How to Troubleshoot Hub Site Theme Does Not Apply to Child Sites

You associated a child site with a SharePoint hub site, but the hub site theme did not apply to the child site. The child site still shows its old color scheme or no theme at all. This problem occurs when the child site uses a custom theme or when the hub site theme inheritance is blocked by site-level settings. This article explains the root cause of the theme not applying and provides step-by-step methods to fix the issue.

Why the Hub Site Theme Does Not Apply to a Child Site

A hub site theme is designed to automatically propagate to all child sites associated with that hub. This gives a consistent visual identity across the hub. The theme includes the site logo, color palette, and navigation style.

The theme does not apply to a child site for three main reasons:

Custom Theme Already Applied to the Child Site

If a child site was created from a custom template or had a theme manually applied before it was associated with the hub, that custom theme takes priority. SharePoint does not override a manually selected theme with the hub theme. The child site keeps its own theme until you remove it.

Child Site Uses a Different Site Template

Some site templates, such as the Communication site template, do not inherit the hub theme by default. The hub theme applies only to team sites and modern team sites. Communication sites may show the hub navigation but keep their own theme.

Hub Theme Inheritance Is Disabled at the Site Level

A site owner or administrator can disable theme inheritance from the hub. This setting is available in the site’s look and feel options. When inheritance is off, the child site ignores the hub theme.

Steps to Force the Hub Site Theme to Apply to Child Sites

Follow these steps in order. Test after each step to see if the theme applies.

Method 1: Remove Custom Theme from the Child Site

1. Go to the child site
   Open the child site in your browser. Select the gear icon in the upper right corner and choose Change the look.
2. Select the hub theme
   In the Change the look panel, select Theme. Look for the theme named after your hub site. It usually appears at the top of the list with a hub icon. Select it, then select Save.
3. Verify the theme
   Refresh the child site page. The colors and logo should match the hub site. If the hub theme is not in the list, proceed to Method 2.

Method 2: Reassociate the Child Site with the Hub

1. Open the hub site
   Navigate to the hub site. Select the gear icon and choose Site information.
2. Remove the child site association
   In the Site information panel, select View all site settings. Under Site Administration, select Hub site associations. Find the child site that is not showing the theme. Select Remove.
3. Reassociate the child site
   Wait 5 minutes. In the same Hub site associations page, select Add. Enter the URL of the child site and select Add. This forces the hub theme to be sent to the child site again.
4. Check the child site
   Open the child site and refresh the page. The theme should now match the hub site.

Method 3: Use PowerShell to Force Theme Application

1. Connect to SharePoint Online PowerShell
   Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator. Run Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com. Sign in with your SharePoint admin credentials.
2. Get the hub site theme
   Run Get-SPOHubSite -Identity https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/hubsite. Note the SiteId value.
3. Apply the theme to a child site
   Run Set-SPOHubSiteTheme -Identity https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/hubsite -ChildSiteUrl https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/childsite -ThemeId "". Replace childsite with the actual child site URL and SiteId with the value from step 2.
4. Repeat for all child sites
   Run the same command for each child site that does not show the hub theme. Refresh each child site to confirm the theme changed.

If the Hub Site Theme Still Does Not Apply

Hub Site Theme Is Not Set

The hub site itself must have a theme applied. Without a theme on the hub, child sites have nothing to inherit. Go to the hub site, select Change the look, and apply a theme. Then reassociate the child sites.

Child Site Uses a Communication Site Template

Communication sites do not inherit the hub site theme by design. You can manually apply the same color palette to the communication site. Go to Change the look on the communication site and select the same theme name. This gives a similar look without automatic inheritance.

Browser Cache or CDN Cache

Sometimes the old theme is cached in your browser or in the SharePoint content delivery network. Clear your browser cache and open the child site in an InPrivate or Incognito window. If the theme appears, the cache was the issue.

Item	Hub Site Theme	Child Site Custom Theme
Description	Theme set on the hub site that propagates to associated sites	Theme manually applied to a single site, overriding the hub theme
Application method	Automatic when child site is associated with the hub	Manual via Change the look panel or site template
Priority	Lower priority; overridden by custom themes	Higher priority; blocks hub theme inheritance
Fix to apply hub theme	Remove custom theme from child site or use PowerShell to force	Select hub theme in Change the look panel

You can now identify why a child site does not show the hub site theme. Use the Change the look panel on the child site to select the hub theme if a custom theme is blocking it. If the issue persists, use the PowerShell cmdlet Set-SPOHubSiteTheme to force the theme. As a final check, ensure the hub site itself has a theme applied and that the child site is not a Communication site, which does not support automatic theme inheritance.