How to Prevent This Site Cannot Be Reached After URL Rename

When you rename a SharePoint site address, users often see the error “This site cannot be reached” when they try to access the old URL. This happens because SharePoint does not automatically redirect all traffic from the old address to the new one, and browser caches or DNS records may still point to the old path. This article explains why the error occurs and provides a clear set of steps to prevent it. You will learn how to configure redirects, update internal links, and communicate the change to your team.

Why URL Renames Cause “This Site Cannot Be Reached”

When you rename a SharePoint site URL, the underlying site collection remains the same, but the web application’s routing table is updated. SharePoint does not create a permanent redirect (HTTP 301) from the old URL to the new one by default. Instead, the old URL becomes unresolvable, and any request to it returns a 404 or a generic “site cannot be reached” error. This affects users who have bookmarked the old address, saved links in documents, or rely on cached DNS entries.

The error can also appear if the rename process is interrupted or if the site is still being provisioned after the change. In some cases, browser caches store the old URL and try to load it before the new address is recognized. Understanding these causes helps you take proactive steps to ensure a smooth transition.

Steps to Prevent the Error Before and After a URL Rename

Follow these steps to avoid the “This site cannot be reached” error when you rename a SharePoint site URL. Perform the steps in order, starting with preparation and ending with verification.

1. Notify all users about the change
   Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center at admin.microsoft.com. Select Health then Message center. Create a new message for your organization that includes the current site URL, the new URL, and the exact date and time of the change. Send this notice at least three days before the rename.
2. Rename the site address in the SharePoint admin center
   Open the SharePoint admin center at admin.microsoft.com/sharepoint. Select Active sites from the left menu. Find your site in the list and click its name. In the panel that opens, select the Settings tab. Under Site address, click Edit. Enter the new URL path and then click Save. A confirmation dialog appears; check the box that says Automatically redirect users from the old URL. Click Save again.
3. Verify that the redirect is active
   After the rename completes, open a new browser window in incognito or private mode. Enter the old site URL into the address bar. You should be automatically redirected to the new URL. If you are not redirected, the automatic redirect option was not enabled, or the change is still propagating. Wait up to 15 minutes and try again.
4. Update internal links on the site
   Navigate to the new site URL. Select Site contents from the left navigation. Open the Site pages library. For each page that contains links to other pages on the same site, edit the page and update the link URLs to use the new site address. Pay special attention to quick launch links, hub navigation, and web parts that reference site-relative paths.
5. Update links in documents and emails
   Search your organization’s document libraries, email archives, and shared files for any hardcoded references to the old site URL. Replace these with the new URL. Use the SharePoint search or a third-party link checker tool to find broken links. For documents stored in SharePoint, you can use the Check out and Edit features to update hyperlinks.
6. Clear browser caches for affected users
   Advise users to clear their browser caches after the URL rename. In Microsoft Edge, click the three-dot menu, select Settings, then Privacy, search, and services. Under Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear. Select Cached images and files and click Clear now. This ensures the browser fetches the new URL instead of the cached old one.
7. Test the site from external networks
   If your site is accessible externally, have a user outside your corporate network try to access the old URL. External users may have different DNS caches that take longer to update. If they encounter the error, they may need to flush their DNS cache by opening a command prompt and running ipconfig /flushdns.

If SharePoint Still Shows the Error After the Main Fix

The automatic redirect option was not enabled during the rename

If you renamed the site without checking the automatic redirect box, the old URL will not redirect. To fix this, you must create a manual redirect. Go to the SharePoint admin center and select Active sites. Click your site and then select Settings. Under Site address, click Edit. You will see an option to add a redirect URL. Enter the old URL and save. This creates a server-side redirect that works for all users.

Users still see the old URL in search results

SharePoint search indexes can take up to 24 hours to update after a URL rename. During this time, search results may still show the old address. Ask users to click the result and then manually change the URL in the address bar to the new one. Once the index refreshes, the correct URL will appear. You can speed up this process by requesting a full crawl of the site collection from the SharePoint admin center under Search then Manage search schema.

The site appears but some pages return 404 errors

If the site loads but specific pages show a 404 error, the page URLs were not updated during the rename. This often occurs for pages with custom URLs or for pages stored in sub-sites that were not included in the redirect. Navigate to each affected page using the new site URL, edit the page, and republish it. This updates the internal routing and resolves the 404 error.

Original URL vs New URL After Rename: Key Differences

Item	Original URL (Before Rename)	New URL (After Rename)
Description	The address used before the change	The address assigned after the rename
Accessibility	Returns “This site cannot be reached” if no redirect is set	Works immediately for all users with proper permissions
Redirect support	No automatic redirect by default	N/A – this is the target address
Search index	May still appear for up to 24 hours	Becomes the default after the next crawl
Bookmarks	Will break unless a redirect is configured	Must be created fresh by users

After completing the steps above, your SharePoint site should transition to the new URL without users seeing the “This site cannot be reached” error. The key actions are enabling the automatic redirect in the admin center, notifying users in advance, and updating all internal links. For advanced preparation, consider using a URL redirect tool like the SharePoint Patterns and Practices (PnP) PowerShell module to bulk-update links across multiple sites.