How to Make a Private SharePoint Site Public? A Complete Guide

Do you need to convert your private SharePoint site to a public one? Are you looking for “How to make a private SharePoint site public?” If yes, this write-up is for you. Here you will find the two distinct approaches to making the SharePoint site public.

SharePoint users are increasing day by day because of its immense features. Private and Public Sites are one of their most useful features when there is a matter of sharing the information to the selected members.

As per the latest version of the SharePoint Online, modern team sites are created with an Office 365 group. These sites are private by default. But when you need to acquire a large audience, you need to make them private.

In this guide, you will find the complete roadmap to make a private SharePoint public. But before going further, let’s take a look at the difference between private and public SharePoint sites.

Difference Between Private and Public SharePoint Sites

Let’s take a look at the key differences between both sites before going to change SharePoint site private to public.

Feature	Private SharePoint Site	Public SharePoint Site
Accessibility	Accessible only to members who have the appropriate permissions.	Anyone can access the site URL.
Visibility	It is not visible in the search results to anyone.	Appear in the search results.
Security	Highly secured as compared to the other ones with strict permissions.	Less secure than private sites
Data Sensitivity	Widely used to store highly sensitive data.	Not efficient for storing highly sensitive data.
External Sharing	Requires explicit permission to share content with external users.	You can check external Sharing in SharePoint and find it can be easily shared with external users using SharePoint’s external sharing features.
Collaboration	Collaboration is possible within teams or departments.	Supports both internal and external collaboration.
Backup and Recovery	Regularly backed up and restored by the organization.	May be backed up and restored by the organization or by the external user.

How to Make a Private SharePoint Site Public Using Admin Center?

You can change the private site to the public to grasp a large audience. It can be done by just changing the privacy settings of the site. Follow the below steps to do so.

Step 1. Firstly sign in to your SharePoint Admin account. Then open the SharePoint site for which you want to change the privacy settings.

Step 2. Now, look at the top right corner to ensure the site is private or public (if there is a Private group, it means it is private, else it is public.)

Step 3. If it is found as a private group, then open the settings.

Step 4. Now, choose the Site information option.

Step 5. In the opened dialog, scroll to the Privacy settings option if found.

Step 6. Click on the drop-down choose Public options and hit Save.

[Note:- You can also use these steps if you are searching for how to make a public SharePoint site private. Just change the Privacy settings from Public to Private.]

How to Change SharePoint Site Private to Public Using PnP PowerShell?

If you are a tech enthusiast and always want to simplify SharePoint tasks using PowerShell, then the below commands are for you.

$URLofSite = "enter here"

Try {
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $URLofSite -Interactive

$SiteInfo = Get-PnPSite -Includes GroupId

Set-PnPMicrosoft365Group -Identity $SiteInfo.GroupID -IsPrivate:$False
Write-host "Site's Privacy is updated successfully!" -f Green
}
Catch {
write-host -f Red "`tError occurred:" $_.Exception.Message
}

Is Migration of Public Sites Possible?

If you are worried about migrating your sites to another SharePoint tenant due to any reasons. Then you can use the Most Efficient SharePoint Migration Tool.

Download Now Purchase Now

This tool is able to move your sites to the destination account irrespective of their privacy settings whether it is public or private. Below are the quick steps of the tool to accomplish the task.

Step 1. Download, Install, and Run the tool.
Step 2. Select Office365 as the Source & Destination account.
Step 3. Choose the option of Sites under the workload section.
Step 4. Complete the credentials of the both Source & Destination accounts.
Step 5. Add the sites and users then start Migration.

Concluding Words

Changing a private SharePoint site to a public can be the right way to share the information with a wider audience. By utilizing the steps outlined in this detailed guide, you can successfully convert your private SharePoint site to public. Also, remember to review the permissions and settings after converting the site to public. Hence the query of “how to make a private SharePoint site public” has been resolved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the different security risks of changing a SharePoint site public?
A – Changing a private SharePoint site to the public can increase the risk of crucial data. To avoid risks, you can restrict access to sensitive content, enable 2FA, and also consider other measures.

Q2. Can I make a SharePoint site public and still keep some private areas?
A – You can use permissions levels or folder-level security to restrict crucial data from other permitted members.

Q3. What happens if I reverse back a public SharePoint site to a private one?
A – If you make the public site private, then the permitted user cannot access the site. They require other permissions to view the private content.

Q4. How to make a private SharePoint site public using the SharePoint admin center?
A – You can use the below steps to change the private site to public in SharePoint.

• Step 1. Open the SharePoint site.
• Step 2. Click on the Settings and then Site Information.
• Step 3. Hit on the privacy settings drop-down.
• Step 4. Choose the Public option and then Save.