You can modify item properties, except ID like this. public override void ItemAdding(SPItemEventProperties properties) { string mycol_internal = ""; using (SPWeb web = properties.OpenWeb()) { mycol_internal = web.Lists[properties.ListId].Fields["My Column"].InternalName; } properties.AfterProperties[mycol_internal] = "your new value"; //Update title with another column value etc properties.AfterProperties["Title"] = properties.AfterProperties[mycol_internal].ToString(); } [Source][1] OR, use ItemAdded where `properties.ListItem` is available. [1]: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/a27338c1-4a11-43f6-a270-8c6957ee64e3/problem-about-current-item-in-itemadding-reciever