"Sorry, something went wrong" error message when you save a SharePoint Online site as a template

Problem

Consider the following scenario:

  1. You open the Solution Gallery in the Solutions area of SiteSettings in Microsoft SharePoint Online.

  2. You change the Require content approval for submitted items? setting to Yes.

  3. When you try to save the site as a template, you receive the following error message:

    Sorry, something went wrong
    
    An unexpected error has occurred.
    

Solution

To work around this issue, change the Require content approval for submitted items? setting to No, and then save the site as a template. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Browse to the SharePoint Online site in which you received the error message.

  2. Click the gear icon for Settings, and then click Site settings.

  3. In the Web Designer Galleries section, click Solutions.

  4. On the ribbon, click the LIBRARY tab, and then click Library Settings.

  5. Click Versioning Settings.

  6. In the Content Approval section, set Require content approval for submitted items? to No, and then click OK.

  7. Save the site as a template.

  8. Re-enable content approval on the Solution Gallery after the template is successfully created, if it's necessary.

Note

Any site that was created by using this template has the Require content approval for submitted items? setting set to No. You may have to enable this setting for a site that you created from the template, if it's necessary.

More information

This is a known issue in SharePoint Online.

Note It's currently not supported to save a modern site as a template.

Still need help? Go to SharePoint Community.