Accidentally deleted SharePoint home page: How to recover it

SharePoint offers a vast array of different tools and features to both manage content and share files among members of a group or external members of a group that have been given access to content within your site. Content within a site is categorized by pages, documents, and folders which are also used to actively create and manage the site. Like on websites, the pages can be categorized from the home page to product pages and more. But what happens when you delete a page that is assigned as a homepage?

If you delete your home page, you will be presented with either a 404 not found error, or “This site can’t be reached.”

Your site will fail to load and you will be stuck without access to your site. However, denied access doesn’t mean your site or its contents are deleted. You have simply deleted the access portal to your site, therefore preventing search engines from accessing the content. Follow the steps below to see how you can restore a deleted home page and make your site work once again.

Step by step process – Accidentally deleted SharePoint home page: How to recover it

  • First, log into your Microsoft 365 account.
  • Enter the following address into your browser’s search bar:
  • https://[your-sharepoint].sharepoint.com/sites/[your-site]/_layouts/15/AdminRecycleBin.aspx
  • Replace [your-sharepoint] with your SharePoint address, typically your tenant name.
  • Replace [your-site] with the name of the site you are trying to access.
  • In the Recycle bin, select or right-click the deleted Home.aspx file.
  • Then click “Restore” at the top or select “Restore” from the popup menu.
  • If your site’s homepage is still not working, go to “Pages” in the left menu.
  • Right-click the restored Home.aspx file.
  • Then select “Make homepage” from the popup menu.

Please continue reading for a visual, step-by-step guide on how to recover a deleted SharePoint home page.

How to prevent the homepage from being deleted again: SharePoint

All good the steps above have helped you to assign a new page as a home page, however, how can you prevent this from happening again, how can you keep your site pages secured and prevent colleagues from deleting them again and causing a repeat of this error which can be quite inconveniencing especially on a busy schedule. Well, we have you covered with the steps below so you can ensure pages are restricted from deletion. You may need to disable permissions from your own settings as well if you as an admin have a similar habit of deleting pages.

Step by step process – How to prevent homepage from being deleted

  • First, sign into Office 365.
  • Use the app launcher and navigate to “SharePoint”, and click on it.
  • In SharePoint go to the Site where your files are located.
  • Go to “Settings” > “Site permissions”.
  • Create a permission level that does not allow you to manage your website.
  • Finally, give people that you don’t want to remove the site the custom permission level.

In depth – Step by step process – Accidentally deleted SharePoint home page: How to recover it

If you click on the site with the missing homepage, you will see either a 404 not found error, or “This site can’t be reached.” A simple solution is to head directly to the Recycle bin to recover the deleted homepage.

  • Enter the following address into your browser’s search bar: (1)
https://[your-sharepoint].sharepoint.com/sites/[your-site]/_layouts/15/AdminRecycleBin.aspx
  • Replace [your-sharepoint] with your SharePoint address, typically your tenant name.
  • Replace [your-site] with the name of the site you are trying to access.
  • In the Recycle bin, select or right-click the deleted Home.aspx file. (2)
  • Then click “Restore” at the top or select “Restore” from the popup menu. (3)
  • If your site’s homepage is still not working, go to “Pages” in the left menu. (1)
  • Right-click the restored Home.aspx file. (2)
  • Then select “Make homepage” from the popup menu. (3)

That’s it for this Blog thank you for taking time out to read our content, please feel free to email our team about how it went if you followed the steps or if you need more help with the questions we answered in this Blog.

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

Recent Posts