How to Fix SharePoint Showing Sites Users Cannot Access
Question details
Users are able to see SharePoint sites or subsites in the navigation or Site Contents list, but receive an access denied error when attempting to open them.
- Product
- SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- A user is browsing SharePoint and clicks on visible site links in the left navigation or Site Contents page, expecting to view the content.
- Observed behavior
- The sites appear in the navigation lists, but clicking them results in a permission error. The Subsites tab, however, correctly filters and displays only the accessible sites.
Verify whether the inaccessible links appear in the left navigation, the main Site Contents view, or as specific team sites, and ensure you have the contact information for your Microsoft 365 administrator.
Review Navigation Settings and Apply Audience Targeting
Adjust your SharePoint navigation settings to ensure that specific links are only visible to users with the correct permissions.
SharePoint may display discoverable sites or navigation links even when the current user lacks permission to open them. Manually added links do not automatically hide themselves based on site permissions unless Audience Targeting is configured.
Log in to the SharePoint site as a site owner or administrator, click the gear icon in the top right corner, and select 'Site information' followed by 'View all site settings'.
Under the 'Look and Feel' section, click on 'Navigation' or 'Quick launch' depending on your site layout.
Locate the links pointing to the inaccessible sites. Enable the Audience Targeting feature and specify the appropriate Microsoft 365 groups so that only authorized users can see the links.
Request a Microsoft 365 Back-End Investigation
If inaccessible sites are improperly listed in the core Site Contents without manual link configuration, the issue may require Microsoft Support.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do users see SharePoint sites they don't have access to?
SharePoint may display sites in the navigation if they were manually added as links without audience targeting enabled, or if the site's discoverability settings allow it to appear in search results despite restricted read access.
Should I grant access just to hide the site from the navigation?
No. Granting access will allow users to actually view the content. Instead, you should adjust the site navigation settings, utilize audience targeting, or remove the manual link to ensure it only appears for the correct users.
Why does the Subsites tab show correct permissions while Site Contents does not?
The Subsites tab dynamically filters content based on the current user's access tokens. However, certain navigation menus or cached Site Contents pages might display structural links regardless of the user's specific access rights due to how those lists are rendered.
