SharePoint Document Issues

How to Create a Template from an Office 365 Group and SharePoint Site

Aamir Naveed Akram Sep 25, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to automate the creation of a template from an existing Office 365 Group and SharePoint site, including all associated files, folders, lists, and Planner content.

How to Create a Template from an Office 365 Group and SharePoint Site

Product: Microsoft SharePoint / Office 365
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Automating the deployment of approximately 75 identical project environments per year based on a master Office 365 Group setup.
Observed behavior: The user needs a method to replicate a complex group structure, as there is no built-in feature to duplicate an entire Microsoft 365 group site alongside its Planner content.

Before you start

Before attempting to automate site creation, ensure you have SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator privileges in Microsoft 365, as well as an active Power Automate license to build custom flows.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Power Automate to Clone the Site and Group Structure

Since SharePoint does not offer a native one-click cloning feature for entire Microsoft 365 Groups and Planner content, orchestrating the process via Power Automate is the recommended workaround.

Microsoft 365 limits out-of-the-box site templates to basic SharePoint configurations. To fully replicate a group including its Planner tasks, document libraries, and custom lists, you must use Power Automate to orchestrate the duplication sequentially.

Initialize a new Microsoft 365 Group

Open Power Automate and create a new flow. Use the 'Send an HTTP request to SharePoint' action or the native 'Create a group' action from the Microsoft 365 Groups connector to provision the base modern team site and underlying group.

Recreate library and list structures

Add 'Send an HTTP request' actions in your flow to execute Site Scripts, or use standard SharePoint connector actions like 'Create a new list' to build the necessary document libraries and custom lists matching your source architecture.

Copy files and folders

Use the SharePoint 'Copy file' or 'Copy folder' actions within your flow. Specify your master template site as the source and dynamically route the copied documents to the newly provisioned destination site URL.

Duplicate Planner tasks

Utilize the Planner connector to add a 'Create a plan' action within the new group. Then, use an 'Apply to each' loop to iterate through your source plan's tasks, using the 'Create a task' action to replicate them in the new destination plan.

Use Power Automate to Clone the Site and Group Structure

Community Support Resource: Building complex deployment flows requires advanced logic. If you need specific flow formulas or run into errors, posting your flow design in the official Microsoft Power Automate Community forum is highly recommended.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I save an entire Microsoft 365 Group as a template natively?

No, Microsoft SharePoint does not currently support saving a full Microsoft 365 Group—including integrated apps like Planner, Teams, and Outlook calendars—as a single reusable template out-of-the-box.

Does the 'Save site as template' feature include Planner tasks?

The classic 'Save site as template' feature in SharePoint only captures core elements like custom lists, document libraries, and site pages. It does not capture Microsoft 365 Group configurations or associated Planner tasks.

What permissions do I need to automate site creation via Power Automate?

You typically need SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator privileges to successfully automate the provisioning of new Microsoft 365 Groups and their associated SharePoint sites across the tenant.

How can I copy Planner tasks if there is no native copy button?

To duplicate tasks without a native copy button, you must use Power Automate. By retrieving tasks from an existing plan using the 'List tasks' action, you can employ an 'Apply to each' loop combined with the 'Create a task' action to generate identical tasks in your newly created group.

Document & File Issues