How can I delete list columns that I cannot find in the settings?

Question

I am a user with full control of a Sharepoint site, yet I am having difficulty deleting certain columns from lists. I have a list that had the template migrated from another Sharepoint list. I confirmed that some of the lists in the new site have columns that were used in the old site, but are no longer being used, and would like to delete them. Strangely, I cannot find the option to delete any of these columns.

This is a screenshot of the view settings with columns I would like to delete: 

But I cannot find any of these columns in the list settings. Here are the list columns for the same list: 

It's possible the Rentention label is a Sharepoint default column and shouldn't be deleted, but I know for sure that AnnualNotice_Email and ItemPermissions AnnualNotice are Sharepoint workflows that are running in the original list (just not sure why they are duplicated). I've checked in the list workflow settings, but the workflows do not exist:

I'm trying to delete these columns but with no success. Am I missing an area during my search?

Answer 1

Thanks Alex. Unfortunately, I have some lists where recreating would not be an option as there are too many users and data. I also have Sharepoint Designer, so I'm not sure if there is a way through there to look through code to delete a specific column that might be hidden.

Answer 2

In classic mode, List settings > advanced > allow management of content types. Click the content type to see if any columns are required and hide any you don't want to display in forms. Remove them also from the list view.

Answer 3

Hi Caitlyn,

If recreate the list is not practicable, I think you can work around this like webbrewer3 suggested. Hide the columns and use a different view. Edit a list view in SharePoint Online

@webbrewers3, many thanks for your help.

Regards,

Alex

Answer 4

I looked at the content type before I made my post and the questionable columns do not display there either. It is only in List View Settings that the columns display.

I would rather have those columns deleted altogether instead of hidden. If another admin has to create a new view based off of this list, he/she will see these extra columns which do not explain anything. This will be very confusing for any future cases.

Content Type:

Answer 5

Hi Hi Caitlyn,,

If we cannot find the columns there are not entry to eidt them or delete them. So currently the options left for us is hide those columns and migrate the list to a new list. Maybe you can use a workflow to do this for you: Introduction to SharePoint workflow

Regards,

Alex