SharePoint Online: Save List as Template Missing? Here is how to enable it!

Problem: “Save List as Template” and “Save document library as template” are missing in SharePoint Online modern sites!

Root Cause: We don’t get the “Save list as Template” link on the list settings page in sites with custom script disabled. To enable the save list as a template in SharePoint Online, we should enable the custom script for a site!

Solution:

Enable Custom Scripting at SharePoint Admin Center and Site Collection Levels to enable list templates!

How to Enable Custom Script in SharePoint Online?

To allow custom script in SharePoint Online, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to Office 365 and go to the SharePoint Online Admin Center.
2. Click on Settings from the left navigation >> Scroll down to the “Custom Script” section
3. Under the Custom Script section, Set “Allow users to run custom script on personal site” and “Allow
   users to run custom script on self-service created sites” options. 

   

4. Click on “OK” to save your changes.

This enables custom scripts in SharePoint Online. However, this change may take up to 24 hours to reflect. To enable scripting on a particular site collection immediately, use this PowerShell script through SharePoint Online Management Shell.

Enable Custom Scripting at Site Collection Level

Let’s use PowerShell to fix the save list as template missing in the SharePoint Online issue.

#Variables for Admin Center and Site Collection URL
$AdminCenterURL = "https://crescent-admin.sharepoint.com/"
$SiteURL="https://crescent.sharepoint.com/Sites/marketing"

#Connect to SharePoint Online
Connect-SPOService -url $AdminCenterURL -Credential (Get-Credential)

#Disable DenyAddAndCustomizePages Flag
Set-SPOSite $SiteURL -DenyAddAndCustomizePages $False

This fixes the save list as a template not available issue in SharePoint Online! BTW, You need site owner or site collection Administrator permissions to save a site as a template.

Also, on document libraries, it brings the “Save document library as template” back!

Instead of saving the list as a template and creating new list instances from it, You can also use How to Create a New List from an Existing List in SharePoint?

Update: The Group-connected Root site’s “Documents” (Shared Documents) library comes with the “Save document library as template” disabled by default, even if the custom scripts are enabled. Alternatives?

1. Use the “Create list from existing” Feature: How to Create a New List from Existing List in SharePoint Online?
2. Use the PnP Provisioning Engine: How to Copy a List or Document Library in SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell?