How to Customize Thumbnails and Links in the SharePoint Highlighted Content Web Part
Question details
The user wants to assign custom thumbnails and change the destination URLs for items pulled from custom lists into the SharePoint Highlighted Content web part.
- Product
- SharePoint Online
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Displaying items from custom lists on a modern SharePoint page and needing specific imagery and custom target links for those items.
- Observed behavior
- The Highlighted Content web part does not offer native options to override the auto-generated thumbnails or alter the destination link for items sourced from custom lists.
Verify that you have Site Owner or Designer permissions on your SharePoint site to add, edit, or deploy custom web parts to your modern site pages.
Use the SharePoint News Web Part for Better Image Control
If you can transition your list content into Site Pages, the News web part allows you to use page banner images as reliable thumbnails.
The Highlighted Content web part relies strictly on auto-generated previews. By creating your content as news posts in the Site Pages library instead of a custom list, you can dictate the visual thumbnail by setting the focal point of the page's banner image.
Edit your modern SharePoint page, click the '+' icon to add a new web part, and search for 'News'.
In the News web part property pane on the right, set the source to 'This site' or select specific sites where your news pages reside.
Open the individual Site Pages you wish to display, edit them, and upload a banner image. This banner automatically serves as the thumbnail in the News layout.
Build a Custom Web Part with SharePoint Framework (SPFx)
For full control over custom list sources, thumbnails, and custom destination URLs, developing a custom SPFx web part is the only fully supported solution.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Highlighted Content web part choose its thumbnail?
The Highlighted Content web part automatically generates a thumbnail based on the item's content. For a document, it attempts to generate a preview of the file; for a page, it pulls the banner image. You cannot manually upload or override this thumbnail out of the box.
Can I pull items from multiple custom lists into the News web part?
No. The News web part primarily reads from the Site Pages library to display news posts. It is not designed to read from or aggregate items across multiple arbitrary custom lists.
Is there any way to change the destination URL in modern SharePoint web parts?
Natively, built-in web parts like Highlighted Content and News will always direct the user to the underlying item or page. To route users to external URLs or different internal links from a list, you must use the Quick Links web part or build a custom SPFx solution.
