Skip to main content

Site Pages Library

The Site Pages library is the built-in library every SharePoint site gets automatically, storing all of the site's modern pages: the homepage, informational pages, news posts, page templates, and multilingual page variations. Because pages are simply files in this library, you can manage them like documents, so version history, views, metadata, and unique permissions all apply. Versioning is on by default, and deleted pages can be restored from the site Recycle Bin for up to 93 days.
Related Features
Document Library, News Post, Page, Page Approval, Page Scheduling, Page Templates, Site Assets Library

Common Use Cases

  • Homepage storage: holds the default homepage created when a new site is provisioned
  • Intranet content management: stores informational, departmental, and landing pages
  • News publishing: news posts are stored here since news posts are also pages
  • Page templates: stores reusable page templates for consistent page creation
  • Multilingual content: manages language-specific page variations in dedicated folders
  • Page lifecycle management: review, update, archive, or delete pages as content evolves

Benefits

  • Automatic creation: every SharePoint site includes a Site Pages library by default
  • Single source for pages: pages, news posts, templates, and translations live in one place
  • Version history support: track page changes and restore previous versions when needed
  • Metadata and views: use columns, sorting, and views to organize pages
  • Permission inheritance: pages follow site-level permissions by default
  • Modern publishing support: fully supports modern pages, news, and multilingual publishing

How It Works

  • Pages are .aspx files: every modern page and news post is a file in the Site Pages library, and the homepage is simply another page in this library
  • News is a flag: news posts are regular pages with a Promoted State value of 2, which is how the News web part finds and displays them
  • Templates folder: page templates you save are stored as drafts in a Templates folder that SharePoint creates automatically inside the library
  • Language folders: when multilingual publishing is enabled, translated pages are saved in folders such as /SitePages/fr/ for French
  • Version history: you can compare and restore earlier versions of any page or news post

Limits and Nuances

  • Pages are files, including the homepage: deleting a page breaks navigation links and any pages pointing to it, and because the homepage is a page here, anyone who can edit the library can edit it
  • Default permissions are broad: anyone in the Site Members group can add, edit, or delete pages out-of-the-box; break inheritance on the library if only a few people should publish
  • Templates stay drafts: the Templates folder appears the first time someone saves a page as a template, and templates are never published themselves
  • Language folders are automatic: folders such as /SitePages/fr/ are created when multilingual publishing is turned on; do not move translated pages out of them
  • No page co-authoring: only one person can edit a page at a time, and others are warned the page is locked
  • System library: you can manage and customize the Site Pages library, but you cannot delete it
  • 93-day safety net: deleted pages sit in the site Recycle Bin for up to 93 days before they are gone for good
  • Views help at scale: columns like Modified, Modified By, and Promoted State make large page inventories manageable

Common Questions About the Site Pages Library

Where are SharePoint pages actually stored?

Every modern page on a SharePoint site – including the homepage and all news posts – is stored as an .aspx file in the Site Pages library. The library is created automatically on every site, and you can open it from Settings (gear), Site contents, Site Pages. Because pages are files, they support version history, views, metadata, and unique permissions just like documents.

What is the difference between a page and a news post?

Technically, almost nothing – a news post is a page with a Promoted State property set to 2, which tells the News web part to pick it up and display it in news feeds. Both live in the same Site Pages library, support the same web parts, and behave the same way. The difference is purely in how SharePoint surfaces them to readers.

Who can edit pages in the Site Pages library?

By default, anyone in the Site Members group can create, edit, or delete pages, including the homepage. That is fine for small team sites but risky on intranet sites with many members. The fix is to give the Site Pages library unique permissions so only designated authors can edit pages, while everyone else keeps normal access to documents and lists.

Can I recover a deleted or changed page?

Yes, on both counts. A deleted page goes to the site Recycle Bin, where it can be restored for up to 93 days. A changed page can be rolled back through version history – open the library, select the page, and choose Version history to compare and restore any earlier version. Versioning is on by default for the Site Pages library.

Where do page templates live?

When someone saves a page as a template, SharePoint automatically creates a Templates folder inside the Site Pages library and stores the template there as a draft. Templates are never published – they exist only as starting points, and only the pages created from them get published. Each site keeps its own Templates folder, so templates do not automatically carry across sites.

How should the Site Pages library be governed on an intranet?

Treat it as the most important library on the site – it holds the homepage and everything employees see. Lock editing down to a small group of trained authors, keep versioning on, and review the library periodically for outdated pages. When Greg, the SharePoint Maven behind LookBook 365, builds intranets, restricting Site Pages permissions is one of the first governance steps.