May 28, 2026

How to Delete a SharePoint Site (2026)

Sharepoint Microsoft 365 Admin How-to Cleanup Productivity

Deleting a SharePoint site sounds simple, but if it’s a team site it takes the Microsoft 365 Group, the group mailbox, the Planner board, the OneNote notebook, and any connected Microsoft Team with it. Here’s how to do it cleanly — and how to back out if you change your mind.

Before You Delete: Three Things to Check

What’s on the site that nothing else owns? Document libraries, lists, pages, and historical news posts disappear with the site. If anything is important, move or download it first.
Is this a team site or a communication site? Team sites are tied to a Microsoft 365 Group — deleting the site deletes the group, the shared mailbox, Planner, OneNote, and any Microsoft Team. Communication sites have none of those, so the blast radius is smaller.
Is anyone else an owner? As a courtesy, give them a heads-up.

Step 1: Open Site Information

On the SharePoint site, click the gear icon in the top right.
Click Site information.

The Site information panel opens on the right.

Step 2: Click “Delete site”

Scroll to the bottom of the panel and click Delete site.

A confirmation dialog opens.

Step 3: Read the Warning Carefully

The dialog lists exactly what’s being deleted. For a team site that’s usually:

The SharePoint site and everything in it
The connected Microsoft 365 Group
The group’s shared mailbox and calendar
The group’s Planner plan
The group’s OneNote notebook
The connected Microsoft Team (if any)
Stream videos, Forms, and Yammer/Viva Engage connections tied to the group

For a communication site, only the site itself is deleted.

Check the “Yes, delete the site” confirmation box.

Step 4: Click Delete

Click Delete. SharePoint removes the site within a minute or two.

It’s not gone for good — it lands in the site recycle bin for 93 days.

Restore a Deleted Site (Within 93 Days)

If you change your mind:

Go to the SharePoint admin center (admin.microsoft.com > Show all > SharePoint).
In the left nav, click Sites > Deleted sites.
Find the site, select it, and click Restore.

The full site, group, mailbox, Planner, OneNote, and Team come back. The 93-day clock starts the moment you delete — after that, it’s gone.

You need to be a SharePoint administrator or global admin to restore. A site owner alone can’t.

Permanently Delete a Site (Before 93 Days)

If you need to hard-delete a site immediately — for example, for a compliance request:

Open the SharePoint admin center > Sites > Deleted sites.
Select the site.
Click Permanently delete in the toolbar.

This skips the recycle-bin retention period and frees up the URL right away.

Troubleshooting

”Delete site” is grayed out

You’re a member, not an owner. Ask an owner (or a SharePoint admin) to delete it.

A site I deleted isn’t in the recycle bin

Check the deleted sites list in the SharePoint admin center, not the per-site recycle bin (which is for files only). If the 93 days have passed, it’s been permanently purged.

Deleting the site broke a Microsoft Team

Expected — a team site and its connected Team share the same Microsoft 365 Group. Delete the site, and the Team’s files and tabs go too. To keep the Team alive, archive or leave the team rather than deleting the SharePoint site.

The URL is “in use” when I try to recreate the site

Even after deletion, the URL is reserved for 93 days. Either restore the deleted site and rename it, permanently delete it from the admin recycle bin, or choose a new URL.

Quick Reference

Goal	Where
Delete a site	Gear icon > Site information > Delete site
Restore (within 93 days)	SharePoint admin center > Sites > Deleted sites > Restore
Permanently delete now	SharePoint admin center > Sites > Deleted sites > Permanently delete
See what else gets deleted	Read the confirmation dialog — it lists every connected resource

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