Duplicate site collection allows you to create a duplicate of an existing site collection. This is useful if you need to create multiple sites with the same structure, or if you would like to use an existing site as a base to build a new site from.
Tip: You can also use Copy structure and content - Site collections to create a duplicate site collection. Duplicating with Copy structure and content will give you access to more options during the process.
Prerequisite
You have site collection admin permissions on the site collection(s) you want to duplicate.
Note: Site collection admin permissions are required even if you have higher admin privileges like SharePoint admin or Global admin permissions. For more information, see Microsoft administrative permissions.
Index
How-to
Select Explore from the menu.
Navigate to the site you want to duplicate.
Select the site.
In the Quick actions menu, click Duplicate site collection.
Set your preferred options (see the section below for more details).
Click Duplicate.
The task will now run. You can access the results anytime through Tasks. For more information about the results, see the section below.
Options
Duplicate target
Review the site collections you targeted to get duplicated in your tenant or farm.
Title, Description, and URL
Use the fields to give your new duplicate site a different name (required), description (optional), and URL (required). The URL will automatically appear the same as the Title but can be changed manually.
You can change the URL's managed path by opening the dropdown menu. For example, you can select /teams/ instead of /sites/.
Site collection administrator
You can leave this option as-is or select a new administrator for the duplicate site.
If you want to select a new administrator, first use the X to remove the current admin. Then, begin to type the name of the new administrator and select the user from the dropdown list that appears.
Elements to include
Select which elements you would like to include from the original site collection.
Quotas
Storage quota
Choose between Automatic (default) and Manual.
See the Microsoft article, Check quota data for a site for more information.
Server resource quota
You can leave the 300 (default) or manually input your preference.
See the Microsoft article, Manage site storage limits for more information.
Results
When the Duplicate site collection action is finished running, you will be taken to the Results page.
Check the Status column to see if an operation was successful.
If there is a warning or error, you will see the reason in the Details column. Access more information by clicking the Help me solve this link.
For information on how to filter, customize, and export your results, see Tasks overview.
Note: If you select the option Elements to include - Content, the duplicated files are first copied to Azure Storage before being copied to your environment. As a result, you may see a status bar indicating that Microsoft 365 is importing items even after the duplication is complete. This information will also be available in Tasks.