Sync SharePoint
Sync documents from your SharePoint sites into Train so Centrus can answer questions from them. This guide covers connecting, choosing a site and library, picking what to sync, and keeping it up to date.
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Before you start
SharePoint is set up on the Integrations tab of Train. You need Train access to use it. Admins always have it, and an admin can give it to anyone else from Edit users and roles.
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Import and sync your Google Drive documents to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your files securely.
- Import documents from Google Drive
- Sync entire folders or select individual files
- Smart incremental sync preserves your tags
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
Import and sync your OneDrive documents to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your files securely.
- Import documents from OneDrive
- Sync entire folders or select individual files
- Smart incremental sync preserves your tags
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
Import and sync your SharePoint documents to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your sites and document libraries securely.
- Import documents from SharePoint sites
- Sync specific document libraries for AI analysis
- Access team sites and communication sites
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
Import and sync documents from your Dropbox.
Browse folders and tick any folders or files to sync to Centrus.
- Import documents from Dropbox
- Sync entire folders or individual files
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
Import and sync your Microsoft Teams conversations to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your Teams channels securely.
- Import conversations from Teams channels
- Create AI-searchable knowledge from chats
- Keep your team's shared knowledge accessible
- 1Train, in the menu on the left.
- 2The Integrations tab, next to Files.
- 3The SharePoint card. It reads Available until you connect.
The connection belongs to you rather than to the whole organisation. Centrus reads SharePoint through your own Microsoft 365 account, so it can only reach the sites and libraries you can already open, and the syncs you set up are listed for you alone. A colleague who wants to sync something else connects their own account. The files themselves are shared with the team in the usual way, through tags.
SharePoint and OneDrive are separate connections, even though both use a Microsoft sign-in, so connecting one does not connect the other. For files in your personal OneDrive, see Sync OneDrive.
Connect SharePoint
- 1Open Train, then the Integrations tab.
- 2On the SharePoint card, click Connect. Centrus takes you to the Microsoft sign-in page.
- 3Choose your work account, or sign in with it. Microsoft always asks which account to use, so pick the one that can open the sites you want to sync.
- 4Review the permissions Microsoft lists and accept them. Microsoft then returns you to the Integrations tab, where the card now reads Connected.
Import and sync your SharePoint documents to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your sites and document libraries securely.
- Import documents from SharePoint sites
- Sync specific document libraries for AI analysis
- Access team sites and communication sites
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
How to use SharePoint with Centrus
- Connect your SharePoint account to give Centrus access to your sites
- Select specific SharePoint sites you want to sync with Centrus
- Choose document libraries within those sites
- Optionally select specific folders or sync entire libraries
- Your documents will become available for AI to reference during conversations
- Sync libraries whenever you add new documents you want Centrus to access
Privacy note: Centrus only accesses sites and libraries you explicitly select
- 1Connect opens the Microsoft sign-in page.
- 2Learn More opens a short summary of how SharePoint works with Centrus.
Microsoft lists what Centrus is asking for: permission to read the sites you can access, access to the files you can open, and permission to keep that access so syncs can run while you are away. Syncing only reads from SharePoint. It never changes, moves or deletes anything there.
Some organisations only let their Microsoft 365 administrators approve new apps. In that case Microsoft asks for an administrator's approval instead of showing the permissions, and your IT team needs to approve Centrus before you can connect. If the card still reads Available when you come back, the connection did not complete, so click Connect again and check that you chose the right account.
Choose a site and library
Once you are connected, the card asks for two things in turn: a site, and then a document library within that site.
- 1Open the SharePoint Site list and choose a site. Each site shows how many folders and files sit at the top level of its libraries, which helps you tell the busy sites from the quiet ones.
- 2Open the Document Library list and choose a library. Libraries show the same counts, and a library with nothing in it is marked (empty).
1Choose a site
Import and sync documents from your SharePoint sites.
Select a site and document library, then tick folders or files to sync.
SharePoint Site
2Then a document library
Import and sync documents from your SharePoint sites.
Select a site and document library, then tick folders or files to sync.
SharePoint Site
Document Library
The site list includes every site your account can open that has at least one folder or file in a document library, sorted from A to Z. Centrus leaves out the sites Microsoft creates for its own use, such as the app catalogue and restored backups, and any site whose libraries are all empty, even if it has pages. If a site that holds files is missing, follow it in SharePoint, then reload Train: sites you follow are always added to the list.
The counts only cover the top level of each library, so a library with three folders can still hold hundreds of files. Some sites also keep their files in a library with its own name, such as Manuals or Policies, and leave the default Documents library empty. The counts make that easy to spot before you choose.
Choose what to sync
Sync Options, near the foot of the card, decides what the main button does. There are three choices, and the card changes to match:
- Full Site Content reads the site's pages and the items in its lists, such as announcements, and saves them as one text file named after the site, for example Operations - Full Site Content.txt. The button reads Sync Full Site. Despite the description on the card, it does not bring in the files from the site's document libraries.
- Site Pages Only reads just the site's pages into one text file, such as Operations - Site Pages.txt. The library list disappears and the button reads Sync Site Pages.
- Documents Only syncs files from the library you chose. The button reads Sync Library Root until you tick something, and Sync selected once you have. Despite its name, Sync Library Root brings in the whole library, subfolders included.
SharePoint Site
Document Library
Sync Options:
Full Site Content
Sync pages, lists, announcements, and all site content
Site Pages Only
Sync only site pages and their associated files
Documents Only
Sync files from document libraries
SharePoint Site
Sync Options:
Full Site Content
Sync pages, lists, announcements, and all site content
Site Pages Only
Sync only site pages and their associated files
Documents Only
Sync files from document libraries
SharePoint Site
Document Library
Files & Folders (tick folders to sync them entirely, or tick individual files - leave everything unticked to sync the whole library)
RefreshSync Options:
Full Site Content
Sync pages, lists, announcements, and all site content
Site Pages Only
Sync only site pages and their associated files
Documents Only
Sync files from document libraries
Sync Options starts on Full Site Content, which ignores the library and anything you tick. To bring in documents, choose Documents Only before you click the main button, or use the Sync selected button that appears under the folder list once something is ticked.
To sync particular folders or files rather than a whole library:
- 1Choose Documents Only under Sync Options.
- 2In the folder list, click a folder's name to open it. Files are listed first and folders after them, at every level.
- 3Tick each folder you want to sync in full, and tick any single files you want on their own. Ticking a folder does not tick what is inside it, but everything inside it is synced all the same.
- 4Click Sync selected, either in the bar under the list or at the foot of the card.
Import and sync documents from your SharePoint sites.
Select a site and document library, then tick folders or files to sync.
SharePoint Site
Document Library
Files & Folders (tick folders to sync them entirely, or tick individual files - leave everything unticked to sync the whole library)
RefreshSync Options:
Full Site Content
Sync pages, lists, announcements, and all site content
Site Pages Only
Sync only site pages and their associated files
Documents Only
Sync files from document libraries
Three new rows in Active Syncs
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Sync Group
Sync Group (1 file) • Technical Library • Manuals
Each ticked folder becomes its own sync. The ticked files sync together as one Sync Group.
- 1The folder list. Click a name to open a folder, and tick the folders and files to sync.
- 2The selection bar counts what you have ticked. Clear unticks everything.
- 3Documents Only has to be chosen for the main button to use your ticks.
- 4The main button now reads Sync selected, and does the same as the one in the bar.
Each ticked folder becomes a sync of its own, covering everything in it and in its subfolders. The files you ticked are synced together as one Sync Group, and each time you click Sync selected with files ticked, a new group is created. If you tick a file inside a folder you have also ticked, it is synced once, as part of the folder. A message at the top of the screen confirms what was synced, such as Synced 2 folders, 1 file.
The button shows a spinner while Centrus downloads and reads each file, so a large folder takes a while. Refresh, above the folder list, reloads it from SharePoint if you have just added something there, and clears your ticks.
Check your active syncs
Once you have synced something, a See Active Syncs button appears at the foot of the card with a count. Click it to see everything you sync from SharePoint, one row per sync. Back to Integration takes you back to the site and library lists.
Manage your active SharePoint folder syncs.
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag:Technical
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Policies
Health and Safety • Policies
Default tag:SOPs
Sync Group
Sync Group (3 files) • Riverside House • Documents
Full Site Content
Operations
Complete site content including pages, lists, and documents
- 1Location names the folder, library, Sync Group or site, with the site and library beneath it and any default tag.
- 2Status, the number of Documents in Train, and when the row last synced.
- 3The row's actions: re-sync, automatic re-sync, default tag, pause or resume, and remove.
- 4Resync All re-syncs every active row at once.
A folder sync shows a blue folder icon, and a library synced as a whole shows the library's name. A Sync Group has a grid icon and a plus sign that expands it to list its files and their tags. A Full Site Content or Site Pages Only row shows the SharePoint logo. Status reads Active, Paused or Error, and the Documents count for a folder or library includes the folder index file described under What syncs and what does not.
The list only shows the syncs you set up yourself. An admin cannot see or manage a colleague's SharePoint syncs here, although admins can see every synced file on the Files tab. A sync that ends up with no documents in Train is removed from the list automatically a few minutes later.
On a phone, the card fills the width of the screen and the table is wider than the card, so swipe the table sideways to reach the Documents, Last Sync and Actions columns. The bar under the table shows how far across you are.
Centrus
Manage your active SharePoint folder syncs.
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag:Technical
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Policies
Health and Safety • Policies
Default tag:SOPs
Sync Group
Sync Group (3 files) • Riverside House • Documents
Keep files up to date
Train does not watch SharePoint for changes. A sync copies what is there at the moment it runs, so you either re-sync by hand or set a sync to repeat on a schedule.
To re-sync one row, click its Re-sync folder button, the first of its actions. To re-sync every active row, click Resync All under the table. A re-sync of a folder or library compares each file with the copy in Train:
- new files are added, with the sync's default tag if it has one
- files that have changed in SharePoint are read again and keep their tags
- files that have not changed are left as they are
- files deleted from SharePoint, or moved out of the synced folder, are removed from Train.
A Sync Group re-reads the files you ticked when you created it. If one of them has been deleted in SharePoint, it is skipped and its copy stays in Train until you remove it. Full Site Content and Site Pages Only rows rebuild their text file from the site as it stands, keeping its tag.
To have a row re-sync on its own:
- 1In Active Syncs, click the clock on the row, labelled Automatic Re-sync.
- 2Choose a Re-sync interval: every 1, 2, 4, 8, 24 or 48 hours.
- 3Click Enable. The clock turns green while automatic re-sync is on.
Manage your active SharePoint folder syncs.
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag:Technical
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Policies
Health and Safety • Policies
Default tag:SOPs
Automatic Re-sync
Set up automatic re-syncing for this folder. Centrus will automatically check for changes and sync any new, updated or deleted documents at your chosen interval.
Fire panels
Re-sync interval
The sync will run automatically in the background. Your existing tags will be preserved.
Centrus checks for syncs that are due every 30 minutes, so a sync can run up to half an hour after its interval is up. The interval counts from the last sync, whether it ran on its own or you clicked re-sync. Automatic re-syncs use your connection, so they stop if you disconnect SharePoint, and they skip rows that are paused. To change the interval, open the clock again and click Update, or click Disable to turn it off.
Use automatic re-sync on folder, library and site rows only. On a Sync Group it does not re-read the files you ticked, and at present it removes the group's files from Train. Re-sync a group by hand with its Re-sync folder button instead.
Tag synced files
Synced files arrive without a tag, just like uploads, and Centrus only answers from files that carry a tag a chat is allowed to search. Until a file has a tag, only admins and the person who synced it can see it. Tag synced files on the Files tab in the same way as an upload. Upload files explains tagging one file, tagging several at once, and who can see what.
SharePoint also lets you give a sync a default tag, so that new files arrive already tagged:
- 1In Active Syncs, click the tag button on the row, labelled Set Default Tag.
- 2Choose a tag, or type a new name to create one.
- 3To tag the files this sync has already brought in, tick Also apply this tag to files already synced here that aren't tagged yet.
- 4Click Set default tag. The tag button turns green, and the row shows Default tag under its name.
Manage your active SharePoint folder syncs.
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag:Technical
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Policies
Health and Safety • Policies
Default tag:SOPs
Sync Group
Sync Group (3 files) • Riverside House • Documents
Default Tag
Choose a tag to automatically apply to any brand-new file pulled in the next time this folder is synced. Files that already exist here keep whatever tags they already have.
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag
This won't retroactively re-tag files that already have a tag. Existing files are tagged in the background after you close this, so it may take a little while before they show up with the new tag.
- 1The tag that every new file from this sync receives as its primary tag.
- 2Also tag the files already synced here that have no tag yet. Files that already carry a tag keep it.
Files already in Train are tagged in the background after you close the window, so give it a minute before you check. Re-syncs keep the tags you set by hand. To change or remove the default, open the tag button again and click Update or Clear default tag.
When a re-sync reads a changed file again, Centrus updates it for its primary tag. A second or third tag stays on the row but does not pick up the new version, so where several groups of people need the same SharePoint file, remove the extra tags and add them again after a re-sync that changed it.
Find synced files in Train
Synced files appear on the Files tab alongside everything else in Train, each with a small SharePoint logo beside its file icon. There are two quick ways to see them on their own.
The first is the Folders card. Open it and look under Cloud Folders, where SharePoint is listed with a count of every document you have synced from it, and each of your syncs sits beneath with its own count and the time it last synced. Click a sync to open a panel underneath with its path, its type and its files, or click SharePoint itself to see all of them together.
Manual Folders
Cloud Folders
SharePoint268Full Site Contentpaused15 days agoGoogle Drive41Policies23Path: Health and Safety/Policies
Type: library
Last synced: 1 day ago
Lone working.pdfRAMS template.docx- 1Each of your SharePoint syncs, with its document count and last sync time. A paused sync says so.
- 2The files from the sync you clicked. Tag, rename or delete them as you would anywhere else.
Cloud Folders only shows the syncs you set up yourself, and only those with at least one document in Train.
The second is the filter above the main list. Click Filter, then Source, then SharePoint to list every SharePoint file you can see, including any a colleague synced and tagged for you.
Zone 3 panel manual.pdfSharePoint Boilers Folder Index.txtGas Safe RAMS template.docxOperations - Full Site Content.txtLone working policy.pdfPause, resume or remove a sync
The last two actions on each row in Active Syncs control whether it keeps syncing:
- Pause sync stops the row from re-syncing, by hand or on its schedule, until you resume it. Its files stay in Train and Centrus keeps answering from them. While a row is paused, its re-sync, automatic re-sync and default tag buttons are greyed out.
- Resume sync sets the row back to Active. It is not available on a row whose status is Error. Re-sync that row instead, which tries again and sets it back to Active if it works.
- Remove folder sync, the red bin, stops the sync and deletes every file it brought into Train. Train asks you to confirm with Yes, remove. Nothing is deleted in SharePoint.
Manage your active SharePoint folder syncs.
Boilers
Technical Library • Manuals
Remove folder sync
This will stop syncing this folder and remove all its documents. Are you sure?
Full Site Content
Operations
Complete site content including pages, lists, and documents
Fire panels
Technical Library • Manuals
Default tag:Technical
Removing a sync cannot be undone. You can sync the same folder again later, but its files come back untagged, so you would need to tag them again. To stop syncing while keeping the files, pause the row instead.
What syncs and what does not
Train takes the same kinds of file from SharePoint as it does from an upload: PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx and .xls), CSV, text (.txt), Markdown (.md), HTML and audio (.mp3 and .wav). The folder list shows everything in each folder, so you can see what will be left out before you sync.
Synced into Train
.pdf.docx.xlsx.xls.csv.txt.md.html.mp3.wav
Left out
- PowerPoint, images and older Word files (.doc), marked Unsupported
- Video, which can be ticked but is skipped during the sync
- Any file whose extension is in capitals, such as .PDF
- Files Train cannot read, such as PowerPoint, images and older Word files saved as .doc, are greyed out with an Unsupported label, and their tick box is disabled.
- Video files can be ticked, but Train does not take video, so they are skipped during the sync.
- A file whose extension is in capitals, such as Report.PDF, is skipped too. Rename it in SharePoint to Report.pdf, then re-sync.
- Spreadsheets are converted into tables, one for each worksheet, and audio is transcribed. The transcription service takes files of up to 25 MB.
Skipped files do not produce a warning, and the confirmation message still appears. If a sync's Documents count is lower than you expected, check the folder for these file types first.
Every folder and library sync also adds a text file named after it, such as SharePoint Fire panels Folder Index.txt. It lists the folders in the sync and the files that synced, with their sizes, so Centrus can answer questions about where things are kept. It arrives untagged like any other new file and counts towards the Documents total, so tag it if you want Centrus to use it.
Disconnect
Disconnect, beside the main sync button, removes your Microsoft connection straight away. There is no confirmation step, and a message reads Integration disconnected.
Sync Options:
Full Site Content
Sync pages, lists, announcements, and all site content
Site Pages Only
Sync only site pages and their associated files
Documents Only
Sync files from document libraries
Import and sync your SharePoint documents to use with Centrus.
Connect with Centrus to access your sites and document libraries securely.
- Import documents from SharePoint sites
- Sync specific document libraries for AI analysis
- Access team sites and communication sites
- Keep your knowledge base up to date
- 1Disconnect ends your connection at once.
- 2The card returns to Available, while your synced files stay in Train.
Disconnecting does not remove anything from Train. The files you synced stay, with their tags, and Centrus keeps answering from them, but nothing re-syncs, automatic re-syncs included. Your syncs are kept as well, and they reappear under See Active Syncs when you connect again.
To take SharePoint files out of Train, remove each sync from Active Syncs before you disconnect, because the list is only there while you are connected. Afterwards, you would have to connect again or delete the files yourself on the Files tab.
The same tab connects other sources: Sync Google Drive, Sync OneDrive, Sync Dropbox and Sync Microsoft Teams.
Storage
Every file synced from SharePoint counts towards your organisation's storage limit, and so do the folder index files and the site text files. A file counts once at its original size, plus once more for each extra tag. The Small Team plan includes 1 GB and the Large Team plan includes 10 GB. Because syncs are personal, two people who sync the same folder create two copies in Train, and both count.
The Sources bar at the foot of the Integrations tab shows how much is used, and it turns red at 90 per cent. When a sync would take you past the limit, the files that do not fit are skipped without a warning, so check the bar before a large sync. To make room, remove syncs you no longer need, or see Add-ons for extra storage.
