When you find a document or other file that interests you on a SharePoint site in your organization, you’ll probably want to keep the document available for reference and track it for updates. You can address these needs with a mouse click by simply following the file. In contrast to simply ‘liking’ a document or setting an email alert for document changes, following a document not only sets it apart as important and notifies you of document changes, but also supports collaboration because your action is shared with others on your team through their newsfeeds, helping inform people of a document’s value.
Following a document or other file lets you:
- See notifications in your newsfeed when someone updates the file or shares it with other people.
- Keep the file handy in a list of links to your followed documents.
- Inform teammates when you’ve started following a document, helping them discover new content.
- Expand the scope of suggested documents for you to follow.
Note The capabilities described here depend on whether your organization has set up and customized personal sites and profiles. See your SharePoint site administrator for details.
In this article
Follow a document or file in a site library
Following a document or other file in a team site or other SharePoint site library is a way to flag content that interests you, see how it evolves, and easily refer to it again. Once you follow a document, you’ll see notifications about updates to it in your newsfeed, and a link to the document is automatically added to a list of documents that you follow, so it’s easy to find again. Your followed documents are all in one place. In addition, people who follow you see a newsfeed item that you’re following the document, indicating its relevance.
Note The capabilities described here depend on whether your organization has set up and customized personal sites and profiles. See your SharePoint site administrator for details.
To follow a document or other file in a site library or your personal SkyDrive Pro library:
- Browse to a document library on a SharePoint or Office 365 site by doing any of the following:
- To go to a team site library, click Documents in the Quick Launch on the left.
- To go to a co-worker’s library, click the person’s profile picture in a newsfeed and then click Documents. in the Quick Launch.
- To go to your personal library, click SkyDrive in the header.
Note Before you can follow a document or other file in a library other than your own, you must have permission to access it. You’re granted this permission when someone shares the document with you. Typically, you can follow documents in a Shared with Everyone folder. You cannot follow private documents.
- Click the library or folder that contains the document or other file you want to follow.
- Click the ellipsis … next to the document, and then click Follow in the callout window.
The callout shows a preview of the content and other information, including who last updated it and when.
You’ll see newsfeed notices when the document is updated and the document or file is added to the list of documents that you follow so you can easily find it again.
Note If you accidentally try to follow a file that you’re already following, a pop-up window appears in the top right of the page, indicating you’re already following the file.
Tip To find your followed document, click Newsfeed in the header and open your list of followed documents.
Tip To get email alerts on document updates, select the document in library folder, click the Files tab, and use the Alert feature.
Now you’ll get notified in your newsfeed when someone updates the document. In addition, people who are following you will get a newsfeed notification that you’re following this file, if they have access to the document.
As you build your collection of documents that you follow, consider automated suggestions for documents to follow.
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Follow a document from your newsfeed
When you notice an interesting document link in your newsfeed—such as one that your boss referred to in a post—consider following it so can get update notices for it in your newsfeed and to keep it handy in your list of followed documents. Although you can’t follow documents directly from a newsfeed, you can usually follow a document from the library where it’s stored.
Note The capabilities described here depend on whether your organization has set up and customized personal sites and profiles. See your SharePoint site administrator for details.
To follow a document or other file that appears in your newsfeed:
- Click Newsfeed in the header.
- On the Newsfeed page, click the document or file that interests you.
The file opens for viewing or editing if the file permissions allow.
- Go to the library that contains the file by deleting the file name at the end of the URL in the browser, and then pressing Enter.
- For example, if the URL is http://contoso/Planning documents/FirstQuarterPlan.docx, you would delete FirstQuarterPlan.docx, and click the resulting URL: http://contoso/Planning documents/.
Note Some URLs may not allow this.
- In the document library, click the ellipsis (…) next to the document or file that you want follow, and then click Follow in the callout window.
The callout shows a preview of the content and other information, including who last updated it and when.
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Follow a shared document
When someone shares a document with you, consider following it so you can keep an eye on document updates in your newsfeed. You’ll also be able to find it again easily in your list of followed documents. Following a document that someone shared with you is easiest if they choose to send an automatic email when they share the document because the notification will include an option to follow the document, but there are other ways to follow at as well.
To follow a document when you receive an email notice that someone is sharing it with you:
- Click the Follow link that appears in the email.
To follow a document that someone shares with you without notifying you in email, do one of the following:
- Find the document in the sharer’s library, select it, and then click Follow from the Files tab.
- Find the document in the sharer’s library, click the ellipses (…) after the document, and then click Follow in the callout window
Note The capabilities described here depend on whether your organization has set up and customized personal sites and profiles. See your SharePoint site administrator for details.
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Stop following a document or file
When you no longer need to track a file and receive newsfeed updates about it, you can stop following it.
Note The capabilities described here depend on whether your organization has set up and customized personal sites and profiles. See your SharePoint site administrator for details.
To stop following a document or other file:
- Click Newsfeed at the top of a SharePoint or Office 365 site.
- Under I’m Following, click the number for documents to display the Docs I’m following page.
- Click Stop following below the document or other file entry.
Note The item remains as is until you leave the page or site, so you can change your mind and start following it again.
Tip To stop following a document from the Newsfeed page, click the X next to an update about a document that you’re following.
After you leave the site, the file no longer appears in your list of followed documents.
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Why should I follow a document or file?
Following a document or other file lets you:
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Where can I find documents to follow?
You can find potential documents to follow in any of these places:
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How can I make sure others can follow my documents?
If you want other people to be able to follow your documents or other files, they must have permission to access them. Others cannot follow documents or files in your private folder, for example. You can give teammates access to a document by sharing the document with them and giving them permission to view or edit the document.
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