Your first migration, step by step

Connect your source and destination, pick what to copy, check the options and start the copy.

1. Connect both environments

1. Open Connections and connect to the source and the destination. See Connect to SharePoint Online with MFA or Connect to SharePoint on-premises (NTLM).
2. One connection per account is enough: SharePoint Online sign-in also covers the tenant's other site collections.

2. Choose the type of copy

Open Copy and choose:

• Copy structure and content: sites with their lists, libraries, columns, content types, groups and permissions.
• Copy content only: lists, libraries, folders or files into an existing site.
• Import from file share (under Import external content): folders from a local or network drive into a library.

3. Select source and destination

Pick the site, list or folder on each side. For a structure copy, select the site objects to copy (Sites, Lists and libraries, Site columns, Content types, Permission levels, SharePoint groups, Managed metadata).

4. Check the options

Click Options to choose what happens to items that already exist, and what to keep (permissions, authors and dates, version history). See Copy options explained. Use Mappings to map users and groups that have different names at the destination.

5. Start or schedule

Click Start copy, or Schedule to run it later. Follow progress under Tasks, where each run has a session ID and a full report.

Updated 2026-10-17