Modern vs Classic Pages

Analogy categoryAnalogies

SharePoint pages come in two rendering models: classic pages, built on ASPX master pages and page layouts inherited from SharePoint 2013/2016 publishing infrastructure, and modern pages, built on client-side web parts (SPFx) rendered through a responsive, mobile-friendly canvas. Every site you create in SharePoint Online today defaults to the modern experience, but classic pages still exist in older publishing sites, some Central Administration pages, and sites where the publishing feature was activated.

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Cricket analogy: Think of classic pages like Test cricket played under the older uncovered-pitch rules of the 1970s Ashes era, while modern pages are like T20 franchise cricket in the IPL — same sport, but a completely re-engineered format built for speed and adaptability.

Auditing a Tenant with the Modernization Scanner

Microsoft provides a Site Classification tool and the SharePoint Modernization Scanner (a PowerShell-based PnP tool) that inspects a tenant's site collections and flags which pages are still rendered through classic ASPX master pages versus the modern client-side canvas. The scanner outputs a CSV report scoring each site on modernization readiness, factoring in custom master pages, publishing infrastructure, and third-party web parts that have no modern equivalent.

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Cricket analogy: Running the Modernization Scanner is like a coach reviewing DRS-style ball-tracking data after a series, such as India's 2021 Gabba win, to see which batting techniques (pages) still rely on outdated footwork and need retraining.

Where Classic Still Shows Up

Certain surfaces stubbornly remain classic even in 2026: SharePoint Central Administration pages, some list and library 'classic experience' fallbacks used for compatibility with older InfoPath forms, and sites where publishing features were enabled for heavy branding investments made years ago. Toggling a library back to the classic experience is still possible through library settings, but Microsoft has been steadily removing that switch tenant by tenant as part of its modern-only roadmap.

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Cricket analogy: Central Administration lingering in classic mode is like a franchise still using an old-fashioned physical scorebook backstage even though the stadium's giant screen runs modern Hawk-Eye graphics.

powershell

# Connect to a site and inspect a page's layout type
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing" -Interactive

$page = Get-PnPClientSidePage -Identity "Home.aspx"
if ($page) {
    Write-Host "Home.aspx is a MODERN page (client-side canvas)"
} else {
    Write-Host "Home.aspx could not be loaded as a modern page - likely CLASSIC"
}

# List all pages in the Site Pages library and flag classic ones
Get-PnPListItem -List "Site Pages" -Fields "FileLeafRef","PageLayoutType" |
    Select-Object @{N="Page";E={$_["FileLeafRef"]}}, @{N="LayoutType";E={$_["PageLayoutType"]}}

Modern pages store their content as JSON in the CanvasContent1 field of the Site Pages list, while classic pages store markup directly in the page's HTML body — this is why modern pages render consistently across desktop, mobile, and Teams embeds.

Classic publishing sites cannot be modernized page-by-page in isolation if they rely on custom master pages or page layouts with embedded server-side code; a full publishing-to-modern migration project (often using the PnP Modernization Framework) is required, and it can break existing SharePoint Designer workflows.

Modern pages use a client-side canvas built on SharePoint Framework (SPFx) web parts; classic pages use ASPX master pages and page layouts.
Every new SharePoint Online site defaults to the modern experience since the 2016-2017 rollout of communication and team sites.
The PnP SharePoint Modernization Scanner audits a tenant and scores sites on modernization readiness.
Classic experience still persists in Central Administration, some legacy list views, and older publishing sites with heavy branding.
Modern pages store content as JSON in the CanvasContent1 field; classic pages embed markup directly in the page body.
Full publishing-site modernization typically requires the PnP Modernization Framework rather than a page-by-page toggle.
Custom master pages and SharePoint Designer workflows are common blockers to modernizing legacy classic sites.