SharePoint Online: How to Create a Subsite using PowerShell?

Requirement: Create a Subsite in SharePoint Online using PowerShell.

How to Create a Subsite in SharePoint Online?

If you are a SharePoint administrator or site owner, eventually you will need to create a subsite. In this blog post, I’ll walk through the process of creating a subsite in SharePoint Online using PowerShell and the steps necessary for creating your subsite from scratch using the web browser interface.

Subsites in SharePoint Online can be created within any existing root site or inside another subsite. By default, site owners (or users with full control or Manage Hierarchy) have permission to create subsites. To add a subsite in SharePoint Online, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your SharePoint Online site as Site Collection Administrator/Site Owner >> Navigate to the site under which the new subsite is to be created.
2. Click on Site Settings Gear Icon >> Choose “Site Contents” (or Click on the Site Content link from the Quick Launch) in the classic sites.

   

3. Scroll down to the bottom and click on the “Create Subsite” link (URL shortcut: /_layouts/15/newsbweb.aspx).

   

4. How do I create a subsite in Modern SharePoint? In modern sites, this link is moved to the “New” menu on the toolbar. If you don’t find the “Subsite” link on the site contents page, that could be because Subsite creation is disabled at the tenant level.
5. Provide the Name, description, Site URL, and template for your new subsite. Specify other subsite settings like Permissions to inherit from the parent site or to use unique permissions and Navigation inheritance – Whether the Quick Launch and top link bar of the parent site are to be inherited in the subsite. A subsite can use either a different or the same template as its parent or root site.
6. Click on the Create button at the bottom of the page to create a subsite in SharePoint Online.

You can also create a SubSite from the “Sites and Workspaces” page in the site settings.

Is there a limit to the number of subsites in SharePoint? Yes, You can create up to 2000 subsites per site collection under any subsite or root site. Once the subsite is created, you’ll be taken to the home page of the new subsite. PowerShell is the answer if you are looking for a quick, easy way to create subsites in Sharepoint Online! Let’s see how to create a subsite in SharePoint Online using the PowerShell script.

SharePoint Online: PowerShell to Create Subsite

Let’s create a subsite in SharePoint Online using PowerShell CSOM. This solution is for those who need to automate the creation of subsites from their script or other automation processes.

#Load SharePoint Online Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"

#Variables for processing
$SiteURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/Sites/Sales"
$AdminAccount = "SPAdmin@crescent.com"
 
#User Names Password to connect 
$Password = Read-host -assecurestring "Enter Password for $AdminAccount" 
$Credential = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $AdminAccount, $Password

Try {
    #Setup the context
    $Context = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL)
    $Context.Credentials = $Credential

    #Specify Subsite details for powershell script to create subsite in sharepoint online
    $WebCI = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.WebCreationInformation
    $WebCI.Title = "Sales - US "
    $WebCI.WebTemplate = "STS#0" #Classic Team Site
    $WebCI.Url = "us"
    #sharepoint online create subsite powershell
    $SubWeb = $Context.Web.Webs.Add($WebCI)
    $Context.ExecuteQuery()

    Write-host "Subsite Created Successfully!" -ForegroundColor Green
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -foregroundcolor Red
}

This PowerShell script creates a new web in SharePoint Online. I’ve used only mandatory parameters. You can refer to this Technet link if you want to specify other parameters such as permission, navigation settings, etc. https://msdn.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/office/microsoft.sharepoint.client.webcreationinformation_members.aspx

Create a Modern Subsite in SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell

SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell module helps to simplify administration tasks, such as creating subsites. To create a new subsite in the current site collection, use the New-PnPWeb cmdlet. Here is how to create a subsite using PnP PowerShell in SharePoint Online:

#Config Variables
$SiteCollURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com"
$SiteTitle = "Town Hall 2017"
$SiteURL = "townhall2017"
$Description = "Town Hall 2017 site - Find all Videos, Presentations, Demos Shared here!"
$Locale = 1033 #English
$Template = "STS#3" #Modern Subsite Template - Team site

Try {
    #Connect to PnP Online
    Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteCollURL -Interactive

    #sharepoint online powershell create subsite
    New-PnPWeb -Title $SiteTitle -Url $SiteURL -Description $Description -Locale $Locale -Template $Template -ErrorAction Stop
    Write-host "Site '$SiteTitle' Created Successfully!" -f Green
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -foregroundcolor Red
}

Additionally, The New-PnPWeb cmdlet supports -BreakInheritance, -InheritNavigation switches to set up site groups such as the Owners group, and members groups for the subsite.

How to create a communication subsite in SharePoint Online? Well, just use the $Template as “SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0” in the above PowerShell script. The web browser interface doesn’t support creating a subsite of communication template.

To create a subsite from a custom template, use: PowerShell to Create Subsite from Custom Template in SharePoint Online