SharePoint 2019 Best Practices for Site Owners

You use SharePoint 2019 in your company and you’re wondering how to optimize its day-to-day management? Whether you’ve just been appointed as a site owner, you’re an IT manager, or you’re simply curious about improving the organization of your collaborative platform, you’re in the right place. Between permission management, content organization, and the security of sensitive data, SharePoint can seem complex at first. Yet, with the right best practices in place, managing a company site becomes not only simple, but also rewarding. In this article, we’ll explore together practical and proven strategies to turn your SharePoint site into a truly effective and secure collaboration tool. Whether your company has 20 or 2,000 employees, these practical tips will help you get the most out of your SharePoint 2019 investment.

Table of contents:

1. Understand your SharePoint 2019 site owner role
2. Build strong governance from day one
3. Master permission management
4. Handle access requests intelligently
5. Organize content with metadata
6. Versioning: your safety net
7. Secure sensitive data
8. Keep your site clean and high-performing
9. Train and support your users
10. Work with your SharePoint administrator

Understand your SharePoint 2019 site owner role

Before diving into technical aspects, let’s clarify one essential point: what exactly is a site owner? Unlike the SharePoint administrator who manages the overall infrastructure, you are responsible for your specific scope. Think of yourself as a department director rather than the company’s CEO.

Your main responsibility is to maintain an environment where your colleagues can collaborate efficiently while preserving information security. According to official Microsoft documentation, site governance is a key element in SharePoint 2019 to frame site creation, access management, and the content lifecycle.

In practice, you manage three main areas: permissions and security, content organization, and regular site maintenance. Each of these pillars requires specific attention and best practices that we’ll detail.

Build strong governance from day one

Governance isn’t just a buzzword to impress in leadership meetings. It is literally the difference between a high-performing SharePoint site and complete digital chaos.

Start by defining the rules of the game clearly. Who can create content? Who can edit or delete it? What are the naming conventions for documents? These questions may seem basic, but not answering them quickly leads to issues. A study mentioned in Microsoft resources on governance explains that a tailored governance plan can simplify product deployment and ensure the best return on technology investment.

For Swiss companies, governance must also take local compliance requirements into account, especially around data protection. Your governance plan doesn’t need to be a 100-page document that nobody reads. Aim instead for a few concise pages that cover the essentials: roles and responsibilities, security policies, content creation rules, and maintenance processes.

Think of your governance plan like a cooking recipe: too complicated and nobody will follow it, too vague and everyone will improvise their own way. The sweet spot is clear but pragmatic guidelines, aligned with your organization’s culture.

Master permission management

Ah, SharePoint permissions! This is probably the area that generates the most questions and… headaches. But don’t worry: once you understand the basics, everything becomes much smoother.

SharePoint 2019 works with a permission inheritance model. Picture a waterfall: permissions defined at the site level naturally flow down to libraries, then to folders, and finally to individual documents. This inheritance principle is your best friend because it greatly simplifies management.

The three default groups are your main tools: site owners (full control), members (can add and edit content), and visitors (read-only access). In SharePoint 2019 (on-premises), permission management relies exclusively on SharePoint groups and/or Active Directory, unlike SharePoint Online which is based on Microsoft 365 Groups.

A common mistake we see in companies? The temptation to break inheritance everywhere. Every time you break inheritance to create unique permissions, you add complexity. And complexity has a cost: not only in maintenance, but also in performance. Microsoft recommends drastically limiting the number of unique permissions. Beyond a few thousand, performance can already degrade, even if the theoretical technical limit is higher.

One recommendation? If you need to protect certain documents with specific permissions, create a separate library with its own permissions instead. It’s cleaner, more performant, and much easier to maintain over the long term.

Handle access requests intelligently

Let’s talk about a often overlooked aspect: access requests. By default, when a user doesn’t have access to content, they can send a permission request. But here’s the problem: if that request is sent to multiple site owners at the same time, everyone assumes someone else will handle it. Result? Nobody answers.

The solution? Configure a dedicated support email address to manage these requests. Some companies create addresses such as support-sharepoint@company.ch, managed by a dedicated team. This approach ensures every request receives a response within a reasonable timeframe.

Organize content with metadata

Now let’s move to a topic that can truly transform your site’s efficiency: using metadata. Too many companies still use SharePoint like a simple file server, with endless folders and subfolders. That’s a shame, because they miss out on one of SharePoint’s most powerful capabilities.

Metadata is the extra information you attach to your documents: document type, department, project, status, and more. Think of it as labels you stick on files to find them more easily. Instead of browsing through 15 folder levels to locate the right contract, you simply create a filtered view that shows all contracts from the legal department with a “approved” status.

To get the most value from metadata, create standardized content types. For example, a “Contract” content type could automatically include columns such as: Client, Signing date, Duration, Owner. Each time a new contract is added, these details are requested automatically. SharePoint best-practice experts recommend using metadata to support search and document classification rather than relying only on folder structures.

Versioning: your safety net

Imagine this: a colleague accidentally edits an important document and overwrites critical information. Without versioning, you’re stuck. With versioning enabled, you can simply restore the previous version in a few clicks.

Version control in SharePoint 2019 keeps a complete history of changes made to documents. You can configure how many versions to keep (for example, the last 50 major versions) and even require check-out before editing to avoid conflicts when multiple people work at the same time.

For Swiss companies subject to strict compliance obligations, versioning becomes even more critical. It helps demonstrate who changed what and when, which can be essential during audits.

Secure sensitive data

Data security is non-negotiable, especially in Switzerland where data protection requirements are high. Your SharePoint site likely contains sensitive information: HR data, financial information, strategic documents.

First, clearly identify what information is sensitive in your context. A good practice is to create separate libraries for content that requires stronger protection rather than mixing public and confidential documents in the same library.

Second, control external sharing. In a SharePoint 2019 on-premises environment, external sharing must be validated and configured at the infrastructure level by the IT team. It is not a simple share link like in SharePoint Online, but a setup that relies on Active Directory, federation mechanisms, and strict security rules.

Third, run regular security audits. Each quarter, review who has access to what, remove permissions for former employees, and eliminate unique permissions that are no longer needed. Consistent vigilance is your best protection against data leaks.

Keep your site clean and high-performing

A SharePoint site is like your desk: if you never tidy up, it quickly becomes a mess. Regular maintenance isn’t glamorous, but it’s essential.

Set up a content audit schedule. Every six months, review your main libraries and delete outdated documents. You’d be surprised how quickly sites become cluttered with presentations from projects completed three years ago or obsolete contract versions.

Also monitor your storage usage. SharePoint 2019 lets you check Storage Metrics to identify which libraries consume the most space. Often, a few large video files or multiple duplicates are the culprits. By identifying and cleaning them up, you free space and improve performance.

Your site navigation also deserves regular attention. Make sure all links work, that the quick links on your home page still point to relevant resources, and that the menu structure remains intuitive even as new content is added.

Train and support your users

You can configure the most technically perfect SharePoint site, but if your users don’t know how to use it properly, your efforts will be wasted. User adoption is a critical success factor.

Start by identifying training needs across different groups. Basic users need to understand navigation and document search. Contributors must master adding content and using metadata. And if you have other site owners in your organization, share best practices for site management with them.

Create a resources page directly on your SharePoint site. Include step-by-step guides with screenshots, an FAQ that answers common questions, and contact details for your support team. Centralizing this information helps users become more self-sufficient.

Also appoint a “site expert” who serves as first-level support. This person, familiar with SharePoint, can solve common issues and liaise with the SharePoint administrator for more complex cases.

Work with your SharePoint administrator

You’re not alone in this journey. Your SharePoint administrator is your ally for tasks that go beyond your site owner permissions.

Clearly understand the division of responsibilities. The administrator manages the overall infrastructure, web application-level settings, and server-side aspects. You manage your specific site. But there are grey areas where collaboration is needed, especially for adjusting storage quotas, global security settings, or sharing rules defined at the SharePoint farm level.

Communicate effectively with your IT team. Document issues precisely with screenshots, explain the business impact (not only the technical side), and follow established processes. A good relationship with the SharePoint administrator will greatly simplify your day-to-day work.

Conclusion

Managing a SharePoint 2019 site as a site owner means juggling several responsibilities: governance, permissions, content organization, security, and user training. But with the best practices we’ve covered, this role becomes not only manageable, but also rewarding. Remember that success is all about balance: enough control to maintain security and consistency, but not so much rigidity that collaboration is blocked. Start by establishing clear governance, prioritize permission inheritance, leverage the power of metadata, and never forget that your site exists to serve your users. With these solid foundations, your SharePoint site will become a true productivity engine for your Swiss company.

FAQ

How many site owners should I assign for my SharePoint 2019 site?

Microsoft recommends having at least two site owners, ideally full-time employees within your organization. This redundancy ensures that someone is always available to handle access requests and provide continuity. However, avoid having too many (more than 5), as it dilutes responsibilities.

What is the difference between breaking inheritance and creating unique permissions?

These two terms refer to the same thing. When you break inheritance, you create specific permissions that no longer follow the parent’s permissions. It is useful for protecting sensitive content, but should be used sparingly because it complicates management and can impact performance.

How can I identify who has access to a specific document in SharePoint 2019?

Select the document, click the information icon (i) in the top-right corner, then choose “Manage access”. You will see all users and groups with access and their permission level. For an overview of all unique permissions, go to Site settings > Site permissions.

How often should I perform a content audit on my SharePoint site?

A good practice is to perform a light monthly audit (access requests, new users, storage) and a deeper semi-annual audit (permission review, removing obsolete content). For very active sites or sites with sensitive data, a full quarterly audit is recommended.

Can I restore a deleted document in SharePoint 2019?

Yes! SharePoint 2019 keeps deleted items in the Recycle Bin for 93 days. Go to the site Recycle Bin, select the item, and click “Restore”. If the item has been deleted from the first-stage Recycle Bin, contact your SharePoint administrator to access the second-stage Recycle Bin.