3 reasons you need to understand SharePoint User Profiles

In case you are a SharePoint Admin for your organization and are not familiar with SharePoint User Profiles functionality, you probably need to spend some time familiarizing yourself with it and getting intimate with it. While you might not need to use the feature right away in your portal, you might/will need it eventually. There are a few reasons why you might need it. Let me explain.

What are SharePoint User Profiles?

Instead of me trying to explain to you what a User Profile is and how it works (it gets very technical and is beyond my expertise), I would like you to get the info from the pros. Please check out this excellent post from another consultant, Jeremy Thake, who had already done a great job explaining the complicated mechanics in this post.

Why you need SharePoint User Profiles

Reason 1: Manage User Delve Profile

You can use the User Profile to tweak personal info of a given user. Say Jane from HR does not know how to add her photo or phone number in her profile. As a SharePoint Administrator, you can do this for her.

A screenshot of the primary User Profiles page in SharePoint Online

A screenshot of the individual User Profiles page where user info can be updated

Reason 2: Manage Delve Properties

When you access Delve, you see almost Facebook-style User Page with contact info, projects, skills, etc. The user can populate specific fields and make some of them either public or private. Say Jane from HR does not want her phone number or birthday information to be displayed on her Delve profile page. As a SharePoint Administrator, you make it happen. To learn how to do this, read this post.

Reason 3: Access user’s OneDrive account

Did you have an employee leave the organization – but you want to retain their OneDrive documents for historical purposes? As an Admin, you can give access to their OneDrive to anyone within your organization. I wrote a detailed post on the topic some time ago – please click here for step-by-step instructions.