Finding the Id (Guid) for a SharePoint List

There are times when you need to find the Id (a Guid) of a list – for example, when setting the Task list to be used with SharePoint Designer Workflows (see my blog post here). Here’s a simple way of doing this:

• Navigate to the SharePoint list using the browser.
• Select the Settings + List Settings menu command.
• Copy the Url from the browser address bar into Notepad. It will look something like:

http://moss2007/ProjectX/_layouts/listedit.aspx?List=%7B26534EF9%2DAB3A%2D46E0%2DAE56%2DEFF168BE562F%7D

• Delete everying before and including “List=”.
• Change “%7B” to “{”
• Change all “%2D” to “-“
• Chnage “%7D” to “}”

You are now left with the Id:

{26534EF9-AB3A-46E0-AE56-EFF168BE562F}

Update: See Ken’s Comment for a simpler solution (thanks!):

A (slightly) easier way if you have MOSS 2007 is to go to the List or Library settings as described above, then right-click on the “Audience targeting settings” or “Information management policy settings” links and choose Copy Shortcut.

You can then paste the URL and there’s no need to decode the GUID. For some reason these links aren’t URL encoded.

Update: These techniques work for SharePoint 2010 Standard/Enterprise editions as well. Using Ken’s tip does not work for SharePoint 2010 Foundation as these list settings options are not available so you’ll need to use my first suggestion in this case.

Update: And it works for SharePoint 2013 too!