Mega Menu
Common Use Cases
- Large intranets: showing many destinations clearly
- Hub navigation: presenting a family of sites in one panel
- Grouped links: organizing links under headings
- Website feel: a professional, multi-column menu
- Department portals: laying out sections at a glance
- Reduced clicks: exposing structure without deep hovering
Benefits
- Full structure visible: users see the layout in one view
- Multi-column: more links without endless scrolling
- Headings: links grouped into clear categories
- Polished look: a modern, website-style navigation
- Same link editor: built from standard navigation links
- Better findability: fewer dead ends and guesswork
How It Works
- Navigation style setting: switch the header layout to mega menu
- Top-level headings: each top link becomes a column heading
- Sub-links: indented links sit under their heading
- Multiple levels: supports a few levels of hierarchy
- Edit in place: links are managed in the navigation editor
- Comm sites and hubs: available on communication and hub navigation
- Change the look: the site setting for navigation style
- Mega menu option: the layout choice versus cascading
- Edit navigation: arranging links and sublinks
- Indent levels: creating headings and child links
- Audience targeting: optionally targeting nav links
Limits and Nuances
- Comm and hub sites: best suited to communication and hub navigation
- Depth limits: only a few levels are practical
- Needs structure: a messy link set looks worse in a mega menu
- Mobile rendering: the wide panel collapses on small screens
- Maintenance: more links means more to keep current
- Not for team sites: the layout differs on team site navigation
Common Questions About the Mega Menu
What is a mega menu in SharePoint?
A mega menu is a navigation style that shows a section full structure in one wide, multi-column dropdown panel, rather than a chain of small cascading menus. It lets users see all the destinations under a heading at a glance. You build it from the same editable navigation links, choosing the mega menu layout and arranging links beneath headings.
How is a mega menu different from cascading navigation?
Cascading navigation reveals one level at a time as you hover, which can mean drilling through several small menus to reach a link. A mega menu instead opens a single broad panel that displays the headings and their links together. For sites with a lot of content, the mega menu exposes structure immediately and reduces the hovering and guesswork of cascading menus.
Where can I use a mega menu?
The mega menu layout is available on communication sites and on hub navigation, where the header runs across the top of the page. It is chosen from the site navigation style setting. Team sites, which use left-hand navigation, present links differently, so the mega menu is primarily a communication-site and hub experience rather than something for every site type.
How do I set up a mega menu?
You switch the navigation style to mega menu in the site look settings, then edit the navigation so that top-level links act as column headings with indented links beneath them. Because it uses the standard navigation editor, building a mega menu is mostly a matter of organizing your links into clear groups rather than any special configuration.
Does a mega menu work on mobile?
The wide multi-column panel is designed for full-screen browsing and collapses into a more compact, stacked navigation on small screens. The links remain accessible on mobile, but the at-a-glance layout is most effective on a desktop. It is worth keeping the structure tidy so it translates well when the menu collapses for phones and narrow windows.
When is a mega menu worth it?
Whenever a site has enough destinations that people struggle to find things. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, treats the mega menu as one of the highest-impact upgrades for a busy intranet, since seeing the whole structure at once makes a site feel like a real website. It pays off most when the underlying navigation is well organized to begin with.