Migrate SharePoint Online to Another Tenant – Quick Guide to Export SharePoint Site
It can be a daunting task to migrate SharePoint Online to another tenant if you don’t follow the proper procedures. However, with the right approach and following the best practices, you can carry out the entire migration process smoothly. In the following article, we will provide you with an extensive guide on how you can migrate SharePoint Online from one tenant to another in a seamless manner.
User Query:
“We are planning to copy SharePoint Online to another tenant but don’t know the perfect solution for the same. If anyone could please help us perform migration in a step-by-step manner without any data loss, that would be a great help! Moreover, are there any tips that I need to follow for a seamless migration?”
As we look at the above query, many users find difficulties while performing the migration. Let’s have a look at the entire process in a step-by-step manner. Please make sure that you are following all these steps carefully for an error-free migration process.
Table of Contents
Step-by-Step Guide to Move SharePoint Online from One Tenant to Another
Step 1. Assess your Current SharePoint Online Environment
Before initializing the process, it is important to analyze the current environment before moving to another tenant. During this evaluation process, you should check the type of data that you need to migrate and list all the customizations (if any) to the environment.
Additionally, you should also assess the size and complicacy of the environment as it directly impacts the migration process. If you have a smaller environment with less complexity, then it will be easier to migrate rather than having a large environment with high complexity.
Step 2. Determine the Destination Environment
The second step for migrating SharePoint Online to another tenant is to detect the destination tenant to where you are planning to move your data. The factors that you need to consider while identifying the destination environment are security requirements, compatibility, and storage capacity.
It is crucial to identify all the factors and compatibility of your destination tenant with the current tenant as it will help in a seamless transition process.
Step 3. Prepare Destination SharePoint Online Tenant
Before you begin migrating SharePoint Online from one tenant to another, the first step is to prepare the destination tenant. Some of the basic tasks are creating new user accounts, assigning licenses, granting required permissions, etc.
You can also create a test environment in the destination tenant to be completely sure of the migration process before moving your data to a live environment. If there are any issues in the configuration or migration tool, then you will have time to fix those issues.
Step 4. Start Exporting SharePoint Online to Another Tenant
We have two ways to perform this operation, either using the method offered by Microsoft or using an automated software solution. Let’s check it out step by step.
Also Read: How to Migrate G Suite to New Domain With A Detailed Tutorial?
Manual Method for Migrating SharePoint Online to Another Tenant: An Overview
The Cross-tenant SharePoint migration feature now enables the transfer of SharePoint sites from one tenant to another. SharePoint Admins can utilize SharePoint Online PowerShell to seamlessly migrate sites to their new SharePoint tenants.
For advanced planning, up to 4,000 SharePoint accounts can be scheduled for migration at once. These migrations take place within the Microsoft 365 cloud, ensuring content remains within it, and causing minimal disruption. Upon completion, a redirect is established at the original SharePoint site’s location, ensuring continued functionality of links to files and folders in the new location.
Important Considerations:
Cross-tenant SharePoint migrations are one-time activities; incremental or delta migration passes are not supported. Participation in the Cross-Tenant User Content Migration, including licenses, is currently exclusive to Enterprise Agreement customers.
To explore this migration approach and enhance your experience, sign up for Cross-Tenant User Content Migration licenses as an Enterprise Agreement customer at:
https://aka.ms/ODSPSecurityPreviews
Provide the requested information and express interest in “SharePoint cross-tenant data migration (Mergers and Acquisition scenario)”.
Prerequisites & Configuration for Manual SharePoint Site Migration to Another Tenant:
- Ensure you have the latest Microsoft SharePoint Online PowerShell version, downloadable from the Official Microsoft Download Center.
- Check that the source SharePoint tenant does not use Service encryption with Microsoft Purview Customer Key. Migration will fail if this feature is enabled.
- Source SharePoint sites must be set to Read/Write; migration will fail if set to Read-only.
Target SharePoint sites and Group-connected SharePoint sites
Important Notes:
- Do not create target SharePoint sites before initiating migration, as migration will fail if the site already exists. Overwriting or merging existing sites is not possible.
- For group-connected SharePoint site migrations, Microsoft 365 Groups must be created specifically, independent of existing SharePoint sites.
- Before migration, ensure source SharePoint sites are set to Read/Write mode; read-only settings will result in migration failure.
Path size limits:
- Ensure the Microsoft character path remains under 400 characters. Consider shortening Target User/Site URL names.
- Longer names might cause migration failures, as the source’s path combines with the new user/site name on the Target.
- In case of failure, rename User/Site URLs or collaborate with users to shorten paths below the threshold for a successful migration.
Supported SharePoint Features:
Migratable sites include:
- Microsoft 365 group-connected sites, including those linked to Microsoft Teams
- Modern sites without a Microsoft 365 group association
- Classic SharePoint sites
- Communication sites
Important Note: Teams content, channels, and structures are not covered. Migration of a Teams-connected SharePoint site only moves the SharePoint site content.
Communication During Migration:
- Explain the migration’s impact on users.
- Clarify if users can continue working during migration.
- Provide start time, duration, new URL, and other tenant-related details.
- Advise users to avoid edits during migration and be aware of possible changes in permissions or sharing.
Scheduling SharePoint Site Migrations:
- Begin with a small number of sites to test workflows and communication.
- Progress to larger batches once confident.
- Each batch can include up to 4,000 migrations.
- As migrations proceed, you can schedule additional batches, up to 4,000 pending migrations at once.
Getting Started – Manual Steps for SharePoint Online Migration:
- Step 1. Connect to source and target tenants.
- Step 2. Establish trust between both tenants.
- Step 3. Confirm trust establishment.
- Step 4. Pre-create users and groups.
- Step 5. Prepare for identity mapping.
- Step 6. Initiate Cross-tenant SharePoint migration.
- Step 7. Complete post-migration tasks.
Limitations and Recommendations:
- Each SharePoint site for migration should not exceed 2 TB of storage or 1 million items. Larger sites may encounter timeouts and fail, while smaller ones will continue until completion.
- Total “items” (files, folders, list entries) should not surpass the 1 million limit.
- Pre-create all migration-identified users and groups in the target tenant.
- Appropriate licenses must be assigned to users in either the Source or Target tenant.
Most Reliable Way to Migrate SharePoint Online to Another Tenant
As it is quite evident from the above, the manual method consists of various lengthy and technical steps. Which could be daunting for admins to perform, as it requires several planning and execution. However, to have an effortless migration process, we recommend you use the most-rated SharePoint Online Migration Tool discussed below. This software makes it easy for IT administrators to migrate SharePoint Online to another tenant without losing a single bit of data.
This software migrates entire data from the Document Library and Generic Lists safely. Moreover, the batch migration option makes the whole process time-saving and cost-efficient. There is also a date filter to help you migrate data only within the mentioned date range. Using this solution, you can migrate SharePoint list to another site and copy document library from one site to another in an effortless manner.
After completing the migration process, the software generates two types of reports that you can export from the software interface. The Detailed Report is a comprehensive report containing details of a specific SharePoint Site and a Summary Report is a single CSV file that contains migration details of all the SharePoint Sites that you migrated to another tenant.
Step 5. Verify Migration Process
After successfully migrating your data, the next important phase is to verify that all your essential data items have been migrated. You can open the destination tenant’s account and check that the entire Document Library’s data and Generic Lists are migrated without any manipulation or errors.
To make the verification process simple, you can check the Migration Reports generated by the software as it contain the failure count (if any).
Step 6. Update DNS Records
The final step after migrating SharePoint Online from one tenant to another and verifying the content, is now it is time to update the DNS records and point them to the new tenant. Performing this step will help users use the destination tenant without any issues.
You can update DNS settings either manually or by using a tool depending on your DNS provider. It is always a good idea to coordinate with your IT admin while updating DNS records for a smooth transition.
You can Also Read: A Quick Guide to Migrate Microsoft Teams to Another Tenant
Tips for Seamless SharePoint Online Tenant-to-Tenant Migration
The best tips by experts for a hassle-free migration are as follows:
- Before jumping into the migration process, it is essential to first define a scope and understand what you want to migrate and how it will be managed in the new SharePoint tenant.
- When you are migrating SharePoint Online to a new tenant, you must ensure that the destination tenant meets the requirements for the data that you are going to migrate. This includes checking the configurations and features supported by the new tenant.
- It is good practice to plan your migration process. The primary motto should be to identify any potential issues that may arise during the process. Additionally, the dependencies of the platform should also be taken care of.
- It is beneficial and efficient to use a migration tool as mentioned above as these tools make the process seamless and ensure complete data migration.
- Despite planning all the possibilities that might go wrong, it is still essential to test the migration before going with full flow. You can test it by migrating a small amount of data and verifying if there are any issues to be fixed.
- You must talk to employees and tell them about the migration. If they need any training or resources to move to the new tenant, that can be planned accordingly.
- As SharePoint sites contain a lot of crucial and sensitive data, you need to make sure that proper access control and security measures are in place for secure SharePoint Online tenant-to-tenant migration.
- It is crucial to track the migration progress and ensure that everything is going as planned. If any issue arises or you need any adjustments, you can do it during the process.
FAQs
Q. What is the quick way to Migrate SharePoint Online to Another Tenant?
Since the manual way requires technical knowledge and a series of pre and post-migration checklists. Hence, by using the manual method you can not perform this task quickly. On the other hand, if you switch to the modern software solution as discussed above, then you can perform this task by following the 5 below steps.
- Step 1. Download, Install, and Run the Tool.
- Step 2. Select Sites Checkbox Under Workload.
- Step 3. Enter Office 365 Admin ID and Application ID.
- Step 4. Import Sites & Validate Permissions.
- Step 5. Choose User Accounts & Click on Start.
Q. How do I handle permissions during the SharePoint Online migration process?
A. You don’t need to worry about permissions while migrating data using the above-mentioned tool. It allows you to map permission settings with Source and Destination users. Thus, making it one of the best solutions when looking for a seamless transition of SharePoint Online data from one tenant to another.
Q. What should I do if I only want to migrate SharePoint libraries and not lists?
A. Being one of the most trusted applications in the Industry, the software comes with an option for Workload selection. Here, a user can choose whether they want to transfer both libraries and lists or only one of them. Thus, you can migrate SharePoint Online to another tenant in a hassle-free manner.
Q. How do I know if the migration has been completed?
A. Once you start a SharePoint Online tenant-to-tenant migration, you can track the real-time progress of the process in the software dashboard. When the migration is going on, you can find the Sites under the In-Progress tab. However, once the migration is complete, the SharePoint sites will show under the Completed tab.
Conclusion
Migrating SharePoint Online to another tenant is a complex process that requires careful planning and preparation. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can ensure a seamless migration without facing any issues. You can use the expert-recommended software as well to ensure safe data migration while keeping data integrity intact.
