Broken links in SharePoint

Concept

Links in SharePoint documents, pages, web parts and metadata that no longer reach their target, for example after a site address change, a move or a deleted redirect.

Description

A broken link points to an address that no longer works. In SharePoint this often happens when an address changes. Microsoft Learn explains what then happens to links:

When a site address is changed, SharePoint creates a redirect at the previous address. People who saved the site as a favorite or select a link to the site are sent to the new address, and sharing links redirect automatically. Embedded addresses are not updated, though: "Any embedded URLs in any SharePoint web parts (News, List, etc.) won't be updated and may break." Custom solutions keep their old address dependencies, Power Apps custom forms must be recreated, SharePoint 2013 workflows must be republished, and a site must be connected to its hub site again.

A redirect stays until someone deletes it. After deletion, requests to the old address are no longer forwarded, and bookmarks, links and "Shared With Me" references stop working. A site cannot be renamed this way if it is a hub site.

The Microsoft Learn pages checked for this entry describe how addresses change and when links break. They do not describe a general tool for finding broken links in SharePoint Online; vendors such as Cognillo offer their own tools for that.

Sources (Microsoft Learn, checked in November 2026): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/change-site-address , https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/manage-site-redirects

Related topics in brief

• SharePoint · Related to · Product
  Microsoft 365's platform for intranets, document libraries and team sites. Most files shared in Teams are stored in SharePoint, so its permissions directly decide what Copilot can find.
• SharePoint migration · Related to · Concept
  Moving content from file shares, other cloud services or older SharePoint Server versions into SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365. The content is copied; the source files are not deleted.
• SharePoint sharing links · Related to · Concept
  Links created with the Share option in SharePoint and OneDrive that grant access to a file or folder, with scopes such as anyone, people in the organization, people with existing access or specific people.
• SharePoint hub sites · Related to · Concept
  SharePoint feature that groups related sites into a flat cluster with shared navigation, branding and search scope; associating a site with a hub does not change its permissions.
• SharePoint document libraries · Related to · Product
  Document libraries are the SharePoint containers for storing, organizing and co-editing files, with columns for metadata, custom views and permissions at library, folder or file level.
• SharePoint Essentials Toolkit · Related to · Product
  Cognillo tool for SharePoint administrators and site owners: reports on permissions, oversharing and sharing links, a broken link monitor, content tools, SharePoint-to-SharePoint migration, metadata reports and scheduled exports.

Glossary

Experts and companies for this topic

Nobody has listed this topic yet. Add it to your profile.

Experts on related topics

• Mirko Peters ✔ · via SharePoint

Maintained by Mirko Peters (Microsoft MVP) · Last updated: 2026-11-11