SharePoint List View Lookup Threshold

With the release of SharePoint 2010, resource throttling was introduced at the web application level to limit the number of items a list view (database query) can process in a single request, as well as to limit the number of lookup columns a single view can utilize at one time.

By default, List View Lookup threshold is set to 8.

To view the settings page for

Central Admin -> Application Management -> Manage Web Applications -> Select the web application -> General Settings -> Resource Throttling

As per TechNet,

“Each lookup column in a list view causes a join with another table. Each additional lookup column in a view increases the complexity of metadata navigation and list view queries. In addition to standard lookup columns, single-value managed metadata, multiple-value managed metadata, single-value people and group columns, and multiple-value people and group columns count as lookup columns. Adding lookup columns to a view does not cause a gradual or linear decrease in performance, rather performance is somewhat stable until after eight columns when it rapidly degrades.”

In short, all the below column types are considered towards list view look up threshold:

- Standard lookup columns

- Single-value managed metadata columns

- Multiple-value managed metadata columns

- Single-value people and group columns

- Multiple-value people and group columns

Note

As the number of look up columns increases beyond the default value in a list, you will come across performance issues in your farm.