---
title: "How To Create a Custom Searchable User Profile Property"
description: "Create a custom user profile property in SharePoint Online and make it searchable, so it can be used as an extra attribute in the Vitextra Employee Directory web part."
url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/how-to/create-searchable-user-profile-property
language: en
published: 2021-08-28
modified: 2026-10-22
products:
  - "Employee Directory"
---

# How To Create a Custom Searchable User Profile Property

**Tools:** Microsoft 365 Admin Center, Vitextra Employee Directory

The property pane of the Employee Directory web part, Employee Details section, where the new managed property is selected as a custom attribute.

## 1. Open SharePoint Admin Center

![Open SharePoint Admin Center](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step1-en.png)

Open [Microsoft 365 Admin Center](https://admin.microsoft.com/AdminPortal/Home#/alladmincenters) and select **SharePoint** in the list of admin centers.

## 2. Open User Profiles Settings

![Open User Profiles Settings](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step2-en.png)

In the SharePoint Admin Center, go to **More features** and select **Open** under the **User profiles** heading.

## 3. Open the List of User Properties

![Open the List of User Properties](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step3-en.png)

Select **Manage User Properties** under the **People** heading.

## 4. Create a New User Profile Property

![Create a New User Profile Property](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step4-en.png)

Click **New Property** on the command bar to open the new property form.

## 5. Configure the User Profile Property

![Configure the User Profile Property](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step5-en.png)

Set the **name** and **type** of the new property.

📝 **Note**  
You cannot change the type of a user profile property after it has been created — pick the closest matching type (string, choice, date, and so on) carefully before saving.

To make the property searchable, make sure the following settings are configured:

**Default Privacy Settings** — **Everyone**:

![Default Privacy Settings](50004/step5-display-settings.png)
*Default Privacy Settings*

Check **Indexed**:

![Indexed Custom Property](50004/step5-indexed.png)
*Indexed Custom Property*

To show the property on the user profile in Delve, also check:

- **Show in the Profile Properties section of the user's profile page**
- **Show on the Edit Details page**

![Display Settings of User Custom Property](50004/step5-display-settings.png)
*Display Settings of User Custom Property*

## 6. Open Search Settings

![Open Search Settings](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step6-en.png)

In the SharePoint Admin Center, go to **More features** and select **Open** under the **Search** heading.

## 7. Open Search Schema Settings

![Open Search Schema Settings](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step7-en.png)

Select **Manage Search Schema** under the **Search** heading.

## 8. Create a New Managed Property

![Create a New Managed Property](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step8-en.png)

Select **New Managed Property** on the toolbar.

## 9. Map the Managed Property to the New Profile Property

![Map the Managed Property to the New Profile Property](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step9-en.png)

Once the new indexed public user profile property is created, the crawler automatically creates a crawled property related to it. To retrieve the stored data and search by the property value, you need to create a new managed property mapped to that crawled property.

📝 **Note**  
It typically takes 15 minutes to 4 hours for the new property to appear in the list of crawled properties — if you cannot find it right away, wait and try again later rather than assuming something went wrong.

Set the **name** and **type** of the managed property, and check the following fields:

- **Searchable**
- **Queryable**
- **Retrievable**

Click **Advanced Searchable Settings** and set the **Full-text index** property to **PeopleIdx**:

![Managed Property. Advanced Settings](50004/step9-advanced-settings.png)
*Managed Property. Advanced Settings*

Click **Add a Mapping**, find the crawled property, and select **OK**:

![Managed Property. Mapping](50004/step9-mapping.png)
*Managed Property. Mapping*

Click **OK** to save the changes.

## 10. Use the New Custom Attribute

![Use the New Custom Attribute](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/50004/create-searchable-user-profile-property-Step10-en.png)

Wait until the SharePoint Search crawler picks up the new managed property.

💡 **Tip**  
It may take up to 24 hours for the search schema to update fully. If the attribute does not appear right away in the Employee Directory configuration, that delay — not a configuration mistake — is usually the reason.

Once the new managed property is available, you can reference it as a custom attribute for the Employee Details pane. For a full walkthrough of the details pane configuration, see [KB10199. Customize Employee Details Pane](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10199).

Custom searchable properties let Employee Directory reflect exactly the attributes your organization cares about — not just the built-in ones. The steps above only need to be repeated when you introduce a brand-new attribute; once a property is indexed and mapped, every subsequent Employee Directory instance in the tenant can use it immediately, without any extra setup.