Restore the Previous Site Template

Kavitha Krishnamoorthy 0 Reputation points
2025-11-07T05:58:14.0533333+00:00

Hi Team,

I accidentally applied a new site template (wanted to try the new look and assumed the change could be discarded afterward) and now I can't go back to the previous site template with all past hard work spent on the site. I tried to search ways to restore but can't find any useful articles online guiding on this. Can anyone help me please? I'm very desperate now... T.T

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | MacOS
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  1. AI answer

    2025-11-07T05:58:25.6533333+00:00

    To restore a previous site template in SharePoint, you can remove the newly applied site template using PowerShell or JavaScript. Here’s how you can do it:

    1. Using PowerShell: Execute the following command, replacing the ID with the ID of the site template you want to remove: 
         Remove-SPOSiteDesign <SiteTemplateID>
    2. Using JavaScript: You can also use the following JavaScript snippet: 
         RestRequest("/_api/Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.WebTemplateExtensions.SiteScriptUtility.DeleteSiteDesign", {id:"<SiteTemplateID>"});

    If you're unsure about the ID of the site template you want to restore, you can run the Get-SPOSiteDesign cmdlet to list all site templates and identify the default ones.

    After removing the new template, you can apply the default template again to restore your previous site configuration.

    References:

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-11-07T08:16:00.4566667+00:00

    Hi @Kavitha Krishnamoorthy 

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

    According to this article Use SharePoint's new site templates today! | Microsoft Community Hub, when you apply a site template in SharePoint, there's no automatic way to undo it. However, everything a template adds like pages, navigation items, or themes can be manually removed or changed. For example, you can delete unwanted pages or navigation elements and update the theme to suit your preferences. 

    -Microsoft has introduced a Site Template History panel to help you keep track of changes: 
    Go to your SharePoint site > Gear icon > Site information > View template history > This shows every template applied to the site and lets you review what changed. 

    -Applying a template to an existing site doesn't merge your current content with the new design. Instead, SharePoint creates a new default home page and adds other template-specific content. Your original pages, document libraries, and lists remain intact and can still be accessed via Site contents. 

    -If you'd like to switch back to your previous home page, you can follow these steps: 
    Go to your SharePoint site > Gear icon > Site contents > Scroll down to Site pages > find your previous Homepage such as Home.aspx > … > choose Make homepage. 
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    I hope this helps. 

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