CurrenI run # SharePoint - Site Types
Overview
SharePoint has two main site types when creating a new site, plus a structural concept (Hub Sites) for linking multiple sites together.
Team Site
Built around a group of collaborators. Creating one spins up a Microsoft 365 Group behind the scenes, which connects it to a shared mailbox, Teams channel, Planner, and calendar. Everyone in the group can contribute and edit. Navigation sits on the left.
Comes with a document library out of the box — the natural choice for shared cloud file storage within a working group. Closest SharePoint equivalent to Google Drive for a small team.
Best for: Shared drives, client file storage, small team collaboration, anything where multiple people need read/write access.
Adding a friend/guest: Add them as a Member (internal) or Guest (external). Permissions are managed through the M365 Group.
Communication Site
Designed for broadcasting to a wider audience. A small number of owners publish content; most visitors are read-only. Navigation sits at the top. Uses standard SharePoint permission groups (Owners/Members/Visitors) rather than an M365 Group — no Teams team, no shared mailbox spun up automatically.
Best for: Intranets, announcements, company-wide reference content.
Hub Sites
Not a separate site type you create from scratch. A way to tie existing Team and Communication Sites together under shared branding, navigation, and search. Useful once you have multiple sites and want them to feel connected.
Document Center
A legacy/specialised site type for large-scale formal document management — compliance, records management, version-controlled policy libraries. Overkill for general file storage. Not presented as a standard option in modern SharePoint creation flow.
Avoid unless: You have a specific records/compliance requirement.
Team Site + Teams Integration
When a Team Site is created, it can be connected to a Teams team — but this depends on how it was created:
- Created from SharePoint admin: Spins up an M365 Group but no Teams team. Teams can be added later if needed.
- Created from inside Teams: Automatically wires up a SharePoint site behind the team. The Files tab in each Teams channel points directly at a folder in the SharePoint document library.
If users are already in Teams heavily, the Files tab workflow is natural — drag attachments from Outlook straight into the Files tab, which lands them in SharePoint. No barriers.
If they want SharePoint visible in File Explorer without it surfacing inside Teams, create the site from SharePoint admin and don’t connect Teams. They can add it later without rebuilding anything.
Drag from Outlook
Works fine either way — drag attachments from Outlook to:
- File Explorer (via synced SharePoint library), or
- Teams Files tab (if connected)
Recommendation by Use Case
| Use Case | Recommended Site Type |
|---|---|
| Shared cloud storage, small team | Team Site |
| Personal cloud storage only | OneDrive |
| Company intranet / announcements | Communication Site |
| Multiple sites, unified navigation | Hub Sites |
| Formal records/compliance | Document Center |
Sources