Quick Links Web Part Loses Icons: Root Cause and Fix

You add icons to links in the Quick Links web part on a SharePoint page. After you or someone else edits the page, the icons disappear. The links remain, but the icon images are replaced by a generic placeholder. This problem happens because SharePoint stores icon references as relative URLs that break when the page is saved under certain conditions. This article explains why icons vanish and gives you a step-by-step fix to restore and protect them.

Why Quick Links Icons Disappear in SharePoint

The Quick Links web part lets you add a link and pick an icon from a built-in library. When you select an icon, SharePoint stores a reference to that icon as a property inside the web part’s JSON definition. The property contains a relative URL that points to the icon image file in the SharePoint asset library. When the page is saved, the relative URL can break if the web part’s internal ID changes or if the page is copied, moved, or restored from a previous version. The broken URL causes the icon to fall back to a generic placeholder image.

The root cause is that the icon reference is stored as a string that depends on the web part’s position on the page. If you edit the page layout, move the web part, or use the “Copy” command to duplicate the page, the web part’s instance ID changes. The icon URL still points to the old instance ID, so SharePoint cannot find the image. The same failure occurs when the site’s theme or icon set is updated, because the icon ID mapping changes but the cached URL does not update.

Steps to Fix Missing Quick Links Icons

1. Edit the page and open the Quick Links web part
   Navigate to the SharePoint page that shows the missing icons. Select Edit in the top right corner. Hover over the Quick Links web part and click the Pencil icon to open the web part properties pane.
2. Remove the broken icon and reapply it
   In the properties pane, locate the link with the missing icon. Click the link to expand its settings. Click the current icon placeholder (the generic image). Select Remove icon. Then click Add icon and choose the correct icon from the library. Click Apply to save the change.
3. Save and republish the page
   Click Publish or Republish in the top right corner. The icon should now display correctly. If the icon disappears again, proceed to the next step.
4. Use PowerShell to clear the cached icon property
   Install the PnP PowerShell module if you have not already. Connect to your SharePoint site: Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite". Run the following command to get the page: $page = Get-PnPPage -Identity "PageName.aspx". Then run Set-PnPPage -Identity "PageName.aspx" -Publish to force a full re-render of the web part. This command clears the cached icon reference and rebuilds it from the icon ID.
5. Disable modern page authoring as a last resort
   Go to SharePoint admin center > Settings > Page editing. For the affected site collection, set “Allow modern page authoring” to Off. This disables the client-side code that corrupts icon URLs. Users will edit pages in classic mode, which stores icons differently. This step is a workaround and should be used only if the icon loss persists after steps 1-4.

If Quick Links Icons Still Do Not Show After the Fix

Quick Links web part shows a broken image icon for all links

This pattern indicates that the site’s icon library has been removed or renamed. The Quick Links web part references icons by a GUID that points to a system library named “Site Assets.” If an administrator deleted or moved the “Site Assets” library, the icon images are unreachable. To fix this, recreate the “Site Assets” library at the root of the site collection. Go to Site contents > Add an app > Document Library. Name it “Site Assets” exactly. The Quick Links web part will automatically find the library and display icons again.

Icons disappear after moving the page to another site

When you copy or move a page to a different site collection, the icon URLs do not update to the new site’s asset library. The icons point to the original site’s library, which is inaccessible from the new site. The only fix is to manually reapply each icon after the move. Use the steps in the main fix to remove and re-add each icon on the moved page.

Icons vanish after a site theme change

SharePoint icon sets are theme-aware. When you change the site theme, the icon ID mapping can shift. The Quick Links web part stores the icon ID at the time of selection, not a dynamic reference. After a theme change, the stored ID no longer matches any available icon. Reapply the icon after the theme change. To prevent this, set the site theme before adding Quick Links icons, and avoid changing the theme afterward.

Quick Links Web Part Icon Types: Built-in Icons vs Custom Icons

Item	Built-in Icons	Custom Icons
Source	SharePoint icon library in Site Assets	External image URL uploaded by user
Storage format	Icon ID (GUID) mapped to a relative URL	Absolute URL entered in the icon field
Likelihood of loss	High — relative URL breaks on page move or copy	Low — absolute URL stays valid unless the external image is deleted
Fix method	Reapply icon or use PowerShell to clear cache	Verify the external URL is still accessible

Built-in icons are easier to select but break more often. Custom icons require an absolute URL but remain stable across page operations. For high-traffic pages, consider using custom icons hosted on a reliable CDN to avoid the icon-loss problem entirely.