Copy Document Library to Another SharePoint Site – Efficiently

SharePoint is one of the oldest and most continuous Microsoft services that is still going strong. Moreover, its ability to act as a site creation and management portal is second to none. Not to mention that it can also be used as a document storage facility. For this reason, there are many who wish to copy document library to another SharePoint site within their SharePoint environment.

The cause for this might be anything from reorganizing content, moving it for archival purposes, or aggregating files at a single location. Whatever the reason might be, you will find all possible methods to move the document library right here. Let’s get straight to the best method out there.

Method 1. Move Document Library from One Site to Another in SharePoint Online Professionally

As the adoption of SharePoint is only going to increase in the near future, one needs a capable partner who can deal with situations where SharePoint lags. Out of the many on the market, none can match the caliber of Professional SharePoint Migrator. Whether we talk about its industry-defining features or its attractive price point, the tool outperforms the rest in every single way. 

Download Now Purchase Now

It has gained praise for its simplistic yet feature-rich UI that hides some of the most robust algorithms underneath. It is a known fact that this tool can copy document library to another SharePoint site in a jiffy.

Here is the full list of features users receive once they get the tool.

• Perform SharePoint Tenant to Tenant Migration and move its relevant metadata in a single go. 
• Allows for batch migration of SharePoint sites, saving time and effort. 
• Migrate document sets, folders, and libraries in a few easy steps.
• Set a content-wise date filter for the most accurate SharePoint site content cloning. 
• Feature to Map Permission Settings of Source Users with Destination 
• Real-time SharePoint data tracking facility within the dashboard of the tool.
• Copy only newly created data in a SharePoint Site with delta migration option
• Halt or stop the current migration in case of emergency with the inbuilt button.
• Both summarized and detailed reports are available for admins to check the process.
• Direct compatibility with the latest versions of Windows and Windows Server

Next, we have a procedure for using the utility

Automated Steps to Move File from One Document Library to Another

Step 1. Open the tool on your machine. Pick Office 365 as both the Source and Destination.

Step 2. Scroll down to Workload section, uncheck all boxes except Sites, the and apply Date Filter.

Step 3. Within the Source Screen, Type the Admin Email, and Application ID. Validate them and hit Next. Likewise repeat for Destination site as well.

Step 4. Perform User-mapping in one of three ways from Fetch Users, Import Users, or Download templates. Similarly, choose a method to map the sites.

Step 5. Once the data loads on to the preview screen, make the required selections, like setting the priority Validate the data and hit Start Migration.

Some other manual methods are also present, like using PowerShell commands to move or copy files between SharePoint sites. So let’s look at why even experts don’t recommend it.

Method 2. PowerShell Command Methodology to Copy Document Library to Another SharePoint Site

Users have to launch a PowerShell module on their PC and link it to the SharePoint Online site. To achieve this result, the following command can be executed:

Connect-PnPOnline -Url <SourceSiteURL> -Credentials (Get-Credential)

Make some changes in the sample code, like replacing the SourceSiteURL variable with your own SharePoint site URL.

After your website has been linked, proceed by downloading the Document Library to a local file or folder. For that, refer to the following example:

Export-PnPList -Identity <SourceLibraryName> -Path  -Force

Like previously, some changes are required in this code to reflect your unique scenario. Substitute the <SourceLibraryName> parameter with your Document Library name. 

Now to copy Document Library from one Site to another, use the below command to import the Document Library to destination Site.

Import-PnPList -Path <SourceBackupPath> -DestinationUrl <DestinationSiteOfURL> -Force

In the above command, change the <SourceBackupPath> field as well as the local path where you wish to export the Document Library of the source site. Moreover, you also need to change the <DestinationSiteOfURL> field accordingly.

Once you run the above command, you need to wait until the copy process is completed. Once completed, you will be able to access the data on the destination SharePoint site.

Now we are going to present the old way of achieving the same result. 

Method 3. Move Document Library from One Site to Another in SharePoint Online Classic Experience

In the Classic experience, the user must toggle the “Open with Explorer” option. And then follow these steps.

• Visit the source site that contains the relevant Document Library to copy data from.
• Within the Document Library and go to the “Library” tab.
• Hit the “Open with Explorer” option.
• In the Windows Explorer window, directly paste all the files and folders which were copied at the Source library.
• Lastly, let the files upload and sync.

This method is less technical than PowerShell but still requires a deep understanding of the SharePoint Portal. Moreover, any mistakes made during the copy-pasting can result in unforeseen errors that are hard to resolve. Up next, we discuss the method for users who operate on the modern SharePoint experience.

Method 4. How to Copy Document Library to Another SharePoint Site Modern Experience?

The SharePoint Online modern experience provides quite a simple and user-friendly approach to copying Document Library data. The steps are as follows:

• Visit the source site that contains the relevant Document Library to copy data from.
• Go to that library and hit the Gear icon present in the top-right-hand corner.
• Select all the Site Contents option in the dropdown menu.
• Press the 3 dots at the side of the Document Library that you want to copy from one Site to another.
• After which a “Copy to” window pops up, type in the Site URL where you want to move the document.
• Pick the Document Library in the destination Site and hit the “Copy” button.

This process may sound simple, but the catch is that it fails if there are too many document libraries. Moreover, only one document library can be copied at a time, making it too slow for most real-life scenarios.

Method 5. Download & Upload Document Library Files and Folders

You can save the files and folders of the Document library in your system. After that, upload them to the destination document library, let’s see how. You should also find and remove duplicate files in SharePoint Online for efficient process.

1. Open the Source Document Library.
2. Select the files that you want to download and hit the Save as or Download option.
3. After the completion of the downloading of files.
4. Upload them to the destination document library to copy document library to another SharePoint site.

Shortcomings

You need to be careful while uploading the files to the document library. Make sure you have not uploaded the irrelevant files to the document library. It will affect the data integrity. This method is only helpful when you need to copy a small number of files from the document library to another SharePoint site. 

Method 6. Replicating Document Library to Destination SharePoint Site

SharePoint itself offers an option of replicating the document library which is:-

1. Go to the SharePoint site where you need to copy the document library.
2. Now press the New button and select the document library.
3. Choose the “From Existing Library” option.
4. Now, launch the Source SharePoint site and select the document library.
5. Choose a template and assign a name.
6. Finally, hit the Create button to copy document library to another SharePoint site.

Limitations

This method failed in copying the files to the document library. It also contains errors such as this list has a dependency on another list with a template type that is not supported.

Method 7. Use ‘Save as template’ Option to Copy the Document Library from One Site to Another

Follow the below three phases to move your document library.

Phase 1. Download the Source Document Library

• Open the Source SharePoint document library.
• Launch its Settings and then select Save Document Library as Template. You can also save SharePoint site as template if you want.
• Assign the name to the file and template.
• After that, launch the site settings and then Download the template.

Phase 2. Upload the Downloaded Template to the Destination SharePoint Site

• Go to the Destination SharePoint site and then Open its Settings.
• Now, upload the downloaded template with a relevant name.
• Go to the Site Contents and then App.
• Select the uploaded template.
• Provide the details and lastly create the document library.

Phase 3. Apply the Settings to the New Document

• After the successful setup of the document library.
• Apply the permissions and metadata as needed.

Conclusion

In this article on how to copy document library to another SharePoint site, we discussed the most straightforward way of achieving the task. Apart from the tool, here are other methods that involve the use of PowerShell or complicated maneuvers. So it is in the best interest of the admins to trust the tool and quickly move the document library to its intended destination.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How Can I download my SharePoint document library?

A – You just need to execute the below steps to download your SharePoint document library.

1. Open the SharePoint document library.
2. Go to its Settings and Save Document Library as a Template.
3. Assign the name to the template.
4. Go to Site Settings and Download it.

Q2. What are the quick steps to copy document library to another SharePoint site?

A – Below are the quick steps to move your SharePoint document library to another SharePoint site.

1. Download and Run the tool.
2. Choose Source & Destination accounts.
3. Select Sites and filter them.
4. Provide credentials for both accounts.
5. Add users and Sites then start the process.

Q3. Can I use the Document Library while copying it to another SharePoint site?

A – Yes, you can access the document library data even during the process. There is no downtime at all.

Q4. Is OneDrive able to move my document library to another SharePoint site?

A – Yes, OneDrive is the one that stores the data of SharePoint and MS Teams. You need to set up the syncing with OneDrive. After that copy and paste the source files to the Destination document library and wait for sync.