SharePoint

Unable to modify SharePoint 2013 web part properties

I ran into a weird issue while working with SharePoint 2013 the other day.  I wasn’t able to edit the web part properties of any web parts on wiki pages.  When highlighting a web part in Edit mode, the Web Part Properties box was greyed out, and also there was no checkbox in the upper right corner of the web part to select, only a minimize button.  I was also logged in as the admin so I knew it wasn’t a permissions issue.

web-part-properties

A colleague mentioned that it might be a browser issue.  I checked and I was using Internet Explorer 11.  I tried the site in Chrome and everything worked fine, I could update my web part properties no problem.

Enabling compatibility mode in IE might fix the issue as well, although I didn’t try it.  I do seem to recall some other issues with SharePoint using IE11.  Have you run across any?  Please share in the comments.

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11 Comments

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  • This is obviously a browser issue nothing else, if you open it in chrome you will see web part properties working fine. This issue usually occurs when we are using IE 11 for SharePoint 2013.
    So far I’ve found the following problems.
    • Pages will not enter edit mode. You will click Settings > Edit Page and the page will simply refresh but will not change over into edit mode. Seems to only affect pages with Web Part Zones.
    • Web Part Properties cannot be modified. If you are able to get into edit mode (you can edit wiki pages) you will not be able to modify existing Web Parts by using the Web Part Properties panel. Instead you will see a really weird collapse button that looks like it is coming from the mobile view but you cannot modify web part properties… even through the ribbon controls.

    TO RUN IN COMPATIBILITY MODE

    Press ALT + T when viewing your SharePoint page
    Click Compatibility View Settings in the menu that appears
    Click Add to add the current SharePoint site to your list of compatibility view pages
    Click Close

  • Thanks Waseem for the additional clarification, and for instructions on how to enable compatibility mode. I’m sure this will be very helpful to others.

  • Hi Wendy, I’m just wondering what’s the version of your SharePoint server? have you upgraded your SharePoint with latest version of SP1 and CUs? if your SharePoint version was released before IE 11, it does make sense that it doesn’t support IE 11 officially..

  • Wendy, thanks for posting this link. Big time saver, I was able to configure the web parts properly after using chrome instead of IE.

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Wendy Neal

Wendy Neal

I am a .NET SharePoint Developer for DMI. I've worked with SharePoint since 2007. I love to share my passion for SharePoint and Office 365 by speaking at various industry and user group events, as well as writing articles for various publications and this blog.   Read More

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