This feature update will bring users a new navigation option for SharePoint team sites. Team site owners will be able to switch the team site navigation orientation from vertical to horizontal. Additionally, site navigation visibility can be turned off completely.

This new navigation switcher feature allows site owners to customize their team site by changing navigation’s orientation and visibility to achieve a different look and feel, layouts, and alignment styles.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 85568.

When will this happen?

• Targeted release (selected users and entire organization): Rollout will begin in mid-September and expect to be complete in mid-October.
• Standard: Rollout will begin in early November and expect to be complete in mid-January (previously late November).

How this will affect your organization

For SharePoint online team sites, users will see a new option when you navigate to Settings > Change the Look > Navigation. In the navigation panel, users can choose to show or hide the site navigation. If users decide to display the site navigation, then they’ll be able to choose either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Note: The Mega menu style is only available for the horizontal orientation.

• The Vertical option displays site navigation on the left of the site content
• The Horizontal option displays site navigation on the top of the page just below the site header like on a SharePoint communication site

What you need to do to prepare

You do not need to do anything to prepare for this change. This new navigation feature is optional and existing team site navigation will not change. Notify site owners that this new option is available in addition to other ways to customize your SharePoint site.

Learn more

• Change the look of your SharePoint site
• New Site Header Options in SharePoint Online

Microsoft is introducing a SharePoint app bar in SharePoint online that will feature global navigation in your SharePoint modern communication and team sites. The SharePoint app bar brings a consistent navigation experience to every site on your intranet, featuring quick access to important sites across the organization with global navigation, personally relevant sites, news feed and the files.

The SharePoint app bar provides quick access to customizable global navigation as well as other intranet resources. The SharePoint app bar makes important content and resources easily accessible for users on these sites, regardless of where they might be in SharePoint.

The app bar can be accessed on the left-hand side anywhere in SharePoint:

SharePoint app bar experience

Once the SharePoint app bar is enabled on your tenant, it will have 4 tabs at the left hand side of your SharePoint sites:

• Global navigation
• Sites
• News
• Files

Key Highlights

• Personalized content (sites/news/files) in the SharePoint app bar is enabled by Microsoft Graph
• You can only customize the Global navigation tab
• Customizing global navigation requires a home site (must be a communication site).
• When global navigation is disabled or not configured, the home icon links to the SharePoint start page
• Specific SharePoint app bar tabs cannot be disabled
• The SharePoint app bar cannot be disabled on specific sites
• The SharePoint app bar is not available on classic SharePoint sites today, however soon administrators will be able to add it to classic sites manually

Impact of SharePoint app bar on page customizations

The SharePoint app bar may impact current page customizations specifically those that appear on the left side. If you have customized the header and footer placeholders using SPFx extensions, the SharePoint app bar will cover parts of both the header and footer page placeholder:

How to disable the SharePoint app bar?

You cannot disable the SharePoint app bar permanently. However, you can temporarily disable the SharePoint app bar in your tenant using PowerShell until March 31, 2023 (Previously September 30, 2022 and March 31, 2022).

To temporarily disable the SharePoint app bar:

1. Download the latest version of SharePoint Online PowerShell.
2. Then, run the following command with administrator privileges:

Set-SPOTemporarilyDisableAppBar $true

How to enable the SharePoint app bar?

If you have disabled the SharePoint app bar previously and now you are ready to enable the SharePoint app bar in your tenant, run the following command:

Set-SPOTemporarilyDisableAppBar $false

Notes

• To check the current status of app bar, you can use Get-SPOTemporarilyDisableAppBar command.
• It can take up to an hour for the app bar to be removed/show up on a tenant after running the above commands.

Release Timeline

• Targeted Release (organization & user): Completed As of May 4, 2021
• Standard Release: Begins in early May and complete by the end of May.