Customize the navigation on your SharePoint site

Add a link to the navigation menu on a team site

1. For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the vertical navigation.
   
   For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the horizontal navigation.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover in between the existing links in the menu where you want to add a link and select ⁠+⁠ .

   

3. On the Add dialog box, choose one of the following link options:

   • Link will add a link to any site, internal or external to your company. Just enter the address and a display name for the link.
     
   • Label will add text to your navigation menu that is not hyperlinked. A label is useful if you want to organize or categorize your links.
   • Conversations will add a link to the Microsoft 365 group conversations associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Calendar will add a link to the Microsoft 365 group calendar associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Notebook will add a link to the OneNote notebook associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Planner will add a link to the Microsoft Planner instance associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Select the Open in a new tab checkbox to have the link open in a new browser tab.

4. Then, select OK .

You can also add a page to the menu from the Site Pages list by selecting Pages from the navigation menu or accessing the Site contents under Settings .

1. In Site Pages , select the page you want to add.

   

2. Select Add to navigation . When you navigate away from the Site Pages list, your changes will appear in the navigation menu.

Add a link or label to the navigation menu on a communication site

1. Select Edit to the right of the navigation menu.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover in between the existing links in the menu where you want to add a link and select ⁠+⁠ .

   

3. On the Add dialog box, choose one of the following link options:

   • Link will add a link to any site, internal or external to your company. Just enter the address and a display name for the link.
     
   • Label will add text to your navigation menu that is not hyperlinked; useful if you want to add a reminder within the navigation menu or categorize for your links.
   • Select the Open in a new tab checkbox to have the link open in a new browser tab.

4. In the Address box, enter the URL for the link you want to add if adding a link.
   To add a link to a page, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the page you want to add a link to.
   2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
   3. Paste the URL into the Address box.

5. In the Display name box, enter the display text that will show up on the navigation menu.

6. Select OK . The link will be added to the navigation menu.

7. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Add a link to the hub site navigation bar

1. Select Edit to the right of the hub site navigation bar.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the hub site navigation bar. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the hub site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover in between the existing links in the menu where you want to add a link and select ⁠+⁠ .
   

3. On the Add dialog box, choose one of the following options:

   • Link will add a link to any site, internal or external to your company. Just enter the address and a display name for the link.
     
   • Associated hubs will add links to hub sites associated to the same parent hub.
   • Associated child hubs will add links to child hub sites associated to the same parent hub site, if available.
   • Label will add text to your navigation menu that is not hyperlinked. This is useful if you want to add a reminder within the navigation menu or categorize for your links.
   • Select the Open in a new tab checkbox to have the link open in a new browser tab.

4. In the Address box, enter the URL for the link you want to add if adding a link.

   To add a link to a page, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the page you want to add a link to.
   2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
   3. Paste the URL into the Address box.

5. In the Display name box, enter the display text that will show up on the navigation menu.

6. Select OK . The link will be added to the navigation menu.

   Note

   You can add up to 2 levels of sub links to the hub site navigation bar by accessing ⁠...⁠ next to your links.

7. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

   Note

   Navigation layout for hub navigation leverages the same setting as the site navigation.

Add or edit links and labels in the footer on a communication site

The following communication site shows a footer that's been added. Labels and links appear on the right side of the footer. When you add labels and links to your footer, they follow the Edit link and appear to the right.

1. On your site, select Edit on the right side of the footer ( Edit appears on your footer after you've turned the footer control on). You can add one level of up to eight links or labels.

   Note

   The site footer feature is only available on communication site pages. This feature is not available for list pages, library pages, or other pages on your site.

2. Select ⁠+⁠ just above the buttons on the navigation menu.

   

3. On the Add dialog box, choose one of the following options:

   • Link will add a link to any site, internal or external to your company. Just enter the address and a display name for the link.
     
   • Label will add text to your navigation menu that is not hyperlinked. This is useful if you want to add a reminder within the navigation menu or to categorize your links.
   • Select the Open in a new tab checkbox to have the link open in a new browser tab.

4. In the Address box, enter the URL for the link you want to add if adding a link.

   To add a link to a page, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the page you want to add a link to.
   2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
   3. Paste the URL into the Address box.

5. In the Display name box, enter the display text that will show up on the navigation menu.

6. Select OK . The link will be added to the footer.

7. To edit an existing link or label, after selecting Edit on the right side of the footer, select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to edit.
   

8. On the menu, choose one of the following options:

   • Edit to change the link or label.
   • Move up or Move down to change the order that the link or label appears on the footer.
   • Remove to delete the link or label from the footer.

9. When done making your changes, select Save

Target navigational links to specific audiences

1. Select Edit within the navigational menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. At the bottom of the Edit navigation pane, select the toggle for Enable site navigation audience targeting . When enabled, audience targeting will apply to all menus on the site including hub and footer menus.

3⁠. Select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to edit, and select Edit .

4⁠. In the Audiences to target box, enter up to 10 Microsoft 365 groups or security groups to target.

5⁠. Select OK when you are done editing the link and an icon will confirm the links are being targeted.

6⁠. Select Save when you are done or select Cancel to discard changes.

Edit the display name or address for a menu link

1. Select Edit within the navigational menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. Select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to edit.

3⁠. Select Edit .

4⁠. Make your changes in Display name and Address , and when you are done editing the menu link, select OK .

5⁠. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Change the order of menu links

1. Select Edit within the navigation menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. You can drag and drop menu items to reorder them. Select the menu item that you want to move, drag it to the new location, then release.

3⁠. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Create sub links on the menu

This creates an indented link under another link. You can add up to 2 levels of sub links to a vertical menu, a horizontal menu, or to the hub site navigation bar. When adding a sub link, create the link where you want it to appear and then make it a sub link of the one above it.

1. Select Edit within the navigational menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. Select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to make a sub link.

3⁠. Select Make sub link .

4⁠. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Move a sub link up to a primary link on the menu

This moves an indented link out from under another link.

1. Select Edit within the navigational menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. Select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the sub link that you want to promote to a primary link.

3⁠. Select Promote sub link .

4⁠. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Remove a link from the menu

1. Select Edit within the navigational menu.

• For a vertical navigation menu, select Edit at the bottom of the menu.

• For a horizontal navigation menu, select Edit to the right of the menu.

  Note

  If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2⁠. Select the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to remove.

3⁠. Select Remove .

4⁠. When finished customizing the navigation, select Save or, to discard changes, select Cancel .

Show/Hide the navigation menu for a SharePoint in Microsoft 365 team site

If you have owner or admin permissions, you can show or hide the navigation menu for your team site.

1. Select Settings , and then select Change the look .

   

2. In the Navigation settings, select the toggle to turn Site navigation visibility on or off.

   

Classic SharePoint experience site navigation

If you've enabled the publishing feature on your classic SharePoint experience site, the vertical menu will show links to modern experience lists or libraries if you've added them to your classic experience site in addition to showing items from the term store. For more information, see Enable managed navigation for a site in SharePoint and Enable publishing features .

Add a link to the left-hand menu on a team site

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover over the location in the menu where you want to add a link and click ⁠+⁠ .

3. On the Add a link dialog box, choose one of the following link options:

   • URL to add a link to any item, internal or external to your company. Just enter the address and a display name for the link.
     
   • Conversations to add a link to the Microsoft 365 group conversations associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Calendar to add a link to the Microsoft 365 group calendar associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Notebook to add a link to the OneNote notebook associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.
   • Planner to add a link to the Microsoft Planner instance associated with the team site. Just enter a display name for the link. The address is automatically added and cannot be edited.

   Then, click OK .

4. You can also add a page to the menu from the Site Pages list. Select Pages from the left-hand menu, select the page you want to add, and then click ⁠...⁠ either next to the page in the list or in the top navigation bar.
   
   Click Add to navigation .
   

5. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Add a link to the top menu on a communication site

1. Click Edit to the right of the top menu.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover over the location in the menu where you want to add a link and click ⁠+⁠ .

3. On the Add a link dialog box, in the Address box, enter the URL for the link you want to add if adding a link.
   To add a link to a page in the left-hand menu, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the page where you want to add a link.
   2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
   3. Paste the URL into the Address box

4. In the Display name box, enter the display text for the link. This is the text that will show up on the menu. Then, click OK .

5. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Add a link to the hub site navigation bar

1. Click Edit to the right of the hub site navigation bar.
   

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the hub site navigation bar. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the hub site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover over the location in the menu where you want to add a link and click ⁠+⁠ and then the down arrow.
   

3. On the Add a link dialog box, in the Address box, enter the URL for the link you want to add.
   To add a link to a page, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the page you want to add a link to.
   2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
   3. Paste the URL into the Address box.

4. In the Display name box, enter the display text for the link. This is the text that will show up on the menu.
   Then, click OK .

   Note

   You can add up to 2 levels of sub links to the hub site navigation bar.

5. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Edit the display name or address for a menu link

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu on a team site or to the right of the top menu on a communication site, hub site, or hub site navigation bar..

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Click the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to edit.

3. Click Edit .
   

4. When you are done editing the link, click OK .

5. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Change the order of menu links

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu on a team site or to the right of the top menu on a communication site, hub site, or hub site navigation bar..

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Click the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to move.

3. Click either Move up or Move down .
   

4. Repeat these steps until the link is in the desired position.

5. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Create sub links on the menu

This creates an indented link under another link. You can add up to 2 levels of sub links to the left-hand menu of a team site, to the top menu of a communication site, or to the hub site navigation bar. When adding a sub link, create the link where you want it to appear and then make it a sub link of the one above it.

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu on a team site or to the right of the top menu on a communication site, hub site, or hub site navigation bar.

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Click the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to make a sub link.

3. Click Make sub link .
   

4. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Move a sub link up to a primary link on the menu

This moves an indented link out from under another link.

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu on a team site or to the right of the top menu on a communication site, hub site, or hub site navigation bar.

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Click the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the sub link that you want to promote to a primary link.

3. Click Promote sub link .
   

4. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Remove a link from the menu

Some links, such as Recycle Bin are system links and can't be removed.

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu on a team site or to the right of the top menu on a communication site, hub site, or hub site navigation bar.

   Note

   If you don't see Edit , you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Click the ellipses ( ⁠...⁠ ) next to the link that you want to remove.

3. Click Remove .

   Note

   You can't remove the Recycle bin link at this time.

   

4. When finished customizing the navigation, click Save or, to discard changes, click Cancel .

Show/Hide the navigation menu for a SharePoint in Microsoft 365 team site.

If you have owner or admin permissions, you can turn the left-hand menu off for your team site.

Turn the left-hand menu on or off for a SharePoint in Microsoft 365 team site

1. Click Settings , and then click Site Settings . If you don't see Site settings , click Site information and then click View all site settings . On some pages, you might have to click Site Contents and then click Site Settings on the top right menu.

2. Under Look and Feel on the Site Settings page, click Navigation Elements .

   

3. Check or clear the Enable Quick Launch setting to turn it off or on, and then click OK .

   

Classic SharePoint experience site navigation

If you've enabled the publishing feature on your classic SharePoint experience site, the left-hand menu will show links to modern experience lists or libraries if you've added them to your classic experience site in addition to showing items from the term store. For more information, see Enable managed navigation for a site in SharePoint and Enable publishing features .

Editing links in SharePoint Server 2016

To get started editing the links on your site, click one of the EDIT LINKS options on the page.

	1 . To change the links in the Top link bar, click EDIT LINKS to the right of the menu. 2 . To change links in the Left-hand menu (also known as Quick launch bar), click EDIT LINKS beneath the menu.

Add a link by dragging an app from Site Contents to the Quick Launch or the Top link bar

1. Click Settings , and then click Site contents .

2. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to add a link.

3. Click the app you want to add, and then drag it to where you want it to be on the Quick Launch or Top link bar.
   

4. Click Save .

   

Add a link by entering the URL to the Quick Launch or Top link bar

To add a link to another site, type in the URL.

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to add a link.

2. Click + link .

3. Enter a display name for the link and a target location, making sure you include the http:⁠//.

4. Click OK to add the new link to the Quick Launch or Top link bar.

5. Click Save .

   

Rename or remove a link on the Quick Launch or Top link bar

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to edit a link.

2. Rename: Click directly on the link you want to rename and start typing the new name. Click outside the name, and then click Save .

3. Remove: Click the X corresponding to the link to remove it from the navigation panel, then click Save .

   

Renaming a link doesn't affect the page address or URL that the link references, only the menu.

Use drag and drop to change the order of links

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar depending on the location of the link that you want to move.

2. Select the link that you want to move, and then drag it to its new position in the navigation area.
   To indent or create a sub link, drag the link under and slightly to the right of the link you want as the top link.

3. Repeat these steps for each link you want to move.

4. When finished, click Save .

   

Show subsites or inherit parent site navigation (available for sites with publishing features)

For sites in site collections where publishing features are enabled, you have more navigation options to choose from, including showing subsites and displaying the same navigation as a site's parent site navigation (also called inheriting parent navigation). If you don't see these options, check with your site administrator.

1. On the site where you want to change navigation settings, click Settings , and then click Site settings .
2. On the Site Settings page, click Look and Feel , and then click Quick Launch or Top Link bar ..
3. Choose options for the Quick Launch or Top Link bar, for example, to show subsites or to display the same navigation as the parent site (inherit parent navigation).

More about navigation bars and site navigation

The links that appear on the left side of your site are called Quick Launch links . By default, Quick Launch includes links to recent items as well as important items like lists and libraries. The links at the top, in the Top Link bar , typically show subsites under your site.

Quick Launch

When you create a new list or library, a new link appears automatically under Recent on Quick Launch . Only the five newest links appear in the Recent section.

Top Link bar

You can also customize the navigation links on the Top Link bar of your site to change capitalization, rearrange the order, or add links to the subsites that users visit most often.