A quick-reference guide to what SharePoint Online creates automatically when you provision a new site. Covers both team sites (Group-connected) and communication sites.
| Element | Team site (Group-connected) | Communication site |
|---|---|---|
| Documents library | Created | Created |
| Site Assets library | Created | Created |
| Site Pages library | Created | Created |
| Default home page | Team site template | Communication site template (hero layout) |
| Microsoft 365 Group backing | Yes (shared mailbox, Planner, Teams-ready) | No |
| Owners permission group | Yes - Full Control | Yes - Full Control |
| Members permission group | Yes - Edit | Yes - Edit |
| Visitors permission group | Yes - Read | Yes - Read |
| Major versioning on Documents library | Enabled | Enabled |
| Minor (draft) versioning on Documents library | Off | Off |
| External sharing setting | Inherits tenant policy | Inherits tenant policy |
| Storage quota | Drawn from tenant pool | Drawn from tenant pool |
What does SharePoint create by default when you provision a new site?
Every modern SharePoint site starts with three document libraries (Documents, Site Assets, Site Pages), a home page, and three permission groups. No default lists are provisioned. Team sites also receive a backing Microsoft 365 Group, which provides a shared mailbox, Planner board, and the ability to connect a Teams workspace. Communication sites have none of these. Both site types inherit the tenant-level external sharing policy and draw storage from the shared tenant pool rather than receiving a pre-assigned quota.
Default document libraries
Three libraries appear in every new modern SharePoint site at provisioning time, regardless of site type:
| Library display name | Internal name | Purpose | Shown in left navigation | Major versioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documents | Shared Documents |
Primary working document storage. The library end users interact with directly. | Yes | Enabled |
| Site Assets | SiteAssets |
Stores images and media embedded in pages, navigation logos, and banner images. | No | Enabled |
| Site Pages | SitePages |
Stores all modern pages and news posts created in the site. | No (accessible via Pages) | Enabled |
All three libraries count toward the site collection's storage quota from the moment the site is provisioned. Site Assets accumulates storage silently: every image embedded in a page version is stored there, and if major versioning is uncapped (the default for a new library), repeated page edits can generate a large number of stored asset copies. See how to generate a per-library storage report to identify which of these libraries is driving quota growth on any given site.
Default permission groups and their scope
Both site types create three SharePoint permission groups. For team sites, these groups mirror the Microsoft 365 Group membership automatically:
| Group name | Permission level | Initial membership (team site) | Initial membership (comms site) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Site name] Owners | Full Control | M365 Group owners; the user who provisioned the site | The user who provisioned the site only |
| [Site name] Members | Edit | M365 Group members (synced bidirectionally) | Empty at provisioning |
| [Site name] Visitors | Read | Empty at provisioning | Empty at provisioning |
For team sites, Microsoft 365 Group membership and SharePoint group membership are linked. Adding someone to the M365 Group adds them to the Members SharePoint group, and vice versa. Communication sites have no M365 Group, so all permission changes must be made directly in SharePoint. The Members group starts empty - the site owner must populate it manually.
The Edit permission level allows users to add, edit, and delete list items and files but does not grant permission to manage site settings or change permissions. Full Control is unrestricted. For the complete breakdown of what each built-in permission level includes, see the SharePoint permission levels reference.
Auditing permission group membership across all sites in a tenant is one of the most time-consuming tasks for SharePoint administrators. Report Master's permission matrix export generates a per-library breakdown in Excel showing every user and group and their effective access level, without requiring manual site-by-site review.