MC1186372 - SharePoint branding governance via PowerShell

Introduction

Coming soon to SharePoint: Tenant admins will be able to centrally manage site branding using PowerShell. This update supports consistent branding across all SharePoint sites by enabling enforcement of enterprise themes, disabling custom branding on specific sites, and auditing branding changes. These capabilities help organizations maintain a unified brand experience and improve governance.

This message is associated with Roadmap ID 526794.

When this will happen:

• Targeted Release (Worldwide): Begins late November 2025, completes mid-December 2025
• General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Begins mid-January 2026, completes late January 2026

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected: Tenant admins managing SharePoint Online branding and governance.

What will happen:

• Admins can disable or enable custom site branding per site using PowerShell.
• When site branding is disabled, site managers lose access to Site branding page in Site Settings.
• Admins can apply enterprise themes (including multi-color themes) to specific sites via PowerShell.
• Branding changes made via PowerShell are tracked for audit and accountability.
• New site creation scripts can include branding settings to ensure consistency from launch.
• Admins can remove existing Brand Center via PowerShell.
• Theme management via PowerShell is transitioning to a centralized model:
  • The primary geo will act as the central location for organization-wide theme creation and management.
  • Satellite geos will be able to view and apply themes from the primary geo using Get-SPOTheme and Set-SPOWebTheme cmdlets.
  • Themes previously created in satellite geos will remain available, but creating new themes in satellite geos will no longer be supported.

Here’s what’s new:

• Consistent branding enforcement: Admins can disable or enable custom branding per site. When disabled, site managers lose access to Site branding page in Site Settings.
• Automated theme application: Apply approved enterprise themes (including multi-color themes) to specific sites using PowerShell.
• Audit and transparency: All branding changes made via PowerShell are tracked, enabling visibility into who made updates.
• Automated site creation with branding: Embed theme settings directly into site creation scripts to ensure new sites launch with consistent branding.
• Easier Brand Center management: Admins can remove an existing Brand Center via PowerShell to reset or update branding controls.
• Centralized theme management across geos: Themes created in the primary geo are visible and applicable in satellite geos. Satellite geos can apply but not create new themes going forward.

What you can do to prepare:

• Review PowerShell documentation:
  • Set-SPOSite
  • Get-SPOTheme
  • Set-SPOWebTheme
• Upgrade your SharePoint Online Management Shell to the latest version after rollout.
• Communicate branding governance changes to your SharePoint admin team.
• Update internal documentation to reflect new PowerShell capabilities and theme management model.

Compliance considerations:

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.