Site Assets Library
Common Use Cases
- Page and news imagery: stores every custom image added to pages, news posts, and Hero web parts, organized into folders named after each page
- Site branding: holds the site logo, thumbnail logo, header and footer background images, and section backgrounds
- Web part icons and media: Quick Links icons, Editorial and Countdown Timer images, and Events web part banners all live here
- Embedded content: videos and Office files embedded on pages are stored and served from this library
- The site notebook: on Team Sites, the built-in OneNote notebook is physically stored in Site Assets
- List import files: Excel files used to create a list through import are kept here for reference
Benefits
- Automatically created: every modern SharePoint site includes a Site Assets library by default
- Centralized asset storage: keeps images and supporting files in a predictable location
- Permission inheritance: assets follow site-level permissions by default
- Clean page management: separates content (pages) from supporting media (assets)
- Easy reuse: assets can be reused across multiple pages without duplication
Details
- Feature Category: Sites & Navigation
How It Works
- Created automatically: every modern SharePoint site includes exactly one Site Assets library; there is nothing to set up
- Page folders: when an author adds a custom image, video, or embedded file to a page, SharePoint saves it to Site Assets in a folder named after that page
- Branding hub: site and thumbnail logos, header and footer backgrounds, section backgrounds, Quick Links icons, and Hero, Editorial, and Countdown Timer images all land here too
- OneNote home: on Team Sites, the built-in OneNote notebook physically lives in Site Assets, appearing in the library after someone opens the notebook for the first time
- Event folders: Events web part banner images are stored in folders named Event, Event(1), Event(2), and so on, regardless of what the events are called
- More than images: Excel files used to create a list through import are kept here, and approved SharePoint Copilot agents move into a Copilots > Approved folder
- Inherited permissions: assets follow the site’s permissions by default, so anyone who can view a page can also load the images it references
Limits and Nuances
- Not for working documents: Site Assets exists to support the site itself; collaborate on Word, Excel, and PDF files in the Documents library instead
- One per site: there is only one Site Assets library per site, and you cannot create a second one
- Fills up silently: many web parts write here automatically and nothing is cleaned up, so replaced logos and removed page images linger and count toward the site’s storage quota; only your uploads are stored, not Microsoft stock-gallery images
- Deletions break pages: removing an asset breaks every page that references it; images and web parts fail to load wherever that file was used
- Deleting the library breaks the site: pages stop rendering images and embedded content until the library is restored from the Recycle Bin; a fresh library is auto-created on the next upload but does nothing for pages built before the deletion
- Permissions affect rendering: visitors need access to the assets to see them on pages, so fine-tuning library permissions can leave page images broken for some users
- OneNote timing: the Team Site notebook does not appear in the library until it has been opened at least once; it is not missing
- A regular library underneath: views, version history, and library settings all work the same way as in any document library if you ever need them
Common Questions About the Site Assets Library
What is the Site Assets library in SharePoint?
It is a built-in library that every modern SharePoint site creates automatically to store the supporting files the site needs to function – logos, page images, embedded videos, web part icons, and even the site’s OneNote notebook. Greg Zelfond calls it the silent hero of a SharePoint site: users rarely open it, but nearly every page they view is pulling content from it.
What kinds of files are stored in the Site Assets library?
Quite a range: site and thumbnail logos, header and footer backgrounds, custom images added to pages through the Image and Image Gallery web parts, embedded videos and Office files, Quick Links icons, Hero and Editorial and Countdown Timer images, section backgrounds, Events web part banners, Excel files imported to create lists, the Team Site OneNote notebook, and approved SharePoint Copilot agents.
Should I upload documents to the Site Assets library?
No. Although it is technically a document library and uploads will work, it is the wrong home for working files. Site Assets is meant for content that supports the site itself, while Word, Excel, and PDF files people collaborate on belong in the Documents library or another dedicated library, where views, metadata, and sharing are designed around everyday teamwork.
Can I delete files from Site Assets to free up space?
Be careful. Any asset still referenced by a page will break that page when deleted – images stop loading and web parts lose their backgrounds. SharePoint never cleans up old assets automatically, so genuinely orphaned files do accumulate, but verify an asset is unused before removing it. If something breaks, restore the file from the Recycle Bin and the page recovers.
What happens if someone deletes the entire Site Assets library?
The site effectively breaks – existing pages lose their images, logos, and embedded content, and web parts fail to render. SharePoint will create a fresh Site Assets library as soon as a new asset is uploaded, but that new library does nothing for pages built before the deletion. The fix is to restore the original library from the site’s Recycle Bin.
Where do images added to a SharePoint page actually go?
When you upload a custom image to a page – through the Image, Image Gallery, or Hero web part – SharePoint stores it in the Site Assets library inside a folder named after that page, which makes page-by-page auditing easy. One nuance: stock images suggested by Microsoft are not copied into Site Assets, so only your own uploads appear there.