SharePoint Online: thumbnail in Quick Links web part displays globe icon instead of SharePoint icon (spo.png)

Question

SharePoint Online: thumbnail in Quick Links web part displays globe icon instead of SharePoint icon (spo.png)

Gael 1

Hi all,

We have a SharePoint hub associated to some 20 communication sites. When adding a Quick Links web part to a site page with a link to another site page, I expect the thumbnail to be the SharePoint thumbnail (spo.png), but this is not always the case: sometimes the default globe (web) icon is displayed.

There is a clear difference between the "problematic" sites, and the "good" ones where everything works as expected.

The "good" sites were created anytime since 2020 by one of our SharePoint admins. In the SharePoint admin center, I see they are created "from SharePoint admin center". A quick link to any SharePoint page (either from a "good" site or a "bad" site) always displays the proper spo.png icon.

The "bad" sites were created in 2021 by an external party, using Valo as the "intranet" layer. In the SharePoint admin center, I see they are created "from Microsoft 365 group". In a "bad" site page, a quick link to a "good" site page always displays the proper spo.png icon. A quick link to any "bad" site page displays the globe icon. When inspecting the element, I see this for the globe thumbnail:

The external party removed the Valo layer in 2024. However this issue has always been around and they have never been able to explain this discrepancy. All users see the same thing, regardless of the browser (Edge, Chrome)

It's a big mystery to me and I have checked everything I could in the sites settings. I'll be very grateful to anyone who can give me a hint towards a solution!

Gaelle

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3 answers

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Answer 1

Gael 1

These "bad" sites are communication sites, created by a third party 4 years ago, "from Microsoft 365 group". Maybe this piece of info is completely irrelevant, but I mention it because it's the only difference I can see with the other sites that I call the "good" ones. These other site are either communication or team sites. There might be other settings that are different, or things done using a PowerShell script, but I cannot see that.

Jayden-P 26,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-27T14:06:13.2133333+00:00

Hi @Gael

I agree this is very strange due to the inconsistent behavior.

You can try creating a new site to test if it behaves like "good" sites.

If it works normally, that will narrow the issue down to the site that has been created by the external party

I truly apologize that I couldn't assist you further since this is beyond my knowledge.

My suggestion is to raise ticket via Admin Center to our support team.

If you know what the cause is, please share here so I can learn from you.

So, I'll be able to help other in the future.

Thanks for your understanding and contribution.
Jayden-P 26,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-28T13:11:24.17+00:00

Hi @Gael

Have you raised a support ticket?

Any update from you would be great.

If you think our discussion is helpful to you, please kindly mark it as accepted answer.

Warm thanks.
Gael 1 Reputation point

2025-08-28T14:17:01.3666667+00:00

Hi Jayden, thank you for trying to help me! Newly create sites behave properly, so it's really the "external party" sites. I will raise a support ticket.
Jayden-P 26,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-28T14:23:14.1866667+00:00

Hi @Gael

If you ever find out what is the problem, please share here so I can learn from you too.

That way, I can help more people in the future.

Best regards.

Answer 2

Gael 1

Hi Jayden,

Thank you for your swift answer!

When adding a link to a page in the same site, we always use "Site". The thumbnail is always the SharePoint icon, even if we'd use "From a link" and copy/paste the URL. So that is all right.

When adding a link to a page in another site, we can only do that through "From a link" (afaik?). The only scenario when we see the globe icon, is in a "bad" site page, when we add a link to another "bad" site page. Which is 80% of our intranet hub.

In all other scenarios, the thumbnail is the SharePoint icon. So in our tenant, Microsoft seems to recognize it is a SP page. Apparently you experience something else, and you always see the globe when adding a link to another site page?

We already apply the workaround you suggest, but as you pointed out, that is time-consuming.

Jayden-P 26,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-27T12:51:12.7833333+00:00

Hi @Gael

Thanks for your reply.

Apparently you experience something else, and you always see the globe when adding a link to another site page?

Yes, that is my case.

You mentioned that for "bad" site, they are created "from Microsoft 365 group".

Can you confirm is it Communication site or Teams Site?

Answer 3

Hi @Gael

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

After reviewing your post, I test it on my side and there are a few things I noticed.

I'll get the globe icon when adding a page from another site. (a page in Site A when add to Site B will be displayed as a globe).

May I ask how you add a site in Quick Link? By using Sites or From a link?

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Every link from a different site will show up as globe icon because Microsoft cannot detect even if it's in the same tenant.

However, I found a workaround for you. When you inspect an element, you can point to SharePoint logo, it will return a link like this.

https://res-1.cdn.office.net/files/fabric-cdn-prod_20240610.001/assets/item-types/64_1.5x/spo.png

Save the file and upload it to OneDrive. You can edit the file logo by Edit Quick Link.

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I know this is not yet the best solution because you have to do extra work.

Thanks for your understanding.

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