M365 Changelog: Introducing a SharePoint app bar that features global navigation

MC240066 – Updated May 04, 2021: Microsoft is ready to proceed with the rollout and have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Your SharePoint modern communication and team sites will soon feature the SharePoint app bar which provides quick access to customizable global navigation as well as other intranet resources. The SharePoint app bar makes important content and resources easily accessible for users on these sites, regardless of where they might be in SharePoint.

Key points

• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 70576
• Timing:
  • Targeted release is complete.
  • Roll out to Standard tenants will begin in early May and complete by the end of May.
• Roll-out: tenant and user level
• Action: review and assess

How this affects your organization

Users access the SharePoint app bar from the upper left-hand side of the browser on the SharePoint start page and throughout modern SharePoint sites. The SharePoint app bar improves global wayfinding and dynamically displays personalized content for sites, news, and files.

The app bar features customizable global navigation that leads to important intranet resources. Personalized content, news and files, is driven by Microsoft Graph and cannot be customized.  

What you need to do to prepare

Please review these admin notes in the support document.

If you take no action, the new SharePoint app bar will appear on your SharePoint modern communication and team sites. Until you customize it, the global nav entry point will refer your users to their SharePoint start page.

• You can temporarily disable the SharePoint app bar until October 31, 2021 in your tenant to prepare for this change or to control its rollout to users. 
• Customizing the global navigation tab requires that you have an organization home site. Learn how to set up a home site. You can set up a home site just for global navigation.

Learn more

• Introduction to the SharePoint app bar
• Introduction to SharePoint information architecture
• Use the SharePoint app bar
• Learn how to modernize classic SharePoint sites and pages