Change a site's title, description, logo, and site information settings
Applies ToSharePoint Server Subscription Edition SharePoint Server 2019 SharePoint Server 2016 SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 admin SharePoint Server 2010 SharePoint admin centre

Once you've created a site in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 or SharePoint Server, you can make changes to the site's settings, such as the name, logo, description, privacy level, and site classification, as well as service limits and permissions for the site.

The descriptions in this topic are based on Microsoft SharePoint sites built using standard user interface components. If your admin or site designer has radically changed the look of your site, you may not see the same thing presented here. For more information, see your SharePoint administrator.

To make changes to the logo, title, description, and other settings you must have owner or designer permissions on the SharePoint site. For more info, see Managing site permissions.

You can change the logo, title, and other settings for SharePoint in Microsoft 365 team or SharePoint 2019 communication sites.

  • When you create a new team or private channel in Microsoft Teams, a team site in SharePoint gets automatically created. To edit the site description or classification for this team site, go to the corresponding channel’s settings in Microsoft Teams

  • Learn more about managing Microsoft Teams connected teams sites

Change the title, description, and other site information for your SharePoint in Microsoft 365 team or communication site

If you don't see Site information, you might not have permissions to customize the SharePoint site name and description. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you. For more info, see managing site permissions.

  1. Select Settings, and then select Site information.

    Settings panel open with site information highlighted.

  2. Make changes to the following fields, as necessary:

    • Site name (required)

    • Site description 

    • Hub site association: Select a SharePoint hub site to associate with your existing site.

    • Sensitivity: Indicate the type of information that your site will contain and its level of confidentiality. This label will appear in the upper-right of your SharePoint site.

    • Privacy settings (Team sites only): Select if you only want members to access your site, or anyone in your organization.

    The site information panel.

    If the Hub site association option is greyed out or no sites are listed there, you may not have permission to associate sites with a hub site or your organization may not be using hub sites.  Partner with your SharePoint administrator to set up your SharePoint hub site.

    A sensitivity setting higher than general will automatically default your privacy settings to private.

  3. When finished making your edits, select Save.

SharePoint offers several site templates that contain pre-populated pages, page templates, news post templates, and web parts that can be customized to fit the needs of your organization.

  1. Select Settings, and then select Apply a site template.

    Settings with Apply a site template highlighted.

  2. In the Select a template window, select the template you want.

    Preview selection of site templates provided by Microsoft.

  3. A preview of the template with additional information will appear. Select Use template to apply the template to your site.

    Preview window of a selected Microsoft site template.

Refer to the article on applying and customizing SharePoint site templates for more information.

Site permission levels are based on SharePoint permission groups. Members of a SharePoint permission group can either visit the site without editing it (Site visitors), edit the site (Site members), or have full control of the site (Site owners).

  1. Select Settings, and then select Site permissions.

    Settings with Site permissions highlighted.

  2. Here you can add members and manage permission levels, sharing permissions, and guest expiration.

    List of SharePoint site permissions with Site members expanded.

  3.  If you have additional groups or people that you'd like to give permissions to the site, select Advanced permissions settings.

See Sharing and permissions for more information.

To give people access to your site, you can either add members to the Microsoft 365 group associated with the site, or you can share the site with others without adding them to a Microsoft 365 group. For more information on site permissions, see Understanding permission levels in SharePoint.

If you are a site owner, you will see a link for Advanced permission settings where you can configure additional SharePoint permission settings. For more information, see Understanding permission levels in SharePoint.

  1. Select Settings, and then select Site permissions.

    Settings with Site permissions highlighted.

  2. Select Add members and select one of the following options:

    Add members button showing a drop-down list.

    Add Members to Group to add members to the Microsoft 365 group associated with your site (preferred method). After making this selection, the Group membership for the site will display. Select Add members, enter a name or email address, and select Save. Members added to the Microsoft 365 group are added to the SharePoint Site members permission group by default and can edit the site. They also have full access to the Microsoft 365 group resources such as group conversations, calendar, etc.

    Group membership displaying current members.

    Share Site Only to share the site with others without adding them to the Microsoft 365 group associated with the site. Enter a name or email address, select the down arrow to select the SharePoint permission level, and then select Add. Sharing the site gives users access to the site, but they won't have access to the Microsoft 365 group resources such as group conversations, calendar, etc.

    Share site panel with member being added.

To change the permission level for an individual or group, select the down arrow next to the SharePoint permission level for that person or group and select Full Control to add them to the Site owners group, or Read to add them to the Site visitors group.

Switching a members SharePoint site permissions.

  • To view all members of the Microsoft 365 group associated with your site and their SharePoint permission levels, select members at the top right corner of your site.

  • Members highlighted.

By changing the permission level of a member that is currently part of a Microsoft 365 group, you can change the level of control they have on your site without removing them from the Microsoft 365 group.

  1. Select members at the top right corner of your site.

    Members highlighted.

  2. Select the down arrow next to the member to change and select a permission level.

    Selecting permission levels or remove from group.

In SharePoint in Microsoft 365, to remove someone who isn't a member of the Microsoft 365 group associated with your site:

The Remove option is only available for individuals that aren't part of the Microsoft 365 group.

  1. Select Settings, and then select Site permissions.

    Settings with Site permissions highlighted.

  2. Select the down arrow next to the permission level for the member to remove.

    List of site permission levels.

  3. Select the down arrow next to the member to remove and select Remove.

    Switching a members SharePoint site permissions.

     If a member is removed who was added using Share site only, and is also part of a Microsoft 365 group, they will still retain their permissions from the Microsoft 365 group.

In SharePoint in Microsoft 365, to remove someone who is a member of the Microsoft 365 group associated with your site:

The Remove from group option is only available for individuals that are part of the Microsoft 365 group.

  1. Select members at the top right corner of your site.

    Members highlighted.

  2. Select the down arrow next to the permission level for the member to remove and select Remove from group.

    Selecting permission levels or remove from group.

     If a member is removed who was part of a Microsoft 365 group, but was also added using Share site only, they will still retain their permissions as an individual.

  • The most common problem with trying to change settings is not having the correct permissions. If you aren't sure what your permissions are, check with your SharePoint, network, or Microsoft 365 administrator.

  • If you have permissions, be sure of the version of SharePoint that you're using. For more info, see Which version of SharePoint am I using? If your site was built with an older version of SharePoint, it may be using the classic look. To change logo, description, or other settings, select the 2016 tab. SharePoint classic experience uses the same user interface for settings as SharePoint 2016.

You change the logo, title, and other settings on SharePoint Server 2016. For SharePoint team or communication sites, select the Modern tab.

Change the title, description, and logo for your SharePoint Server site

As owner, or user with full control permissions, you can change title, description, and logo for your SharePoint Server site.

  1. Go to your site.

  2. In the top right corner, select Settings Settings icon, or in top left, select Site Actions Button image.

  3. Select Site Settings.

    Site settings option under the Settings button
  4. Under Look and Feel, select Title, description, and logo. Site Settings with Title, description, logo selected

  5. Update the Title field. Add or edit the optional Description for the site.

    Title, description, and logo settings page
  6. Fill in an optional description or Alt text. Select OK to save

Site permission levels are based on SharePoint permission groups. Members of a permission group can either visit the site without editing it (Site visitors), edit the site (Site members), or have full control of the site (Site owners).

To give people access to your site, you can either add members to a group associated with the site (preferred method) or you can share the site with others without adding them to a group.

To invite people to your site, you invite people using the site Share button. For more info, see Share a site.

To add people with a group, you can create a group, or use a pre-existing one and add members to that group. Groups provide varying levels of permissions that everyone in the group has, so it's easier to manage a number of users and what access they have. For more info, see Create and manage SharePoint groups.

To change the permission level for an individual or group, select the down arrow next to the permission level for that person or group and select Full Control to add them to the Site owners group, or Read to add them to the Site visitors group.

To view all members of the Microsoft 365 group associated with your site and their permission levels, select members at the top right corner of your site.

To remove someone from a group associated with your site, follow these steps:

  1. Go to your site.

  2. In the top right corner, select Settings Settings icon, or in top left, select Site Actions Button image.

  3. Select Site Settings.

    Site settings option under the Settings button
  4. Under Users and Permissions, select Site permissions.

    Users and permissions menu item
  5. In Site permissions, select the group you want to remove a member from.

  6. Select the user you want to remove.

  7. Select Actions, and then select Remove Users from Group.

  8. Select OK.

For more information on how permissions work and the settings you can use, see Understanding permission levels in SharePoint.

  • Some functionality is introduced gradually to organizations that have set up the targeted release options in Microsoft 365. This means that you may not yet see this feature or it may look different than what is described in the help articles.

  • Group-connected team sites have different customization options. See Customizing SharePoint team sites for more information.

  • Groups cannot be hidden from address lists in order to enable corresponding SharePoint site logo to be edited.

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