SharePoint 2016/2013/Online - How Download SharePoint List Item Attachments

Downloading list item attachments is normally required when we are dealing with migration scenarios and sometimes for custom backups.

In this article, we will explore PowerShell to download the list item attachments.

In order to setup this demo, I have created a list and added 1 list item with some of the attachments, as shown below.

Also I have one folder in the local machine as shown below:

In the upcoming section, we will do the step by step code analysis to get a better understanding of the core functionality.

Step 1

In this step, we will initialize the SharePoint Client Context by passing required credentials.

Step 2

In this step, we will initialize the SharePoint List Object by referencing it using current Client Context and setting up the disk location where the attachments will get downloaded.

Step 3

In this step, we will first check the status of any pending request in the queue, and if there is any pending query, then first execute it.

Step 4

In this step, we will read the file from SharePoint List Item Attachments collection & save it to the disk location as specified in Step 2.

Step 5

In this step, finally, we will call the “DownloadListItemAttachments” Function that will execute the logic we have seen in the above steps.

Once you execute the PowerShell, it will ask you for the credentials as per the SharePoint Hosting Environment (On Premise or Online).

Provide the required credentials.

If the PowerShell script executes successfully, it will download all the attachments in the disk location as shown below.

During the real production scenarios, it is always advisable to keep all attachments of a specific item in a separate folder governed by a proper naming convention to support smooth tracking of the contents later on.

That is all for this demo.

Hope you find it helpful.