How to Delete a Sharepoint Site?
To delete a SharePoint site, you need to be a site owner and, for communication sites, also a site administrator. For team sites, the team site owners are automatically site admins. If you don’t see the delete options, your administrator may have disabled this ability, or you might not have the necessary permissions.
Here’s how to delete a SharePoint site, depending on your version and interface:
For Modern SharePoint Sites (SharePoint in Microsoft 365) – Communication and Team Sites:
- Navigate to the site: Go to the specific communication or team site you want to delete.
- Go to Site Information:
- Click the Settings gear icon (usually in the top right corner).
- Select Site information.
- Note: If you don’t see “Site information”, you might need to go to Site settings first (if visible) and then look for “Site information” or proceed to the “Delete this site” option there.
- Delete the site:
- At the bottom of the “Site Information” panel, click Delete site.
- For group-connected team sites: You might see a checkbox that says, “Yes, delete this group and all its associated resources.” If you want to delete the associated Microsoft 365 group (which includes the Outlook mailbox, calendar, and Teams channels), check this box.
- Click Delete to confirm.
For Classic SharePoint Sites (or earlier versions of SharePoint in Microsoft 365):
- Navigate to the site: Go to the specific site or subsite you want to delete.
- Go to Site Settings:
- Click the Settings gear icon (usually in the top right corner).
- Select Site settings.
- Note: If you don’t see “Site settings”, you might need to click Site contents first and then Site settings. In some cases, you might see “View all site settings” under “Site information”.
- Delete this site:
- Under the Site Actions heading on the “Site Settings” page, click Delete this site.
- Note: If you don’t see “Delete this site”, you likely don’t have the necessary permissions.
- Confirm deletion: On the “Delete This Site” page, verify that you are deleting the correct site and click Delete.
For SharePoint Server 2019:
- The process is similar to modern SharePoint. Navigate to Settings > Site information > Delete site.
Deleting a Subsite:
- The process is generally the same as deleting a regular site. Navigate to the subsite, go to Settings > Site information (or Site settings) > Delete this site (or Delete site).
Important Considerations:
- Permissions: You must have the necessary permissions (site owner and sometimes site admin) to delete a site. If the “Delete site” or “Delete this site” option is missing, contact your SharePoint administrator.
- Content Deletion: Deleting a site will permanently delete all content within it, including document libraries, lists, data, site settings, history, and any subsites. Make sure to back up any important information before deleting the site.
- Associated Microsoft 365 Groups: When deleting a modern team site connected to a Microsoft 365 group, you have the option to delete the entire group and its associated resources. Be cautious when doing this.
- Hub Sites: Sites associated with a hub can be deleted like any other site. You don’t need to unregister them first.
- Root Site: Deleting the root site of your organization is not recommended.
- Recycle Bin: When you delete a site, it is usually moved to the SharePoint Recycle Bin (and then the Site Collection Recycle Bin) where it can be restored by a SharePoint administrator for a limited time (typically 30-93 days, depending on configuration). Deleted sites in the Recycle Bin do not count towards your organization’s total storage usage.
- Permanent Deletion: To permanently delete a site and remove it from the recycle bin, a SharePoint administrator needs to do this through the SharePoint Admin Center or using PowerShell.
If you cannot delete a site:
- Check your permissions: Ensure you are a site owner and, if it’s a communication site, a site admin. You can check your permissions in Site settings > Site permissions.
- Contact your SharePoint administrator: If you have the necessary permissions and still cannot see the delete options, your administrator might have disabled the ability for site owners to delete sites.
Always inform site users and subsite owners before deleting a site so they can move any necessary data.Sources and related content