Enable Blank Site Template in SharePoint 2016

Problem: Blank site template is not available in SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint 2016.

If you try to create a site collection from the SharePoint Central Administration site or create a subsite, you’ll find a blank site template missing from the create site collection page. Unlike its previous versions, SharePoint 2013 onwards, specific site templates are hidden from the user interface. 

sharepoint 2016 blank site template not available

So, How to create a blank site collection in SharePoint 2016?

PowerShell to Create a site collection using the blank site template

We can create a site collection using a blank site template with PowerShell. Blank site template ID in SharePoint 2016 or SharePoint 2013 is: STS#1

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Define Parameters
$Template = Get-SPWebTemplate "STS#1"
$SiteURL="https://intranet.crescent.com/sites/blank"
$SiteOwner="Crescent\SPAdmin"

#Create blank site collection
New-SPSite -Url $SiteURL -OwnerAlias $SiteOwner -Template $Template

Similarly, you can create a subsite using the New-SPWeb cmdlet. You can get all available web template IDs with the cmdlet Get-SPWebTemplate

sharepoint blank site template id

How to enable the blank site template in SharePoint 2016?

The blank site template in SharePoint 2013 is hidden by default. To enable blank site templates in SharePoint 2016, we got to edit the WEBTEMP.XML file located in “C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\1033\XML” (For SharePoint 2013, it is on 15 hive! So, the location of webtemp.xml would be: “C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\1033\XML”). Please note, this location is the default for the English Language pack. Choose the folder accordingly for other Languages.

  • Navigate to the location of, and make a copy of the file for backup purposes.
  • Open the WEBTEMP.XML file in notepad, and search for “Blank Site”.
  • Set the attribute from Hidden=”TRUE” to Hidden=”FALSE”
    enable blank site template sharepoint 2016
  • Save and close the file.
  • Do an IISRESET
In a Multi-server Farm environment, these steps should be repeated in all web front end servers!

Now, You’ll find the blank site template on the site collection creation page from Central Administration or on the subsite creation page from any site collection!

blank site template sharepoint 2016

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two-decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. He has held various positions including SharePoint Architect, Administrator, Developer and consultant, has helped many organizations to implement and optimize SharePoint solutions. Known for his deep technical expertise, He's passionate about sharing the knowledge and insights to help others, through the real-world articles!

2 thoughts on “Enable Blank Site Template in SharePoint 2016

  • I edited the WEBTEMP.XML as mentioned and now I can create a blank site. However, when I try to access the new site, it says I don’t have access to the site. I am a Site Collection administrator…

    Has anyone else experienced this?

    I’m going to try with PowerShell next.

    Reply
  • Hi,
    Thanks a lot for this tip. It works from CA, but somehow it doesn’t direclty from the Site where I’m planning to crreate new blank site. Wonder why…

    Reply

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