How to Remove Deleted SharePoint Sites Still Appearing on the Home Page
Question details
The user needs to remove links to deleted SharePoint sites that remain visible on the SharePoint home page.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing SharePoint sites and cleaning up the home page dashboard after a site deletion.
- Observed behavior
- Deleted SharePoint sites continue to be displayed under Frequent sites, Recent sites, and Following sections, despite being removed from the administration centers.
Ensure you have the SharePoint Online Management Shell installed and possess SharePoint administrator privileges before attempting to run site removal commands.
Wait for the SharePoint Home Page Cache to Refresh
Allow time for SharePoint's built-in caching mechanism to automatically clear outdated links from the home page.
SharePoint home-page links are heavily cached to improve overall loading performance. When a site is deleted from the administration center, its metadata may remain in the cache for several days or even weeks. Search and navigation caches typically take a minimum of 24 hours to begin refreshing after a deletion.
Allow up to 24 hours for standard search and navigation caches to refresh automatically in your SharePoint tenant.
Check the Frequent sites, Recent sites, and Following sections after a few days to see if the deleted site links have naturally expired and disappeared.
Permanently Delete the SharePoint Site Using PowerShell
Forcefully and permanently remove the site from the tenant using SharePoint Online Management Shell to speed up its removal from home page lists.
Try WPS Office for Seamless Document Management
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do deleted SharePoint sites still appear under 'Recent sites'?
SharePoint caches home page data to improve loading speeds. The 'Recent sites' and 'Frequent sites' lists rely on this cached data, which can take anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks to completely clear after a site is officially deleted.
Can I manually remove a site from the 'Frequent sites' list without PowerShell?
There is no direct button to manually clear a specific site from the Frequent sites list on the SharePoint home page. You must either wait for the system cache to automatically refresh over time or use PowerShell to ensure the site is permanently purged from the tenant recycle bin.
Does removing a site with the Remove-SPOSite command delete its data?
Yes, using the Remove-SPOSite PowerShell command permanently deletes the site collection, including all stored documents, lists, and settings. You must verify the site URL and back up any necessary data before running this command, as it cannot be undone.
