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Fix SharePoint Highlighted Content Web Part Not Displaying Sites

Amos Gikunda Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to fix the SharePoint Highlighted Content web part that fails to display sites when specific search filters are applied.

Fix SharePoint Highlighted Content Web Part Not Displaying Sites

Product: Microsoft SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Filtering site content using STS_Site and the Page content type in the Highlighted Content web part.
Observed behavior: The web part omits sites when using specific filters, and applying an Everything filter results in incorrect dates or formatting.

Before you start

Before escalating the issue, ensure that you have already tried manually reindexing the affected SharePoint site and libraries, as standard indexing delays can sometimes cause content to temporarily disappear from web parts.

Solution 1Recommended

Escalate to Microsoft 365 Support with HAR Logs

Since reindexing does not resolve this specific filtering bug, the issue requires a backend investigation by Microsoft support using network traffic logs.

When standard troubleshooting steps like reindexing fail to correct the Highlighted Content web part's behavior, it typically indicates a server-side query processing error in Microsoft 365. To get this resolved, an administrator must provide Microsoft with diagnostic logs.

Contact your Microsoft 365 Administrator

Reach out to your organization's IT department or Microsoft 365 global administrator, as standard users do not have the permissions required to open support tickets.

Capture HAR Logs

Have the administrator reproduce the web part error in their browser while capturing a HAR (HTTP Archive) log using the browser's developer tools (press F12, go to the Network tab, and save the session).

Open a Service Request

The administrator must log into the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to the Support section, and create a new service request, making sure to attach the captured HAR logs for the development team.

Check the Service Health Dashboard

While submitting the ticket, verify the Service Health dashboard in the admin center to ensure there are no ongoing global SharePoint service degradation incidents.

Escalate to Microsoft 365 Support with HAR Logs

Administrator Privileges Required: Only personnel with administrative access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center can submit service requests and access the Service Health dashboard.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Highlighted Content web part not showing recently added sites or documents?

This usually happens because the SharePoint search index has not crawled the new content yet. You can manually request a re-index of the site or document library from the Site Settings to speed up the process.

How do I capture a HAR log for Microsoft support?

Press F12 in your web browser to open the Developer Tools, go to the Network tab, check the 'Preserve log' option, reproduce the issue on your SharePoint page, and then right-click the network list to select 'Save all as HAR with content'.

What does the STS_Site filter do in SharePoint?

The STS_Site filter is a managed search property in SharePoint that restricts search queries to return only Site Collections, ignoring individual list items, documents, or sub-webs.

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