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In this episode of the SharePoint at 25 series, I tackle one of the longest-running and most misunderstood debates in the SharePoint world: folders versus metadata.

For years, the conversation has been framed as a binary choice — either you use folders or you use metadata. But in reality, modern SharePoint environments require a much more balanced approach.

In this episode, I unpack where the debate originally came from, why folders made perfect sense in the file server era, and how SharePoint introduced a completely different way of structuring information through metadata. More importantly, I explain why the real problem was never folders themselves — it was expecting them to carry the entire information architecture of a system.

We also explore how the modern SharePoint library experience has evolved, with views, filtering, and metadata now sitting at the centre of how people interact with information. And with AI tools like Copilot entering the picture, structure and context are becoming even more important.

Rather than arguing for “no folders ever,” this episode presents a more practical design perspective:

• Folders provide containment
• Metadata provides meaning
• Views provide experience
• Design provides governance

When these elements work together, SharePoint environments scale. When they don’t, complexity builds — and AI tools will surface those problems very quickly.

If you’ve ever been in a workshop where the folders vs metadata debate spiralled out of control, this episode resets the conversation and explains how these pieces actually fit together in modern Microsoft 365 environments.

Links & Resources

Fix the Mess™ Training and Courses
 https://fixthemess.ai