Customize the navigation on your team site

If you're a site owner or have edit permissions on a team site, you can customize the navigation for your site. You can add, remove, or edit the links on the left-hand menu or the top menu bar to give users quick access to sites and pages.

Notes: 

• In SharePoint Online, you can only customize the left-hand menu at this time. The top menu bar is available only in Classic SharePoint, SharePoint Server 2016, or SharePoint Server 2013.

• If your site has been customized by the owner, the left-hand menu or top menu bars may not be available.

Online 2013, 2016

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To customize the navigation on your team site, click the Edit link at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

Add a link to the left-hand menu

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   Note: If you don't see Edit, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Hover over the location in the menu where you want to add a link and click +.

   

3. In the Add a link box, enter the address and the display name for the link.

   

   Click OK.

4. You can also add a page to the menu by selecting the page in the Site Pages list, clicking ... either next to the page in the list or in the top navigation bar, and then clicking Add to navigation.

   

Note: Recent items are handled automatically by SharePoint. You can't add links to the Recent menu.

Edit the display name or address for a menu link

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   Note: If you don't see Edit, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Next to the link that you want to edit, click ....

3. Click Edit.

   

4. When you are done editing the link, click OK.

Move a link up or down on the left-hand menu

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   Note: If you don't see Edit, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Next to the link that you want to move, click ....

3. Click either Move up or Move down.

   

4. Repeat these steps until the link is in the desired position.

Create sub links on the left-hand menu

This creates an indented link under another link. You can add only one level of sub links on a left-hand menu.

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   Note: If you don't see Edit, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Next to the link that you want to make a sub link, click ....

3. Click Make sub link.

   

Remove a link from the left-hand menu

Some links, such as Recycle Bin are system links and can't be removed.

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

   Note: If you don't see Edit, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

2. Next to the link that you want to remove, click ....

3. Click Remove.

   Note: You can't remove the Recycle bin link at this time.

   

Turn left-hand menu on or off in SharePoint Online

If you have owner or admin permissions, you can turn the left-hand menu off.

1. Click Settings , and then click Site Settings.

   If you are using an Office 365 group connected site, you might have to click Site Contents, and then click Site Settings.

2. Under Look and Feel on the Site Settings page, click Navigation Elements.

   

3. Uncheck Enable Quick Launch setting, and then click OK.

   

Classic SharePoint site navigation

If you've enabled the publishing feature on your classic SharePoint site, the left-hand menu will also show links to modern lists or libraries if you've added them to your classic site. For more information, see Enable managed navigation for a site in SharePoint.

Editing links in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

To get started editing the links on your site, click one of the EDIT LINKS options on the page.

Change links in the Top link bar: Click EDIT LINKS near top (see "1"). Change links in the Quick launch bar: Click EDIT LINKS on the side (see "2").

Note: If you don't see EDIT LINKS, you might not have permissions to customize the site navigation. You must have at least Manage Lists permissions. Contact the site owner either to get permissions to make the changes yourself or to have the changes made for you.

Add a link by dragging an app from Site Contents to the Quick Launch or the Top link bar in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

1. Go to the Site Contents page: Click Settings , and then click Site contents.

2. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to add a link.

3. Click the app you want to add, and then drag it to where you want it to be on the Quick Launch or Top link bar.
   
   

4. Click Save.

   

Add a link by entering the URL in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

To add a link to another site, type in the URL.

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to add a link.

2. Click + link.

3. Enter a display name for the link and a target location, making sure you include the http://.

4. Click OK to add the new link to the Quick Launch or Top link bar.

5. Click Save.

   

Rename a link or remove a link in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

Note: You can't rename or remove Recycle Bin.

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar, depending on where you want to edit a link.

2. Rename: Click directly on the link you want to rename and start typing the new name. Click outside the name, and then click Save.

3. Remove: Click the X corresponding to the link to remove it from the navigation panel, then click Save.

   

Renaming a link doesn't affect the page address or URL that the link references.

Change the order of links by dragging and dropping in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

1. Click EDIT LINKS on the Quick Launch or Top link bar depending on the location of the link that you want to move.

2. Select the link that you want to move, and then drag it to its new position in the navigation area.

   To indent or create a sub link, drag the link under and slightly to the right of the link you want as the top link.

3. Repeat these steps for each link you want to move.

4. When finished, click Save.

   

Note: You can drag items out of Recent to the main Quick Launch bar. However you can't drag items into Recent.

Show subsites or inherit parent site navigation (available for sites with publishing features) in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

For sites in site collections where publishing features are enabled, you have more navigation options to choose from, including showing subsites and displaying the same navigation as a site's parent site navigation (also called inheriting parent navigation). If you don't see these options, check with your site administrator.

1. On the site where you want to change navigation settings, click Settings , and then click Site settings.

2. On the Site Settings page, click Look and Feel, and then click Quick Launch or Top Link bar..

3. Choose options for the Quick Launch or Top Link bar, for example, to show subsites or to display the same navigation as the parent site (inherit parent navigation).

More about navigation bars and site navigation in SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013

The links that appear on the left side of your site are called Quick Launch links. By default, Quick Launch includes links to recent items as well as important items like lists and libraries. The links at the top, in the Top Link bar, typically show subsites under your site.

Quick Launch

When you create a new list or library, a new link appears automatically under Recent on Quick Launch. Only the five newest links appear in the Recent section.

Note: When you create a new page, it doesn't automatically appear in Quick Launch. You have to create a link to the page and add it yourself.

Top Link bar

You can also customize the navigation links on the Top Link bar of your site to change capitalization, rearrange the order, or add links to the subsites that users visit most often.

Related links

To add links to your page rather than left hand or top links menus, see Add a link to a page.

To start publishing features and commands, see Enable publishing features.