Table of Contents
Summary
- Introduction of a reimagined SharePoint experience enhancing knowledge discovery, content publishing, and solution building.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot license required for accessing new AI capabilities.
- Redesigned SharePoint app bar, with features like Discover, Publish, and Build for improved user experience.
- Updated page, news, library, and list experiences with enhanced content elevation and neutral theming.
- No impact on users if the new experience is not enabled in the SharePoint admin center.
Admin Impact: Medium
User Impact: Medium
Release Start: 01 May 2026
Release End: 31 May 2026
Services: SharePoint
Category: Stay informed
Tags: New Feature, User Adoption, Admin Action
History
2/27/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
Introduction
We are introducing a reimagined SharePoint experience that simplifies how users discover knowledge, publish content, and build solutions. This update delivers an intuitive design, a streamlined information architecture, and foundational support for future AI‑assisted creation scenarios in SharePoint Online. A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to access the AI capabilities in this update.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 547732.
When this will happen
- Public Preview: Rolling out in early March 2026; expected completion by late April 2026.
- Targeted Release: Rolling out in late April 2026; expected completion by early May 2026.
- General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Rolling out in early May 2026; expected completion by late May 2026.
How this affects your organization
Who is affected
- Organizations with users who have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
- Organizations that choose to enable the new SharePoint experience in the SharePoint admin center.
What will happen
If your organization enables the new SharePoint experience in the SharePoint admin center, licensed users will see:
A redesigned SharePoint app bar, including:
- Discover – a refreshed start experience to quickly find relevant sites, content, and news:
- Publish – A unified publishing hub in SharePoint that brings together pages, news and campaign-style communications powered by Amplify:
- Build – A centralized experience to create, manage, and scale Sites, Lists, Libraries, and Agents all with a streamlined surface:
- OneDrive – Provides quick access to files.
- Home – Displayed when a Home site with global navigation is enabled, with the appropriate logo and name as configured in global navigation.
Updated page, news, library, and list experiences with improved content elevation
Neutral theming applied across core product surfaces (site‑level branding remains unchanged)
If you do not enable the preview, there is no impact to your users or admin experience.
What you can do to prepare
If you plan to enable the new experience:
- Verify that users who need access have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license assigned to access the AI capabilities in this update.
- Enable the experience in the SharePoint admin center: Settings → SharePoint → New SharePoint Experience
- Review instructions for enabling the experience: Enable the new SharePoint experience (preview) | SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | SharePoint | Microsoft Learn
- Communicate expected UI changes to helpdesk and affected teams before enabling.
- Update internal documentation if you describe SharePoint navigation or app bar elements.
Compliance considerations
No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.