Create a site

This article describes how Global Administrators and SharePoint Administrators in Microsoft 365 can create sites (previously called "site collections") in the SharePoint admin center. For info about creating sites and adding users and groups to them by using Microsoft PowerShell, see Create SharePoint sites and add users with PowerShell.

For info about creating site collections in SharePoint Server, see Create a site collection in SharePoint Server.

Create a team site or communication site

  1. Go to Active sites in the SharePoint admin center, and sign in with an account that has admin permissions for your organization.

    Note

    If you have Office 365 operated by 21Vianet (China), sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center, then browse to the SharePoint admin center and open the Active sites page.

  2. Select Create.

    The Create button on the Active sites page.

    Tip

    If you go to Resources > Sites in the Microsoft 365 admin center and select Add a site, it opens Active sites in the SharePoint admin center in a new tab, and opens the Create a site panel.

  3. Select Team site (to create a Microsoft 365 group-connected team site), Communication site, or Other options to create a new team site without a Microsoft 365 Group.

    The Create a site panel.

  4. Follow the steps to specify a site name, owner, language, and other settings. When you're done, select Finish.

    Note

    If you enter a site name and another site already exists at the default address for that name, the site address will automatically be changed to an available address. For example, if you enter "Marketing" as the site name, and you already have a site at /sites/marketing, you will receive a warning This site address is available with modification and will be offered a new URL automatically at /sites/marketing2. If you want to re-use the URL "marketing" for the new site, you need to permanently delete the existing site or delete the redirect at that address.

Create a classic site

We recommend using the new site templates for all your new sites. However, if you need to create a site that uses a classic template, you can do so using the following steps:

  1. Go to Active sites in the SharePoint admin center, and select Create.

    The Create button on the Active sites page.

  2. At the bottom of the panel, select Other options.

    Image of the site creation panel with admin controls highlighted.

  3. Under Choose a template, select More templates.

    More templates in the Choose a template list.

    • In the Title box, enter a name for the site.

    • In the Web Site Address drop-down lists, select a domain name and a URL path—either /sites/ or **/teams/—and then type a URL name for the site.

    • In the Template Selection section, in the Select a language drop-down list, select a language for the site. You can enable the SharePoint multiple language interface on your sites, but the primary language for the site will remain the one you select here.

      Note

      It's important to select the appropriate language for the site, because once it's set, it cannot be changed. After creating a site, verify the locale and regional settings are accurate. (For example, a site created for Chinese will have its locale set to China.)

    • In the Template Selection section, under Select a template, select the template that most closely describes the purpose of your site.

      Tip

      For more information about the classic templates, see Using templates to create different kinds of SharePoint sites.

    • In the Time Zone box, select the time zone that's appropriate for the location of the site.

    • In the Administrator box, enter the user name of the person you want to be the site administrator. You can also use the Check Names or Browse button to find a user to make site administrator.

    • In the Storage Quota box, enter the number of megabytes (MB) you want to allocate to this site. Do not exceed the available amount that is displayed next to the box.

    • In the Server Resource Quota box, accept the resource quota default. This setting no longer affects the resource amounts available for the site.

  4. Select OK.