Document library keeps forgetting its settings

Question

I have a document library on a SPO site which I need to customize.

I want it to have the following settings:

• Require content approval for submitted items? Yes
• Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited? No
• Display this list using the new or classic experience? Classic experience

I can make these changes, and they work for a few minutes. However, after a little while, the settings always revert back to their default values (no content approval, checkout required, default experience for the site).

Is there a way to "lock" these settings in place so that they won't be changed? If not, is there any way to access a record of who or what is changing these settings, so I can figure out what's going on? Maybe some admin is running an automated process across the tenant that makes these changes?

Answer 1

In my tests, I couldn't reproduce your problem. After I set the configuration, SharePoint will automatically retain my settings and will not revert back to their default values.

You can run the below powershell command as an admin to define library settings.

#Config Variables
$SiteURL = "https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename"
$LibraryName = "XXX"
 
#Connect to Site collection from PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials (Get-Credential)
 
#Enable Content Type
Set-PnPList -Identity $LibraryName -EnableContentTypes $True

Set-PnPList -Identity $LibraryName -ForceCheckout $false

Set-PnPList -Identity $LibraryName -ListExperience ClassicExperience

If you still have a similar situation after running the powershell command, I suggest you open a service request on the Microsoft 365 admin center to get more professional help.

Answer 2

I am assuming that you are changing all of the above settings with a SPO Admin account, or at least an account that has Owner permissions.

You could try changing the settings by utilising a PowerShell Script, an example of which you can find here

But, since you have seen some strange behaviour in your tenant, best you can do is open a ticket with MS. Unfortunately, they are the ones that might provide a better answer as to what is happening, since its a SaaS product.