Default connectors in SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: 2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365

The crawler uses connectors to connect to content repositories. In previous SharePoint Server products, connectors were known as protocol handlers.

Default connectors reference

The following table lists the connectors that by default are installed in SharePoint Server, and to which content repositories they connect.

Connector	Content repository
Bcs	Business Connectivity Services (internal protocol)
Bcs2	Business Connectivity Services URLs (internal protocol)
File	File shares
http	Web sites
https	Web sites over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Notes	Lotus Notes databases
Rb	Exchange public folders for versions prior to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Rbs	Exchange public folders over SSL for versions prior to Exchange Server 2003
Sps	People profiles in Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003
Sps3	People profiles in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Sps3s	People profiles in Office SharePoint Server 2007 over SSL
Spss	People profiles in SharePoint Portal Server 2003 over SSL
Sts3	Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 sites
Sts3s	Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 sites over SSL
Sts4	Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, and SharePoint Server 2016 sites
Sts4s	SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, and SharePoint Server 2016 sites over SSL