience data is fixed at publish time for analytics purposes, so a post that goes out untargeted stays untargeted. Tag posts with their audiences before publishing, and build that into the editorial checklist rather than trusting people to remember.
Pinning
Pinning fixes posts in a chosen order rather than letting recency decide — useful for keeping an important announcement at the top of a page.
Pinned previews ignore permissions The title, description and thumbnail of a pinned post are visible to every site user regardless of their permissions, any audience targeting, or the web part’s filter conditions. Someone without access who selects the post is prompted to request it — but they have already read the headline. Only pin posts whose headline and summary are safe for the whole site.
Organization news sites and boost
An administrator can designate a site as an organization news site, giving its posts a colour-coded label wherever they appear. A SharePoint home site becomes one automatically with no extra configuration. Boosting then prioritises individual posts from those sites so they surface more prominently in Viva Connections and the feed, with ordering and expiry dates you control.
Limits and configuration
| Configuration | |
| Layouts available | 7 |
|---|---|
| News sources | 4 |
| Counts as a dynamic web part | Yes |
| Audience targeting | Yes, enabled on the library |
| Targeting can be added after first view | No |
| Hard constraints | |
| Lookup columns allowed in site pages library | Fewer than 12 |
| Hidden lookup columns present by default | 6 |
| Pages and news items per site | 5,000 |
| Filtering on “Recommended for current user” | Unavailable |
| Boost | |
| Boosted posts per organization news site | 10 |
| Prominent display duration | Up to 4 days |
| Boost available from | Organization news sites only |
Sources: Microsoft Support, Use the News web part on a SharePoint page; Boost SharePoint news from organization news sites; Demystifying SharePoint news; and Microsoft Learn, SharePoint modern portal site limits. Some source options are unavailable in GCC High, DoD and 21Vianet tenants. Verified 1 September 2026. See the full SharePoint limits table for platform-wide figures.
When the web part shows nothing
This is the most common support ticket the News web part generates, and the least obvious cause is first on the list.
- Too many lookup columns. With the source set to This site, the site pages library must have fewer than 12 lookup columns in total. It already carries six hidden ones by default, so adding your own metadata columns can silently break the web part. Count the hidden ones.
- Audience targeting excludes you. If targeting is on and the posts are aimed at groups you are not in, you see an empty web part. Check as a member of the target audience, not as an administrator.
- Posts are drafts. Unpublished pages do not appear. Check the pages library rather than the web part.
- Scheduled for the future. Posts with a future publish date are invisible until then.
- Filters match nothing. Filter conditions on title, recency, author or page properties will happily return an empty set.
- Tenant type. Some source options are unavailable in GCC High, DoD and 21Vianet tenants.
Getting the posts themselves right
Most complaints about SharePoint news are really complaints about the posts, not the web part. Two things account for most of it.
- Headlines truncate. Every layout cuts long titles at a different point. Write the headline, then look at it in the layout you are actually using.
- Write the description. If you leave it blank, the web part shows the first 150 characters or so of the body — which is usually a date, a greeting, or half a sentence. The description is the hook; it deserves its own draft.
For the wider question of how to present news across an intranet rather than configure this one web part, see our guide to ten ways to display SharePoint news.
Key takeaways
- <12 lookup cols Too many lookup columns silently breaks the web part With the source set to This site, the pages library must hold fewer than 12 lookup columns — and it ships with six hidden ones. This is the top cause of an empty News web part.
- 7 layouts More layout choice than any other built-in web part Top story, List, Side-by-side, Carousel, Tiles, Hub news and the newer Filmstrip. Top story above the fold plus Tiles below is the pattern that works on most homepages.
- 4 sources Hub is how one feed serves the whole company This site, all sites in the hub, selected sites, or a per-person recommendation. Filtering is unavailable on the recommended source.
- Publish then never Targeting cannot be added after a post is viewed Audience data is fixed at publish time for analytics. Tag posts before publishing and build it into the editorial checklist.
- Pinned ignores perms Pinned previews are visible to every site user Title, description and thumbnail bypass permissions, targeting and filters. Only pin posts whose headline is safe for the whole site.
- 10 boosted Boost is capped and time-limited Ten posts per organization news site, prominent for up to four days. A home site becomes an organization news site automatically.
When the seven layouts aren't the seven you need
The News web part is genuinely capable, and for many intranets it is enough. Where it runs out is presentation: seven fixed layouts, styling inherited from the site theme, and no control over how a news block sits within a designed page.
- News layouts that match your brand rather than the SharePoint theme
- Mixed feeds — news alongside events, links and list data in one designed block
- Category filtering readers can drive themselves, not just author-set filters
- Audience-targeted sections around the feed, including the banner above it
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Common questions about the News web part
What is the SharePoint News web part?
The News web part displays news posts — announcements, updates and stories — on a SharePoint page, showing the newest posts automatically as they are published. It offers seven layouts and can pull from a single site, a whole hub, selected sites, or a per-person recommendation. Posts support rich formatting, images and video, can be pinned into fixed positions, scheduled for future publishing, and targeted to specific audiences. It is a dynamic web part, so it queries SharePoint each time the page loads.
What layouts does the SharePoint News web part have?
Seven: Top story, which gives one large lead item with smaller posts beside it; List, a compact text-led list; Side-by-side, two-column rows; Carousel, rotating full-width posts; Tiles, a grid of image cards; Hub news, which groups posts by the site they came from; and Filmstrip, which animates through up to 12 posts as cards that resize dynamically. A common homepage pattern is Top story above the fold for the lead announcement and Tiles below it for everything else. There is also a compact view toggle for narrow widths.
Where can the SharePoint News web part pull news from?
Four sources. This site pulls from the current site’s pages library. All sites in this hub pulls from every site associated with the hub. Select sites lets you name individual sites. Recommended for current user builds a personalised set based on the people someone works with, the sites they follow and their Microsoft 365 activity. The common enterprise pattern is a corporate hub pulling from every department communication site to produce one company newsfeed.
How does audience targeting work for SharePoint news?
It is enabled on the library, not on the web part. Go to the Site Pages library settings, open Audience targeting settings and enable it, then set audiences on each individual post. Once enabled, people see only the posts targeted at groups they belong to. One important constraint: audience targeting cannot be added to a post after it has been viewed, because the audience data is fixed at publish time for analytics. Tag posts with their audiences before publishing.
What is an organization news site and what does boosting do?
An organization news site is a site an administrator designates as an official source, and its posts get a colour-coded label wherever they appear. A SharePoint home site becomes one automatically. Boosting prioritises individual posts from those sites so they appear more prominently in Viva Connections and the feed. A maximum of 10 posts can be boosted per organization news site, boosted posts display prominently for up to four days, and you can order them and set expiry dates.
Why is the SharePoint News web part not showing any posts?
The most overlooked cause is a lookup column limit. When the news source is set to This site, the site pages library must contain fewer than 12 lookup columns in total — and it already has six hidden ones by default, so adding a handful of your own silently breaks the web part. Other causes are audience targeting excluding the viewer, posts saved as drafts rather than published, filter conditions that match nothing, and scheduled posts with a future publish date.
What is the difference between a news post and a news link?
A news post is a SharePoint page stored in the site’s pages library, authored with web parts and subject to permissions, versioning and approval. A news link is a pointer to content that lives somewhere else — another website, a document, an external news source — displayed in the web part with its own title, description and thumbnail. Links are useful for surfacing third-party content in the same feed, but there is no page behind them to permission or version.
Does pinning a news post respect permissions?
Not for the preview. Pinning fixes posts in a chosen order on the page, but the title, description and thumbnail of a pinned post are visible to every site user regardless of their permissions, any audience targeting, or the web part’s filter conditions. Someone without access who selects the post is prompted to request it. Because of that, pin only posts whose headline and summary are safe for everyone on the site to see.
Sources
- Microsoft Support — Use the News web part on a SharePoint page
- Microsoft Support — Boost SharePoint news from organization news sites
- Microsoft Support — Demystifying SharePoint news