IT Tips & Tricks

SharePoint Online Migration Checklist: Read This Before You Attempt

Published 20 June 2024

Updated 8 April 2025

Faced with a SharePoint^® migration and wondering what you need to do to look like the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) and avoid becoming the goat (as in “scapegoat”)?

Here’s your first tip: The outcome of a SharePoint migration — from career-defining success to career-ending failure (and everything in between) — is directly impacted by how well you plan for it. Like anything complex, it requires instructions, a user manual, a recipe or a checklist (even better, an experienced SharePoint migration consultant) to get you through the process — avoiding the pitfalls and little-known booby traps — and arriving at your destination with a brag-worthy successful final result.

How do you avoid the pitfalls and little-known booby traps?

While the allure of SharePoint Online is obvious, migrating files to this platform usually isn’t straightforward. It still won’t be after this article either, but if you read it, you’ll at least have some useful tips and a few pointers to help you spot a camouflaged trap or two.

You could use this article as an outline, somewhat like a practical checklist, to steer you through many of the tricky areas in your migration project. My goal is to help you cross the finish line to the deafening roar of an appreciative crowd — as you marvel that you made it without injury. Ready?

One Thing that Really Helps: Do You Know the “Why”?

Do you know why your organization is doing this migration? What are they hoping to achieve? This may seem obvious to you, especially if you are the one who recommended moving to SharePoint Online in the first place. But, surprise, others (particularly execs) have their own goals that they may not have mentioned to you. There are various motivations for a move to SharePoint Online and identifying the goals of other stakeholders may prove helpful (or vital) in your decisions further down the line — and this could save your bacon.

You may know why you’re doing this migration, but do key stakeholders understand the same things you do?

If you already have everyone on board and are familiar with what they think they want out of this migration, you can skip down to the next sub-section below (“Choosing a Migration Style”). Otherwise, here are some common incentives that you could use in discussions with the aforementioned stakeholders (most notably, your direct senior):

Minimizing Certain Costs: As a cloud-based solution, SharePoint Online eliminates the need for dedicated on-prem servers, software (such as a VPN to access your files) and the team to run and maintain it all, resulting in cost savings over time.
Advanced Security Features: SharePoint Online offers advanced security features such as state-of-the-art encryption, access control (by IP address, geographical region, or managed devices in Azure^®) and auditing, which enhances data protection and mitigates security risks.

So, how safe is your data with Microsoft^®? Well, to start with, only a limited number of essential personnel have access to Microsoft data centers and their identities are verified by multi-factor authentication.

Next, in SharePoint, files are encrypted both at rest and in transit. For files at rest, SharePoint uses Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE) which uses 256-bit AES encryption. This encryption is applied automatically to all files stored in SharePoint Online.

For files in transit, SharePoint uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2) encryption. This ensures that the data sent between the client and server is secure and cannot be intercepted by any unauthorized parties. The Microsoft 365^® anti-malware engine scans documents at upload time for content matching an anti-virus signature that is updated hourly.

Additionally, as a SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator in Microsoft 365, you can block or limit access to SharePoint and OneDrive^® content from unmanaged devices.

It’s hard to know everything about a subject until you get your hands dirty — or talk to someone who’s been there, done that.

Finally, location-based policies can be set up by IP, ensuring data can only be accessed from specific locations (such as the office). An external sharing source can provide access to companies or businesses you’re required to share information with. Geo-location settings can limit access to only specific countries.

Operational Efficiency: SharePoint’s centralized data storage and management streamlines collaboration, enables easier access to essential documents and enhances overall operational efficiency. Additionally, SharePoint Online only requires internet access, making the data far more accessible.
Leveraging the Microsoft 365 Suite: Since SharePoint Online is included in the Microsoft 365 suite of products, it makes integration with other M365 products such as Teams^®, OneDrive, Planner^™, OneNote^®, Viva Engage^™ and Microsoft Forms^™ easy. This means that migrating to SharePoint Online has the added benefit of easy accessibility to a multitude of other Microsoft tools.
The Benefits of a Supported Environment: If you currently (or will soon) find yourself coping with an environment that is no longer supported or that is rapidly approaching its end of life (EOL) and end of extended support, it’s time for a new, supported environment such as SharePoint Online, where Microsoft will keep you up-to-date and secure, as outlined below.

What’s in it for them? Users offer less resistance when they understand how the migration benefits them.

- Reliability: Supported environments generally undergo thorough testing and debugging. This reduces the likelihood of unexpected errors or crashes. For critical systems (such as file servers or content management) — where downtime is not an option — this kind of reliability is crucial.

- Security: Supported environments often benefit from regular security updates and patches by the provider, helping to mitigate vulnerabilities and protect against cyber threats. This is particularly important in today’s landscape of ever-evolving security risks.
- Compliance and Regulation: A supported environment generally includes built-in compliance features and adheres to industry regulations and standards. In sectors such as healthcare, finance and government — with mandatory regulatory compliance — this is particularly important.
- Performance Optimization: In a supported environment, providers frequently optimize their systems for performance, scalability and efficiency, which results in faster processing speeds, better resource utilization and improved overall performance.

If you’re looking at migrating to SharePoint for a different reason, congrats on being an outside-the-box thinker. Next question: Have you considered your migration style?

Choosing a Migration Style: Determining the “How”

A migration to SharePoint Online typically falls into one of three migration styles and you’ll need to assess which style will be best for your organization. Note that the migration style you choose could be determined by your ultimate goal (above), so bear that in mind.

Single Event Migration: Performing your migration in one huge jump reduces the calendar time spent on the actual migration, but is not without its risks. In this situation, a third-party tool is a must to help automate the process, protect your data and ensure as little disruption as possible to both the users and your organization.

A single-event migration can be a good option for organizations that want to move to SharePoint Online quickly and easily. However, due to technical limitations, it is not always possible to perform a single-event migration. For example, if your current environment is heavily customized, it may be difficult — or even impossible — to migrate it to SharePoint Online without first making changes. If, however, you insist on a single-event migration — which we don’t necessarily recommend — a third-party migration tool is essential. Be aware that the software will not build your new environment but will simply migrate your data to the relevant destination. Managing this third-party software might best be achieved by hiring a competent and experienced migration consultant.

Side-by-side Migration: This type of migration involves creating a new SharePoint Online environment and then incrementally trickling your data to it from your existing source location. Also known as a phased approach, this can be a good option for organizations that must keep their current environment operational while migrating to SharePoint Online. An example would be to migrate the smaller departments and their files to SharePoint first, helping to identify any possible issues, and providing the opportunity to set any global admin rules or policies before migrating larger teams or users.

Hybrid Migration: This type of migration involves maintaining your existing environment and migrating portions of your data to SharePoint Online. This can be a good option for organizations that want to take a very gradual approach to migration or organizations that need to rely on both on-premise and online environments, perhaps due to compliance requirements.

Do you have a post-migration checklist?

Data Inventory: Defining “What”

When you’ve identified your goals and how to get there, it’s time to move on to the next phase. Taking inventory of your source data is one of the most important pre-migration steps you will take. It helps to determine how big and complex your migration will be, plus how long it will likely take and if there are any additional requirements.

Evaluate or assess your existing situation and determine how much data you have, how it’s organized and categorized, how much of it genuinely needs to be moved, how much is redundant, obsolete or trivial, how much can be archived, and what — if anything— can be deleted, so that you’re only migrating what’s necessary. Are there any unique permissions? Are there any departments or teams using files that are linked and what types of files are they? Are there any personal or user drives that need to be migrated to OneDrive? Are there any specific graphic or design files — not supported in SharePoint?

“Alexa, migrate my data.” We wish.

If, for example, you’re shifting from SharePoint on-prem to online, you need to take inventory of things such as:

Site collections.
Sites.
Documents.
Lists.
Libraries.
Workflows.

Anything else you plan to include in the migration.
The size of your files and folders you need to migrate.
Work with managers and users to confirm the location of their data and where it is stored. Some may have personal drives, and some may store their files on their desktop.
Who are the managers or owners of files in a department, and who are the members in each of these departments? Do members or managers share files across departments and is there any need to restrict folders and files?
Are any of the teams using files that contain links? Determine how many files and links, as this could cause delays in migrating. (Hint: LinkFixer Advanced^™ for the win.)

How Important is the Plan?

Maybe you’ve got questions. “How do I know when we’re ready?” “What should I move?” “How the heck do I do this?” This is precisely why you need a migration plan — regardless of what type of migration you’re considering. The plan is your constant — like the North Star — guiding you home, and is divided into three sections: Pre-migration, Migration and Post-Migration.

Pre-Migration Planning

Ardent doomsday preppers — who prepare for every eventuality — would probably make great data migrators. Thoroughly prepping for your migration will dramatically improve the outcome, so let’s take a look at the kind of things you should be considering.

Housekeeping at the Source

Now that you have a reliable inventory, your next step is to clean house. It’s time to start straightening out the mess, organizing the chaos users sometimes create, and getting rid of that redundant, unused or out-of-date data you located during your inventory.

Trimming down your data means you’ll only have to migrate what you genuinely need, not a bunch of extraneous stuff that’ll simply take up valuable real estate for which you’ll be paying. Additionally, creating a more efficient source environment makes for a more manageable migration, so optimize now for enhanced performance. This will give you additional horsepower to get through your migration efficiently.

Another important part of the planning phase is identifying any links contained in your data. Links commonly break during migration resulting in lost or missing data. See the “How to Avoid Those Questions” section below.

Housekeeping at the Destination

You wouldn’t choose to move into a disorganized, chaotic home. If your data had feelings, it would feel the same way. Now is the time to prep and organize your data’s new home. Consider the structure required to accommodate your data and plan according to your organization’s needs.

Design and build the architecture you need in your new environment.

Next, create and configure the appropriate settings and permissions for your SharePoint sites.
Decide whether you want to include major or both major and minor versions to document version history. (See the section, Tips from SharePoint Professionals, below.)

Switch your source environment to read-only mode so the users can’t inadvertently continue working and making changes there.

Optimize the mapping of templates, columns and users.
Evaluate or assess any customizations in your data. If required, convert them so that they’ll function in your new environment.
Create a governance plan, as required.
Run a pilot or test migration.
- Did you discover unsupported elements?
- Can you resolve any problems that occurred?
- Were you able to determine your migration speed?
- With everything you now know, create a migration schedule that works for your organization.

Users: Friend or Foe?

If you want the users on your side — cooperative and supportive — help them to understand how the migration benefits them. Maintain good, clear communication. Work out exactly what you need to offer in terms of training and support. Long-term success isn’t built overnight. You’re in it to win it in the long term.

Discuss your migration plan and make sure it’s understood.
Identify and include managers or champions in each area of the organization and work with them during the migration.
Let users know in advance when downtime is planned.

Don’t pay to store data that could be archived.

Reiterate the reason for the migration and the payoff for them.
Give them a heads-up about potential changes so they’re not unpleasantly surprised.
Outline the estimated timeline — and emphasize that it’s an estimate.

Emphasize that no work can be done in the source environment during the actual migration and post-migration.
Don’t forget the training! Users who know how to use SharePoint effectively are users who won’t bug you. (That’s as much a benefit to you as it is to them.) Schedule this training for teams or departments in conjunction with your migration.

Tips from SharePoint Professionals

Sometimes, it’s hard to know everything about a subject until you get your hands dirty — or talk to someone who’s been there, done that, and is willing to share their experience. Here’s some advice from an Automation Officer and a Migration Consultant: two guys who know all about getting their hands dirty.

Tip 1:

“We uploaded a large database file that gets edited multiple times a day to SharePoint, not realizing that version history saves a full copy of the file with each edit. This quickly used up our storage space. Since we didn’t need all those versions, we created a Power Automate solution that runs whenever the file is edited. The automation deletes all previous versions each time, preventing unnecessary storage buildup.” Smart and cost-effective.

Tip 2:

Question: Are you migrating from a file server to SharePoint Online?

Tip: SharePoint Online doesn’t provide tools to migrate large sets of files and folders between SharePoint sites. You’ll require PowerShell scripts or third-party tools to migrate data between sites.

Tip 3:

Question: Are you migrating InDesign files or another type of design file to SharePoint Online?

Tip: We recommend that before you migrate these files, you test to ensure that these files are accessible in SharePoint Online. If not, they’ll need to be converted into a format that is SharePoint compatible.

Migration: The Day of Reckoning?

I dream of the day when we can command, “Alexa, migrate my data,” and it all happens flawlessly. That day will come, no doubt, but today is not that day.

If your planning has been meticulous, if your team has paid attention to detail, consulted the key users, stuck to the plan, selected the correct migration tool for the task ahead, taken their vitamins and refilled the coffee pot, you should be in good shape.

Don’t be surprised or disappointed if you hit a snag or two. It happens in even the most well-planned migrations — despite all that planning — but here are three tips to smooth the road:

If you’ve already got broken links, LinkFixer Advanced is the fastest way to repair links and restore your missing data.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: Use third-party migration software to speed up your migration. Or hire a consultant. Seriously, it makes your life so much easier, plus you’ll have their support throughout.
If you’re migrating from SharePoint on-prem to online, make sure that no workflows are running when you embark on your migration. To help ensure smooth sailing, either complete current workflows or stop running them in advance.
Ensure you have a migration account that offers access to both the source and destination environments. Anything less is like asking a pilot to fly with only half the controls. Chances of a good outcome under those conditions? I’m not willing to bet on those odds.

You Did It!

Bravo! You made it across the finish line as crowds of fans roared and cheered you on. Ok, realistically maybe the latter was all in your imagination, but at least the first part was real, right?

There’s nothing quite like the relief of a successful SharePoint migration. Bask in the glow of your success.

Before you put your feet up — smiling smugly at the boss — or race down to the local watering hole for a celebratory round with the team, there are a couple of important details to take care of, so let’s get this done and wrapped up for you.

There are obvious things such as making sure that everything is where it should be, that you’ve tested to ensure the transfer was successful and you’ve run through your post-migration checklist. Wait, you don’t have one? Okay, below is an outline of one for you.

Post-Migration Pointers

Important tip: Run through your post-migration checklist before you let the users back in. You don’t want them messing things up before you’ve been through your checklist. Here are things to consider for your post-migration list:

Check that everything has been successfully migrated. Most third-party migration tools offer an insightful post-migration report.
Immediately create a backup. You never know when you’ll need it.
Do a test run of all your workflows.
Check all the user permissions.
Switch your source environment to read-only mode so that the users can’t inadvertently continue working and making changes there. This can be done in stages for a staggered approach suitable for side-by-side or hybrid migrations.
If you previously had an older version of SharePoint, remove access to it now.
Your migration reports will tell you everything you need to know about your migration.
If you happen to have migrated from an on-prem SharePoint server, run a full crawl.
Provide the users with access and a link to the SharePoint site.
Answer any questions and assist with any support.

Your New Normal

As the dust settles on your victory, just remember that you’ll need to monitor what’s going on in your new online file repository. The newness will eventually wear off and it’ll just be part of your regular workload, your daily usual. But you’ll have done it. You’ll have achieved a major milestone for your organization — and one that should make your life easier too. Of course, projects such as automation or customizing pages should be on your next to-do list.

Now the users can rename or move files and folders without constantly “losing” data and expecting you to fix it.

How to Avoid Those Questions

One of the most common questions users have — after a migration — pertains to apparently “missing” data. You know, Ethel in Finance says that the quarterly reports linked to her spreadsheets are missing — or some variation thereof. Within hours or days, the IT department is buried three feet deep in complaints, euphemistically known as “support tickets.”

Do you know what happened? Have you guessed it yet? Yup, the links contained in your data broke during the migration. Why? The simple answer: That’s the nature of links. The reality? A link breaks when the file or folder it directs to is moved or renamed, resulting in the apparency of missing data. As one of our Tech Support veterans, Stephen, says, “Honestly, a link can break due to something as simple as removing a dash in a folder name or updating a file extension from .doc to .docx. The desire to update or change things seems to be a constant aspect of human nature, so we’ll always need a way to deal with the problem.”

Your new normal could make life so much easier.

Broken links are a pain, potentially causing downtime and disruption, complaining end users and a boss with a glare that could freeze the blood in your veins. And it can take weeks or months to fix the mess. But here’s the good news. If you’ve not yet embarked on your migration, you can prevent the nightmare of broken links. How?

Protect your links before your migration with LinkFixer Advanced. Imagine no user complaints, no overwhelmed IT department, a boss who’s his usual friendly self and your blood happily coursing through your veins at its normal temperature.

If you’ve already got broken links, LinkFixer Advanced is the fastest way to repair links and restore your missing data.

LinkFixer Advanced supports over 70 of the most popular file extensions for Microsoft Access^®, Excel^®, Word^® and other Microsoft file types, plus JavaScript, CSS, Adobe^® and so much more.

Plus, it turns out that LinkFixer Advanced is the gift that keeps on giving. Outside of a migration scenario, LinkFixer Advanced can be used as part of your regular maintenance routine. That way, the end users can rename or move files and folders around to their heart’s content — without constantly “losing” data and expecting you to fix it.

If you’re now nervously wondering just how many links are hidden in your data, how many opportunities for sabotage lie quietly, treacherously waiting, there’s an easy way to figure that out. Check out the free trial of LinkFixer Advanced to discover how many links you have, where they’re located and what their status is.

If you have any questions, call a LinkTek Consultant at 727-442-1822 or, for more information, visit us at LinkTek.com where you can also chat with us online. I wish you all the best for your migration journey. Bon voyage!

By Ed Clark

Ed Clark

LinkTek COO

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