About This Article
Based on current Microsoft 365 Enterprise information and official Microsoft Lists/SharePoint documentation, this article organizes Microsoft Lists not as a "shared Excel sheet," but as business data with input rules, views, permissions, and automation. While structured with the help of generative AI, priority is given to official Microsoft primary sources for licensing and feature descriptions.Verification Status: 📘 Microsoft Official Information Confirmed / Not Verified on Actual Device (2026-09-17)
Microsoft Lists is a list management feature in Microsoft 365 that allows multiple people to register, update, and search for the "same items." While it looks similar to Excel, the underlying concept is quite different.
For example, if you start managing general affairs equipment in Excel, users might copy files for themselves, or inconsistencies in notation like "Checked Out," "Out," or "In Use" might arise in the "Status" column. In Lists, you define column types and choices beforehand, allowing multiple people to work with the same list.
- Five Key Terms to Learn First
- Where is Lists located?
- What is the difference between M365 E3 and E5?
- How to choose between Excel, Lists, and Planner?
- Try this first: An inquiry list with only three columns
- JSON Column Formatting: Start by changing "only the display"
- If combining with Power Automate, start with notifications
- End users, administrative staff, and IT departments look at different aspects
- If designing columns using generative AI
- Checkpoints for Administrators to Confirm
- Common Misconceptions
- Official Information / Primary Sources
Five Key Terms to Learn First
| Term | Meaning for Beginners |
|---|---|
| List | A data container similar to an "entire table" in Excel. |
| Item | A single record in the list, similar to a row in Excel. |
| Column | The type of information to store, such as subject, assignee, or deadline. |
| Column Type | Rules on "what can be entered," such as text, dates, choices, or users. |
| View | A way of looking at the data by changing displayed columns, sort order, or filtering, without altering the underlying data itself. |
What is particularly important is:Changing the view does not make the original data something else.According to official Microsoft support, views allow you to save sorting, filtering, grouping, and displayed columns.
Where is Lists located?
When understanding Microsoft Lists, knowing its relationship with SharePoint helps prevent confusion.
flowchart LR
U[利用者<br/>ブラウザー / Microsoft 365] --> L[Microsoft Lists<br/>一覧を操作]
L --> S[SharePoint Online<br/>サイト / リスト基盤]
S --> D[(リストのアイテムと列)]
L --> V[ビュー / 表示書式]
L --> A[Power Automate等の連携]
From a user's perspective, it is an app called Lists, but IT departments must also consider the SharePoint site, permissions, and sharing settings.
What is the difference between M365 E3 and E5?
Upgrading from E3 to E5 is not a feature change intended solely for using Microsoft Lists. Both Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 are offered as Enterprise plans that include SharePoint Online.
| Aspect | Microsoft 365 E3 | Microsoft 365 E5 |
|---|---|---|
| Shared lists using Lists | Available in the corresponding Microsoft 365 / SharePoint environment | Available in the corresponding Microsoft 365 / SharePoint environment |
| Basic design of Lists | Columns, views, formatting, sharing, etc. | Equally available |
| Reasons to consider E5 | Decide based on organization-wide requirements rather than Lists alone | Decide based on the overall contract, including advanced security, compliance, etc. |
Therefore, avoid the assumption that "you need E5 because you want to use Lists." Please also check your tenant's contract, service plans, and administrative settings to confirm actual availability.
The Purview Suite is not an upgraded version of Lists itself. When considering retention, information protection, and DLP for business data stored in Lists/SharePoint, licensing requirements on the Purview side are separately involved. Check the latest licensing conditions for each target feature.
How to choose between Excel, Lists, and Planner?
| What you want to do | Best suited tool | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregating sales and analyzing with charts | Excel | Excellent at formulas, pivots, and analysis |
| Registering equipment, inquiries, and contract renewals with multiple people | Lists | Easy to design column types, views, permissions, and automation |
| Managing who does what and by when | Planner | Focused on tasks, assignees, and progress management |
| Storing and co-authoring documents themselves | SharePoint | Focused on document libraries |
Although Lists also has calculation and display features, it is not meant to "completely replace Excel," but ratherscenarios where you want to align a shared ledger as structured datais where its strength lies.
Try this first: An inquiry list with only three columns
Create a test list and start with only the following three columns.
件名 : 1行テキスト 担当 : ユーザー 状態 : 選択肢（未着手 / 対応中 / 完了）
Add one test item.
What to look for?
Confirm that you can specify an organizational user for "Assignee" and select from predefined values for "Status." The key point is that it is easier to keep data notation consistent compared to a table that only allows free-form input.
Success criteria
Register one item; if "Subject, Assignee, and Status" are displayed in the list with the expected types, it is a success.
Change just one thing
Create a view that displays only "Status = Completed." Without deleting or moving the original items,you can change only the appearance of the same data.Confirm this behavior.
sequenceDiagram
participant U as 利用者
participant L as Microsoft Lists
participant D as リストデータ
U->>L: 「完了」ビューを選択
L->>D: 状態=完了の条件で表示対象を取得
D-->>L: 条件に合うアイテム
L-->>U: 完了分だけ表示
Note over D: 元データ自体を別リストへ移動するわけではない
JSON Column Formatting: Start by changing "only the display"
JSON is a data representation that describes keys and values with "{ }". In Lists / SharePoint, JSON is used for column formatting, allowing you to customize the appearance without changing the stored values. Microsoft Learn also introduces column formatting as a mechanism to change how field data is displayed without altering the data itself.
Here is a minimal example.
{
"$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json",
"elmType": "span",
"txtContent": "@currentField"
}
What to look for?
@currentFieldrepresents "the value of the currently displayed column." This example simply displays that value as-is in a spanelement.
Success criteria
If the same characters as before applying the JSON are displayed and the stored value of the item has not changed, it is a success.
The meaning of changing one thing at a time
Once you get used to it, instead of pasting complex JSON all at once, add display elements or conditions one by one. Saving the JSON before making changes makes it easier to revert.
If combining with Power Automate, start with notifications
For example, for inquiry reception, you can create the following flow.
flowchart LR
A[Listsに問い合わせ登録] --> B[Power Automate<br/>トリガー]
B --> C[担当者へ通知]
C --> D[担当者が内容確認]
D --> E[Listsの状態を更新]
Start by trying read- and notification-centric flows, such as "notify when a new item is registered." Flows that automatically update or delete in bulk should be thoroughly tested on a test list before moving to production.
End users, administrative staff, and IT departments look at different aspects
End Users
Their operations mainly center around "where to enter data" and "viewing only completed items." Having too many views can cause confusion, so narrow them down to frequently used ones.
Administrative Staff
Reducing notation inconsistencies in ledgers is a major benefit. For example, in a contract renewal list, define the contract name, assignee, renewal date, and status as specific types. Keep free-form text fields to only what is truly necessary.
IT Department / Administrators
Beyond just the Lists interface, check SharePoint site owners, members, external sharing, Power Platform integration, and retention/information protection requirements. Be cautious about designing a system with a large number of complex, item-level permissions, as this makes operations difficult to manage later.
If designing columns using generative AI
「社内問い合わせ管理」をMicrosoft Listsで作ります。 必要な列を10個以内で提案してください。 各列について、列名 / 推奨する列の型 / 必須か / 必要な理由を表で出してください。 個人情報を不要に収集する列は提案しないでください。 最後に「最初は作らなくてよい列」も示してください。
Instead of applying AI suggestions directly to the production list, confirm whether the staff actually entering the data can realistically input it every time.
Checkpoints for Administrators to Confirm
The SharePoint site where the list exists and its owner
Site and list permissions
External sharing settings of the organization
Handling of connected services like Power Automate
Necessity of storing personal or confidential information
Scope and licensing when applying retention, DLP, information protection, etc.
Permissions for apps using APIs, Microsoft Graph, etc.
Common Misconceptions
"Since it is hidden in the view, permissions are also gone."This is not necessarily true. Views are fundamentally a mechanism for presentation and filtering, and should be considered separately from access control itself.
"Using JSON formatting changes the data."This is also not true. Column and view formatting are used solely for customizing the display.
"With E5, Lists itself becomes a high-performance version."Avoid this understanding as well. The difference between E3 and E5 should be confirmed as part of the overall Microsoft 365 licensing requirements.
Official Information / Primary Sources
Microsoft Lists is not just a tool for making tables look pretty. Designing in the order of "ensuring data has the same meaning regardless of who enters it," "presenting the same data differently based on roles," and "safely automating when necessary" makes the differences from Excel much easier to understand.
