Tip: Getting around a SharePoint Error Page

If you hit a default page and it throws an error and you're kind of stuck as to what to do next, try navigating to one of the system pages - of which Site Settings is probably the most useful.

So if the page throwing an error was:

https://<portal>/<teamsite>/default.aspx then try:

For Site Settings: https://<portal>/<teamsite>/_layouts/settings.aspx

For Site Content: https://<portal>/<teamsite>/_layouts/viewlsts.aspx

To Create Content: https://<portal>/<teamsite>/_layouts/create.aspx

For title, description and icon: https://<portal>/<teamsite>/_layouts/prjsetng.aspx

This works in either SharePoint v2 or v3, but in v2 you have to include the language ID which in the U.S. would be 1033 making the url: /_layouts/1033/settings.aspx.

Or if you think removing a troublesome web part will solve the problem, go directly to the web part maintenance page by adding the query string ?contents=1 like so:

https://<portal>/<teamsite>/default.aspx?contents=1

Or if you think reghosting the page (removing any customizations) will fix the problem in v3 you can go directly to:

https://<portal><teamsite>/_layouts/reghost.aspx

Or if all else fails, and you just want the site gone, then try:

https://<portal>/<teamsite>/_layouts/deleteweb.aspx