Replace the root site in SharePoint Online

When setting up a Microsoft 365 subscription, the root site URL for SharePoint Online is automatically provisioned based on the Company name you provide.

For example, in the screenshot below, the company name is AWLA NZ and the root site for SharePoint Online is https://awlanz.sharepoint.com. Once your subscription is set up, this URL cannot be changed.

This root site is a preferred destination for the company hub as it has a short, clean URL and is easy to remember.

As you create new SharePoint sites in your environment, they will have URLs with /sites/sitename at the end. For example https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/employeeportal.

As your SharePoint evolves, you may find that you have created a site that you would like to be your main hub. Although the SharePoint root site cannot be deleted, it can be replaced with another existing site. So, in this article we will walk through how to replace the root site in SharePoint Online from the Admin Center.

You will need to be either a Global or SharePoint admin to make this change.

1.  Navigate to the existing site you would like to be the new hub or create a new site

Note that the site needs to be either a Communication site or a Team site with no group. It also cannot be a hub site, so if it is currently a hub, you must unregister it first. You can re-register your site as a hub once this change has taken place.

2. Copy the URL of the site in Step 1.

3. Next, navigate to the SharePoint Admin Center and click on Active Sites.

4. Click on the checkbox next to the root site

(The one with just domain.sharepoint.com in the URL column)

5. Click the 3 dots at the top and select “Replace site”

6. On the next screen, paste in the URL of the site from Step 1 and click save.

This change can take a few minutes to perform.

Once it is complete, navigate to the root site URL to see your updated site.

The old root site will be archived so can still be accessed if needed from the SharePoint Admin Center.