SharePoint News Layout – “Unformatted” Option Now Forcing Thumbnail Image

Question

SharePoint News Layout – “Unformatted” Option Now Forcing Thumbnail Image

Caroline F 25

Hello,

We’ve noticed a change in the behavior of the “Unformatted” layout option when creating news posts in SharePoint. Previously, selecting “Unformatted” would display the news item in a clean list format without a thumbnail image, which was ideal for using news posts as brief notifications.

However, it now appears that even the “Unformatted” layout forces a thumbnail image to appear in the news feed, which undermines the purpose of using this layout for minimalistic or notification-style posts.

Could you please confirm if this is an intentional update or a bug? And is there a workaround or setting that allows us to suppress the thumbnail image when using the “Unformatted” layout?

Thank you in advance for your help.

0 kommentarer

Svar godkänt av frågeställaren

AceRobertT 14,460

Hello Caroline. You're not alone in noticing these changes. Microsoft has recently adjusted the behavior of SharePoint's News layout and thumbnail images in some subtle but significant ways. The Unformatted layout, which had clean, text-only capabilities, now defaults to a thumbnail image in the news feed. This change seems part of a much broader enhancement to achieve visual consistency across all layouts, and is most likely preparation for upcoming header/footer enhancements and AI driven sections on pages.

While it hasn't officially been noted by Microsoft to be a bug, they also haven't provided a toggle to turn off thumbnails within the "Unformatted" layout. At the moment, there is no native functionality to remove the thumbnail whatsoever. One workaround would be to apply a transparent or very minimal image as the thumbnail (which would meet the requirement of the layout but would be non-intrusive), or explore the use of the Compact layout, which would have less weight with the presentation of thumbnail images, but still appears to provide thumbnails in most views.

Here's the reference: https://windowsreport.com/sharepoint-sites-new-header-and-footer-enhancements-will-start-rolling-out-soon/

Note: I am providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link.

Best regards,

Caroline F 25 Ryktespoäng

2025-08-26T14:31:46.8233333+00:00

It's incredibly disappointing that Microsoft doesn't seem to recognize the user value in this type of news content. Instead of supporting flexible, purpose-driven formats like the unformatted layout, which served a vital role for concise push-style announcements, they're pushing generic templates that fail to meet the real-world communication needs of many organizations.

That said, thank you for taking the time to respond to my question, even if it didn’t lead to a solution at this time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Microsoft reconsiders its decision to enforce the thumbnail image in the unformatted layout as well.

2 ytterligare svar

Ditt svar

Caroline F 25 Ryktespoäng

2025-08-26T14:31:46.8233333+00:00

It's incredibly disappointing that Microsoft doesn't seem to recognize the user value in this type of news content. Instead of supporting flexible, purpose-driven formats like the unformatted layout, which served a vital role for concise push-style announcements, they're pushing generic templates that fail to meet the real-world communication needs of many organizations.

That said, thank you for taking the time to respond to my question, even if it didn’t lead to a solution at this time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Microsoft reconsiders its decision to enforce the thumbnail image in the unformatted layout as well.

Answer 1

Joy S 0

Thank you for this post! Our organization is experiencing the same frustration. Historically, we've used the unformatted layout for our posts without an image, which worked well for our content and audience. However, now the platform requires an image. This change is creating visual inconsistency, as older posts remain image-free while newer ones are forced to include one.

We’re curious if others have found a workaround or received clarification from Microsoft. Is this a permanent update, or possibly a glitch? I hope Microsoft revises this "feature" soon!

Caroline F 25 Ryktespoäng

2025-10-03T07:41:07.5+00:00

Thank you for your response, Joy! It's reassuring to see that others are experiencing the same issue with the latest update. We also hope that Microsoft somehow takes note of this so that the unformatted format once again becomes truly unformatted and without a thumbnail image. Our temporary solution has been to manually work with lists and text boxes – but that defeats the whole purpose, as our target audiences no longer function as intended, and the information we used for short notices was often aimed at a very specific audience.

Answer 2

Caroline F 25

It's incredibly disappointing that Microsoft doesn't seem to recognize the user value in this type of news content. Instead of supporting flexible, purpose-driven formats like the unformatted layout, which served a vital role for concise push-style announcements, they're pushing generic templates that fail to meet the real-world communication needs of many organizations.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Microsoft reconsiders its decision to enforce the thumbnail image in the unformatted layout as well.

0 kommentarer