SharePoint migration

Concept

Moving content from file shares, other cloud services or older SharePoint Server versions into SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365. The content is copied; the source files are not deleted.

Description

Microsoft Learn describes SharePoint migration as moving content into Microsoft 365, meaning SharePoint and OneDrive. It stresses that migrating copies the files: "Your source files are not deleted."

Tools named by Microsoft: the Migration Manager in the SharePoint admin center for sources such as Box, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Egnyte and file shares, and the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) for SharePoint Server 2010, 2013 and 2016, including classic workflows and classic pages. The page says that the Mover tool is retired for admin-led migrations. For large amounts of data over a limited network connection, Microsoft names Azure Data Box. Classic SharePoint Server workflows should be rebuilt as Power Automate flows. A role called Migration Administrator lets a migration team work without full SharePoint admin access. At the time of checking, moving OneDrive content between tenants was possible with PowerShell, and a cross-tenant SharePoint solution was in private preview.

Third-party tools exist as well, for example ShareGate. Moving between two Microsoft 365 tenants is a separate topic, see tenant-to-tenant migration.

Sources (Microsoft Learn, checked in November 2026): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointmigration/migrate-to-sharepoint-online

Related topics in brief

• SharePoint · Related to · Product
  Microsoft 365's platform for intranets, document libraries and team sites. Most files shared in Teams are stored in SharePoint, so its permissions directly decide what Copilot can find.
• Tenant-to-tenant migration · Related to · Concept
  Moving users, mailboxes, files, Teams and settings from one Microsoft 365 tenant to another, for example after a merger or divestiture.
• Migration wave · Related to · Concept
  A migration wave is a group of applications and workloads migrated together, so a large estate moves in sequenced batches and each wave's lessons carry into the next.
• Migration cutover · Related to · Concept
  The moment in a migration when users stop working in the old system or tenant and switch to the new one, typically scheduled for a quiet window such as a weekend.
• Migration coexistence · Related to · Concept
  A migration phase in which the old and new environments, for example two Microsoft 365 tenants, run side by side and are linked so mail and collaboration keep working while users move in batches.
• ShareGate · Related to · Organization
  Software vendor of Microsoft 365 migration, consolidation and governance tools.
• OneDrive · Related to · Product
  Microsoft's cloud storage for personal work files. It syncs folders across devices and integrates with SharePoint, sharing controls and Microsoft 365 apps.
• Power Automate · Related to · Product
  A service for automating workflows between apps and services. Cloud flows react to triggers such as a new email or file, desktop flows automate Windows applications, and both can include AI steps.
• Cognillo · Related to · Organization
  Software company from Jersey City, New Jersey (legal name Tendero, Inc., doing business as Cognillo) with tools for SharePoint administration and a generative AI platform for software testing; it says it has offered enterprise IT solutions since 2012.
• SharePoint Essentials Toolkit · Related to · Product
  Cognillo tool for SharePoint administrators and site owners: reports on permissions, oversharing and sharing links, a broken link monitor, content tools, SharePoint-to-SharePoint migration, metadata reports and scheduled exports.
• Broken links in SharePoint · Related to · Concept
  Links in SharePoint documents, pages, web parts and metadata that no longer reach their target, for example after a site address change, a move or a deleted redirect.

Glossary

Experts and companies for this topic

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Experts on related topics

• Mirko Peters ✔ · via SharePoint
• Elliot M. · via Power Automate
• Marcel L. · via Power Automate

Maintained by Mirko Peters (Microsoft MVP) · Last updated: 2026-11-11