📖 Modern vs Classic SharePoint: Key Differences

When working with SharePoint, you’ll often hear about two experiences: Classic and Modern. While both are designed to support collaboration and content management, they differ significantly in design, performance, customization approach, and long-term support.

Understanding these differences is important—especially if you’re planning a new SharePoint site or modernizing an existing one.

🏛️ What Is the Classic SharePoint Experience?

The Classic experience is the traditional SharePoint interface that many organizations used for years. It became popular because of its deep customization capabilities, allowing developers to modify layouts and behavior extensively.

Key characteristics of the Classic experience include:

A familiar but now outdated user interface
Reliance on older web parts and page templates
Limited mobile responsiveness
Customizations using Master Pages, Page Layouts, and JavaScript
Suitable for highly customized legacy intranet solutions

However, it’s important to note that Microsoft is no longer investing in new features for Classic SharePoint. It is currently in maintenance mode, meaning it only receives security updates and bug fixes.

🚀 What Is the Modern SharePoint Experience?

The Modern experience is Microsoft’s cloud-first, user-centric redesign of SharePoint. It is built to support modern collaboration needs and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365.

Key benefits of the Modern experience include:

A clean, intuitive, and responsive interface
Mobile-friendly design out of the box
Faster page load times
Deep integration with Microsoft 365 tools like Teams and Outlook
Modern web parts with drag-and-drop editing
Improved lists and document libraries

Modern SharePoint focuses on simplicity, performance, and usability, making it accessible to both technical and non-technical users.

📊 Major Differences Between Modern and Classic SharePoint

Feature	Classic Experience	Modern Experience
User Interface	Text-heavy, outdated	Clean and responsive
Performance	Slower page loads	Optimized and fast
Customization	Master Pages, JavaScript	SPFx and modern web parts
Mobile Support	Limited	Fully responsive
Microsoft 365 Integration	Minimal	Deep integration
Future Support	Maintenance only	Actively developed

💡 Microsoft’s Recommendation

Microsoft strongly recommends using modern sites instead of traditional sub-sites.

Rather than creating complex sub-site hierarchies, organizations should:

Create independent modern sites
Connect them using hub sites
Share navigation, branding, and search across associated sites

This approach improves scalability, permissions management, performance, and long-term maintenance.

📌 When to Use Classic vs Modern SharePoint

Use the Classic Experience when:

Your environment depends on heavy customizations that cannot be easily migrated
Legacy SharePoint Designer workflows are critical to business operations

Use the Modern Experience when:

You need a clean, mobile-ready user interface
Integration with Teams, Power BI, and Power Apps is required
You want a future-proof and scalable SharePoint solution

🔄 Transitioning from Classic to Modern

Moving from Classic to Modern doesn’t have to be overwhelming. A practical approach includes:

Auditing existing sites and identifying customizations
Rebuilding pages using modern layouts and web parts
Replacing sub-sites with hub-connected associated sites
Training users to adapt to the modern interface

A phased transition helps minimize disruption while maximizing adoption.

🧠 Final Thoughts

The Modern SharePoint experience represents the future of the platform. While Classic SharePoint may still serve specific legacy needs, Microsoft’s innovation, performance improvements, and integrations are all focused on Modern.

For better speed, usability, scalability, and long-term value, modern sites connected through hub architecture are the recommended path forward.

What are modern vs classic experiences?