When attempting to DELETE a SharePoint sub web within some included JavaScript (as opposed to a SharePoint App), you can simply call a REST endpoint, and pass the ‘DELETE’ verb as a HTTP header.
This is using the $.ajax method of jQuery.
You just need to use the URL of the subweb you want to delete – with the “_api/web” suffix.
var urlToDelete = 'http://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/corp/web/subweb1/_api/web';
And – to then do a call to the REST endpoint, you just construct JavaScript like this :
$.ajax({
url: urlToDelete,
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Accept': 'application/json; odata=verbose',
'X-HTTP-Method': 'DELETE'
},
success: function (data) {
alert('success');
},
error: function (err) {
alert('fail');
}
});
BUT – and this is what caught me out – you might get a “403 Forbidden” error. If you check using F12 developer tools – you’ll see the error.
The trick is to include the content of the page (hidden variable) – and use as another header :
$('#__REQUESTDIGEST').val()
And so – when you add it all together – you get this – and it works ! and no 403 error…
$.ajax({
url: urlToDelete,
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Accept': 'application/json; odata=verbose',
'X-HTTP-Method': 'DELETE',
'X-RequestDigest': $('#__REQUESTDIGEST').val()
},
success: function (data) {
alert('success');
},
error: function (err) {
alert('fail');
}
});
If you get a 500 error – it maybe that there are “subwebs” – and you need to delete those first.
