SharePoint Migration Tool

 SharePoint Migration Tool, also known as SPMT enables you to migrate the content to SharePoint Online or OneDrive from the following locations:

  • SharePoint Server 2010/2013
  • Network and local file shares

What can be supported and What cannot be supported

Although the tool is free and easy to use it has number of limitations. It doesn’t work for every organization, particularly those who rely on complex sites. To determine whether the SharePoint Migration Tool is right for you, consider what can be supported and what cannot.

Supports From and To locations

Local/Network file shares & SharePoint 2010/2013 to Office 365 SharePoint Online/One Drive for Business

Supported Items

  • File, folder, list items:
  • Supports migration of files, folders and lists.
  • File and folder permissions:
  • Separate settings are available to set file share permissions and the SharePoint on-premises permissions.
  • File Versions:
  • Depending on SPMT settings, you can preserve version history of files. If set to Off, only the most recent version of the file will be migrated. If set to On, you can choose whether to keep all versions, or limit it to a specific number.
  • Managed Metadata & Taxonomy:
  • SPMT supports the migration of content types and term stores. Global term store migration requires global tenant admin permissions.
  • Navigation & icons:
  • Site navigation for out of box sites is preserved and migrated.
  • Site features:
  • Most of the site features are supported. For full list of features supported. click here.
  • SharePoint web parts:
  • SPMT supports the migration of SharePoint web parts. However it will only migrate default SharePoint web parts. Custom or third-party web parts are not migrated For full list of SPMT Supported SharePoint web parts, 
  • Site migration:
  • Out of the box SharePoint sites that do not use any coding or 3rd party tools can be migrated.

Not Supported Items

  • Custom Solutions:
  • Not Supported. It can be either a Farm solution or sand-boxed solution. SharePoint solutions are generally deployed to a SharePoint server by using a solution package (.wsp) file. Such Solution packages are neither migrated nor activated by the SharePoint migration tool.
  • Alerts:
  • Alerts are an email and Short Message Service (SMS) notification service in SharePoint Foundation. Users can create alerts to notify them of changes to list items (item-level alerts), documents, lists (list-level alerts), or document libraries. Alerts are not migrated by the SharePoint site migration tool yet.
  • Workflows:
  • Not Supported.
  • WebParts : Custom web parts or 3rd party web parts are not supported by the tool.

SPMT vs 3rd party tools

The SharePoint Migration Tool isn’t the only option for copying data between SharePoint Server and SharePoint Online. Organizations can use any of the tools available, whether written by Microsoft or by 3rd Party companies. However, when evaluating a tool that is going to help with migration from on-premises to the cloud, you need to make sure it covers the most essential and critical assets and components to the business.

However, if you have plain vanilla sites in your SharePoint farm, Microsoft’s tool is enough to migrate to Office 365. If you have a more complex site with many customizations, SPMT tool won’t suffice. In those situations, it is always recommended to go with 3rd party tools like Sharegate or Metalogix. Because the SPMT tool has several limitations and flaws, however, the newest version has brought more functionalities to the table, but still far away from tools like Sharegate.


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