The New SharePoint Experience and Featured Links Retirement

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Navigation Architecture Shifts and Global Navigation Setup

The new SharePoint experience finishes rolling out this September, bringing structural changes to how users navigate intranet resources.

Microsoft has been deploying the updated interface since March 2026, with general availability running from mid-June through late September. The update carries no opt-out option. While the core platform remains the same, the update introduces a redesigned app bar structured around three core hubs: Discover for finding content, Publish for pages and news, and Build for creating sites, lists, and libraries.

Core Enhancements and Retired Features

As part of this rollout, Microsoft is streamlining navigation and item-keeping features across the suite:

  • Favorites consolidation: Followed Sites becomes Favorite Sites, and Saved for Later becomes Favorites, with all items moving automatically without data loss.
  • Top-level branding: Global navigation, tenant logos, and site names render at the top of the app bar when a home site is configured.
  • Featured Links retirement: The Featured Links feature on the start page is retiring, requiring teams to migrate top-level shortcuts into global navigation.
  • Copilot AI features: Advanced AI tools in the interface require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, though the core redesigned app bar does not.

Replacing Featured Links requires thoughtful information architecture decisions rather than simple toggle adjustments. IT leads should take three key steps:

  • Audit current links: Inventory where Featured Links are deployed on your start page and mobile app today.
  • Redesign global navigation: Draft a consolidated top-level navigation structure to host critical organizational links.
  • Inform support staff: Brief your helpdesk on the Favorites rename so they can guide users through UI changes.

How our team helps you prepare:

  • Navigation Architecture: We help draft a clean global navigation structure that replaces legacy Featured Links while improving overall intranet usability.
  • Intranet Strategy: We align home site branding, app bar hubs, and global shortcuts to deliver a unified start experience.
  • Helpdesk Preparedness: We prepare internal communication templates and support documentation for the Favorites rename ahead of rollout completion.

Rethinking your intranet navigation for this update? We can help compare architecture strategies and streamline your global setup.

Graphic with text: The New SharePoint Experience Lands, and Featured Links Doesn't. Simple SharePoint, a division of Rego Consulting.

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