The change of a Site Address in SharePoint is a feature that has been heavily requested for some time by partners and clients.
Adepteq, will take you through the different processes to change a site URL and if you would like to speak to us directly, about this or any other SharePoint question you have, please visit our contact us page.
As a global or SharePoint admin in your organisation, you can change the URL for the following types of sites (previously called “site collection”):
- Office 365 group-connected team sites
- Modern team sites that don’t belong to an Office 365 group
- Communication sites
- Classic team sites
You can change only the address of the site withing the URL, for example: https://adepteq.sharepoint.com/sites/projectx to https://adepteq.sharepoint.com/sites/projecty  You can’t change the domain (“adepteq” in the previous example) or any other part of the path. For example you can’t move the site from “/sites” to “/teams”.  It can take about 10 minutes to change the site address (depending on the size of the site), and the site will be read-only during this time. We recommend changing addresses during times when site usage is low.  You can change the address of up to 100 sites at a time. To change an additional site address, wait for another change to finish.
Communicate the address change to users
Before you change the address of a site, it’s important to communicate the change to site users (generally anyone with the ability to edit or view the site). This can help reduce user confusion and calls to your help desk. Review the effects of changing a site address and let users know the following information:
- When the change will happen
- What the new URL will be
- Users should close their files and not make edits during the address change
- Users should check the site recycle bin to make sure it contains no files they want to keep
- File permissions and sharing won’t change
Change a site address in the new SharePoint admin center
1. Sign in to https://admin.microsoft.com as a global or SharePoint admin to open the Microsoft 365 admin center. (If you see a message that you don’t have permission to access the page, you don’t have Office 365 administrator permissions in your organisation.)
2. In the left pane of the admin center, under Admin Centers, select SharePoint. (You might need to select Show all to see the list of admin centers.).
3. If the classic SharePoint admin center appears, select Open it now at the top of the page to open the new SharePoint admin center.
4. In the left pane of the new SharePoint admin center, select Active sites.
5. Click the site name to open the details pane.
6. In the Properties list, next to URL, select Edit.
7. Enter the new site address, and then select Save.
(Note: You can’t change the address of hub sites, sites that are locked or on hold, or of sites that have BCS connections.
When you change a site address, a redirect is created a the previous address. If you want to reuse the previous address, you need to delete the redirect.)
Change site addresses by using Microsoft PowerShell
1. Download the latest SharePoint Online Management Shell.
(Note: If you installed a previous version of the SharePoint Online Management Shell, go to Add or remove programs and uninstall “SharePoint Online Management Shell.”
On the Download Center page, select your language and then click the Download button. You’ll be asked to choose between downloading a x64 and x886 .msi file. Download the x64 file if you’re running the 64-bit version of Windows or the x86 file if you’re running the 32-bit version. If you don’t know, see https://support.microsoft.com/help/13443/windows-which-operating-system. After the file downloads, run it and follow the steps in the Setup Wizard.)
2. Connect to SharePoint Online as a global admin or SharePoint admin in Office 365. To learn how, see Getting started with SharePoint Online Management Shell.
3. Run the following command to verify that the site address can be changed:
[Start-SPOSiteRename -Identity <SiteUrL> -NewSiteUrl <NewSiteUrl> -ValidationOnly]
4. Run the following commange the change the site address:
[Start-SPOSiteRename -Identity <SiteUrL> -NewSiteUrl <NewSiteUrl> -ValidationOnly]
For more info about the cmdlet, see Start-SPOSiteRename
Effect of changing a site address
While change is in progress, the site is set to read-only, and a redirect is created. After the change is complete, users are redirected to the new URL if they’ve saved the site as a favourite or if they click a link to the site.
Permissions
People who have permission to access the site can access the site during and after the site address change.
Sharing links
After the site address is changed, sharing links will automatically redirect to the new URL.
Synced locations
The OneDrive sync app will automatically detect and seamlessly transfer syncing to the new site URL after the site address has been changed. Users don’t need to sign in again or take any other action. (Version 17.3.6943.0625 or later of the sync app required.) If a user updates a file while the site address is being changed, they’ll see a message that file uploads are pending during the change.
Recycle bin
Any files in the recycle bin will be lost when the site address is changed.
Recent lists in Office apps
The Word, Excel, and PowerPoint desktop apps and apps for the web will show the new URL after the change.
OneNote
If users have a notebook open during the site address change, they’ll see a notebook sync error. After the address is changed, the following OneNote apps will automatically detect and seamlessly sync notebooks to the new site URL.
Users don’t need to sign in again or take any other action.
Teams (for Office 365 group-connected sites)
After the site address is changed, users won’t be able to view the team’s files within the Teams app, but they can access them from Teams by selecting Open in SharePoint. This issue is actively being worked on and will be addressed soon.
SharePoint mobile apps for Android and iOS
The SharePoint mobile apps will detect the site’s new URL. Make sure that users have updated their apps to the latest version.
Apps
If apps in your organisation refer to the site’s URL, you might need to republish the apps when you change the site’s address.
Flow
Flows will need to be recreated after the site address change.
PowerApps
PowerApps will need to be recreated after the site address change.
Hub sites
If the site is associated with a hub, it will need to be reassociated after the site address is changed.
InfoPath forms
InfoPath forms that refer to URLs might not work after the site address is changed.
SharePoint workflow 2013
SharePoint workflow 2013 will need to be re-published after the site address is changed.
Site customisations and embedded code
Site customisations and embedded code that refer to URLs might need to be fixed after the site address change. Changing the site address will preserve data stored in SharePoint but won’t change URL dependencies in custom solutions.
Further Assistance
Should you require any further assistance regarding SharePoint, whether it’s Development or Support, don’t hesitate to contact us to arrange a one-to-one call.
