How to Delete a SharePoint Site: Step-by-Step Guide

Before You Delete: Pre-Deletion Checklist

Before deleting any SharePoint site, make sure you’ve covered these critical steps:

• Confirm the site is no longer needed — check with site owners and active users
• Back up important content — download files or copy them to another location
• Check for active workflows — Power Automate flows connected to the site will break
• Review connected Teams — deleting a team site will affect the associated Microsoft Team
• Document the site URL — you may need it for redirect purposes
• Check retention policies — ensure no compliance holds prevent deletion

Method 1: Delete via SharePoint Admin Center

This is the recommended approach for SharePoint administrators.

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to the SharePoint Admin Center
2. Click Sites → Active sites in the left navigation
3. Find the site you want to delete
4. Select the site by clicking the checkbox next to it
5. Click Delete in the toolbar
6. Confirm the deletion

Permissions Required:

• SharePoint Administrator role
• Global Administrator role

Method 2: Delete from the Site Itself

Site owners can delete their own sites without admin access.

For Communication Sites:

1. Go to the site you want to delete
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) → Site information
3. Click Delete site
4. Confirm by typing the site URL or clicking confirm

For Team Sites:

1. Go to the site
2. Click gear icon → Site information
3. Click Delete site
4. Note: If connected to a Microsoft 365 Group, this will also delete the group

Method 3: Delete Using PowerShell

For bulk deletions or automation, use SharePoint Online Management Shell:

# Connect to SharePoint Online
Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com

# Delete a single site
Remove-SPOSite -Identity "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/OldSite" -Confirm:$false

# Delete a site and skip the recycle bin (permanent)
Remove-SPOSite -Identity "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/OldSite" -NoWait
Remove-SPODeletedSite -Identity "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/OldSite" -Confirm:$false

Method 4: Delete Using PnP PowerShell

PnP PowerShell offers a more modern approach:

# Connect
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com" -Interactive

# Delete site
Remove-PnPTenantSite -Url "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/OldSite" -Force

Recovering a Deleted Site

Deleted sites go to the Recycle Bin and can be recovered for 93 days.

Via Admin Center:

1. Go to SharePoint Admin Center
2. Click Sites → Deleted sites
3. Select the site
4. Click Restore

Via PowerShell:

Restore-SPODeletedSite -Identity "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/OldSite"

Permanently Deleting a Site

To permanently delete a site (bypassing the 93-day retention):

1. Delete the site using any method above
2. Go to Deleted sites in the Admin Center
3. Select the site
4. Click Permanently delete

⚠️ Warning: Permanently deleted sites cannot be recovered by any means.

Special Cases

Deleting a Hub Site

You must unregister the hub before deleting:

1. SharePoint Admin Center → Active sites
2. Select the hub site
3. Click Hub → Unregister as hub site
4. Then delete normally

Deleting a Site Connected to Teams

Deleting the SharePoint site will:

• Remove the document library used by the Team
• NOT automatically delete the Microsoft Team itself
• Break file tabs and wiki in Teams

Recommendation: Delete the Microsoft Team first (which removes the site), or delete both independently.

Deleting a Root Site

The root site (yourtenant.sharepoint.com) cannot be deleted in the traditional sense. You can perform a site swap:

Invoke-SPOSiteSwap -SourceUrl https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/NewRoot -TargetUrl https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com

Best Practices

1. Always back up first — even if the site seems unimportant, check for hidden data
2. Use the recycle bin — don’t permanently delete unless you’re absolutely sure
3. Set up redirects — if the site had external links, create a redirect to prevent 404 errors
4. Communicate the deletion — notify affected users before removing the site
5. Document the decision — keep a log of what was deleted and why
6. Check compliance holds — eDiscovery or retention policies may prevent deletion

FAQ

Q: How long do deleted sites stay in the recycle bin? A: 93 days from the date of deletion.

Q: Can I delete a site without being a site owner? A: Yes, SharePoint Administrators and Global Administrators can delete any site.

Q: Will deleting a site delete all its content? A: Yes — all documents, lists, pages, and subsites will be deleted. They can be recovered from the recycle bin within 93 days.

Q: Can I delete multiple sites at once? A: Yes, using PowerShell you can script bulk deletions. The Admin Center also allows selecting multiple sites.

Need help managing your SharePoint environment? Contact Al Rafay Consulting for expert SharePoint administration and consulting.