Migrating from SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online can feel complex at the start—not only are you dealing with a completely different environment, but you are also shifting from the management of your on-premises solution to the management of a cloud-based environment. By being methodical in your planning and with the help of some excellent third-party solutions for migrating to SharePoint Online, the transition can be accomplished quickly, and with minimal impact to your organization.
SharePoint Online belongs to Microsoft 365, which offers much more in the care of Modern SharePoint Online features than SharePoint 2019. Indeed, your business will be making the transition to a cloud-based environment that supports today’s fast-paced, digital workplace. The advantages of business productivity and agility, along with simpler IT management, and future savings related to SharePoint to SharePoint Online migration, will be noticed by many organizations.
We have created a step-by-step guide to assist with moving to SharePoint Online from SharePoint 2019, sharing best practices and considerations during your planning and migration phase. You can adapt the information in the guide to meet almost all organizational needs; regardless, it is important to note that whatever your approach may be, every migration will be different. If you deal with complex environments, or large-scale migrations, working with SharePoint migration experts is highly recommended, to ensure a successful transition using SharePoint migration services. They are ultimately the experts of SharePoint data migration tools!
Benefits of Migrating to SharePoint Online
Before we get to the how-to and complete SharePoint Online migration, it’s important to recognize the value of migrating to SharePoint Online. Here’s a short list of benefits:
- Improved Accessibility and Collaboration
Ready to move to SharePoint Online? SharePoint Online provides individuals with access to content from anywhere, by any device. Again, integrated with the Microsoft 365 platform, it enables seamless real-time collaboration using Teams, OneDrive, and Office apps to make working remotely efficient.
- Lower Infrastructure Costs
On-premises solutions, like SharePoint 2019, require a significant amount of infrastructure, licensing and maintenance. Conversely, SharePoint Online is hosted and managed by Microsoft, and the organization doesn’t have to oversee the security of the content or install all the updates we’ve done over the past decade. This is one of the key advantages of moving to SharePoint Online.
- Scalability and Flexibility
SharePoint Online can accommodate your organization regardless of whether you’re a team of 10, or a team of 10,000. Scaling your storage, users and services will be easier because it won’t require physical upgrades or downtime.
- Security and Compliance
At the enterprise level, Microsoft 365 has extensive enterprise-grade security features, including elements such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication and compliance tools. SharePoint Online is designed to provide the necessary global standards and support for on-going compliance with standards like GDPR, HIPAA and the ISO certifications.
- Always Up to Date
Forget the hassle of manual upgrades. SharePoint Online receives regular updates and new features automatically, keeping your environment modern, secure, and feature rich. As you plan to migrate SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online, remain updated with the latest information!
How to Migrate from SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online
More than just transferring files, SharePoint on-premises to online migration is about understanding and cleaning up your current environment, planning your cloud architecture, and ensuring a safe and secure data transition every step of the way.
Below, we break down the process into five key steps of SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online migration!
Step 1: Assess the Current SharePoint 2019 Environment
A successful migration starts with understanding your current setup.
Perform a Full Inventory
Before you can have a successful SharePoint to SharePoint online migration, you, of course, need to understand where you are currently at.
You start by performing a full audit of your SharePoint 2019 environment to define:
- Sites and subsites
- Lists and libraries
- Workflows
- Permissions and user roles
- Custom solutions and web parts
- Outdated content
Identify Duplicate or Obsolete Information
SharePoint on-premises to online migration offers a fantastic opportunity to clean up, remove stale content, inactive sites, and unused lists or libraries. So, your new efficient environment will be that much less cluttered!
Evaluate Customizations
Customizations (e.g., workflows that use SharePoint Designer, InfoPath forms, or custom web parts) generally won’t carry over to SharePoint Online. Document these and consider alternatives like:
- Power Automate for workflows
- Power Apps for forms
- Modern web parts or SPFx for extensions
Assess User Activity
Identify your most active users and teams as you migrate SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online. Being able to prioritize the sites to move and plan for user training/support is valuable.
Step 2: Plan the Migration
Define the Scope
Not everything will migrate from SharePoint! Define what content, which sites, or departments you want to migrate and in what order. You may consider a phased approach (e.g., by department or site collection) to minimize interruption.
Select a Migration Tool
Most don’t have the luxury of manual moving to SharePoint Online. In fact, Microsoft offers a tool in the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), which is a complementary tool to use to move your content from SharePoint Server to SharePoint Online. For other more complex migrations, consider third-party options like:
- ShareGate
- AvePoint
- Metalogix (Quest)
These products include features like incremental migration, scheduling, and better reporting.
Outline Permissions and Metadata
Migration SharePoint Online may treat permissions and metadata differently in some instances. So, do the following:
- Align user permissions
- Replicate groups and roles accurately
- Plonymy metadata in alignment with your content governance policies
- Plan for Downtime or Content Freeze
Determine if you will need to freeze any content modifications prior to the final migration, cutover phase. Consider communicating timelines and expectations with stakeholders ahead of time. These are essentials of a complete SharePoint online migration checklist!
Step 3: Prepare SharePoint Online Structure
The destination will need to be ready, prior to SharePoint migration.
Develop Site Architecture
In SharePoint Online, develop a modern/ expandable site framework. SharePoint Online does not recommend a classic subsite approach used in SharePoint 2019; instead, it recommends a flat architecture using hub sites. Using hub sites improves flexibility and provides better navigation.
- Create communication and/or team sites
- Designate hub sites for organization structure
- Follow naming conventions and governance policies
Set Permissions and Policies
Designate user permissions, access groups and sharing settings for SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint online migration. Microsoft 365 security and administrative aspects can be leveraged to better solidify security/administration such as:
- Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
- Conditional Access
- Sensitivity labels
- Data loss prevention (DLP) policies
Enable Required Features
Issues such as versioning, alerts, document co-authoring, and retention policies should be enabled as needed, and Microsoft Teams can be set up as well for integrated collaborative experiences. Keep in mind all these features before you move to SharePoint Online!
Educate and Train Users
Educate and prepare users for the new environment with instructions, user guides, training sessions, and FAQs. Consider the differences to keep in mind such as:
- Modern UI vs classic UI
- New ways to share and collaborate
- How to access content while you are away from the office
Step 4: Migrate the Content
Now that you have your plan and new environment, it’s time for SharePoint migration.
Use the Migration Tool You Have Selected
Try running a test migration of SharePoint Online of a small subset of data to practice, troubleshoot, and make any configuration changes first. After you have your test migration successfully validated then do the full migration, making sure to:
- Monitor logs and reports from the tool as it runs
- Consider scheduling your migrations outside normal business hours
- Migrate in small increments, rather than larger chunks of data all at once
- Validate Content Integrity
- After each batch, validate that:
- Files and documents have actually moved
- The metadata (created/modified) dates, authors and tags have been preserved
- Permissions and access settings are correct
- Links and references in documents or pages are active
Migrate Custom Solutions (if applicable)
Customizations might have to be rebuilt as applicable in modern SharePoint Framework (SPFx), Power Platform, or even third-party options. Do this concurrently with or after content migration depending on complexity.
Step 5: Testing and Validating the Migration
Now that you have completed the SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint online migration, it is critical to progress through the testing before going live.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Identify users representing several functional areas and conduct UAT on the test environment to confirm that:
- Content is accessible and laid out in the expected format
- Sites and pages are loading as expected
- Permissions are being assigned as expected
- Search and navigation are working as expected
Performance and compatibility testing
Review performance of all content across browsers, devices, and networks, and work through resolution items to correct loading issues or mobile compatibility issues. Compatibility testing is very important for SharePoint to SharePoint Online migration!
Source vs Destination
After migration, conduct a comparison audit of the source and destination systems. Review on:
- Missing files or documents
- Items that failed to migrate due to errors
- Incorrect or missing metadata
Final Cleanup
Remove test content or duplicates after confirming the site is ready for content. Archive or decommission the legacy environment in accordance with workplace policy.
Read also → SharePoint Migration from 2013 to 2019
Solutions for Migrating from SharePoint On-Premises to SharePoint Online
As organizations are continually transforming their surroundings digitally, moving away from on-premises systems to cloud-based services such as SharePoint Online has become more strategic than ever before. SharePoint Online is a much more flexible platform. It also has a wider variety of collaborative resources available, and there is virtually no infrastructure to invest in—so it could be a compelling step up from any on-prem SharePoint Server experience.
However, the migration from on-premises SharePoint (e.g. SharePoint 2010, 2013, 2016, or 2019) to SharePoint Online may seem daunting without the proper tooling in place. Thankfully, Microsoft and third-party vendors present great options to simplify this migration to SharePoint Online. Let’s discover top of the line SharePoint data migration tools:
- Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)
- Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool (third-party solution)
Method 1: Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)
Microsoft offers a cost-free SharePoint Migration Tool that allows users to migrate content from on-premise SharePoint environments to SharePoint Online. The SharePoint Migration Tool is developed for ease of use and is intended to handle most typical migration requirements, designed primarily for small to mid-size projects.
Key tool features:
- Compatible with SharePoint 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019
- Migrates entire sites, lists, libraries, and documents
- Includes incremental migration, meaning new or changed data can be migrated, greatly reducing duplication
- Can perform a migration for a single user or as a bulk migration through CSV/JSON.
Steps for Microsoft SharePoint Data Migration Tool:
- Download and install Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool
- Sign in with Microsoft 365 Credentials
- Click “Add new migration” to set up the migration
- Select your source:
- Single user data requires entering one source URL
- Bulk migration will allow all the required users to be uploaded using CSV or JSON
- Identify the migration type: site migration, list migration, document library migration
- Provide the source SharePoint site URL and credentials (username/password)
- Provide the destination (target) SharePoint Online URL and credentials
- Review the migration settings and click Start to execute the migration.
Laying out an execution plan in this manner makes it relatively simple for IT administrators/users with some technical skill to successfully execute a relatively straightforward migration. Indeed, moving to SharePoint Online is made easier with the help of a tool!
Limitations of the Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool:
Although Microsoft’s tool is a great option for performing simple SharePoint migrations, there are some limitations anyone should consider before making use of it as well:
- Version limitations – this tool only works with SharePoint 2010 and later (does not work with SharePoint 2007 or previous versions of SharePoint).
- Data limits – this tool only allows for 250 GB of data per migration session.
- Time-consuming – this tool may not be ideal for large amounts of data or complex site structure.
- Lacks features – this tool lacks features like detailed reporting, advanced filtering, error logs, customizable settings, etc.
Due to these limitations of SharePoint data migration tools, there are often users in complex environments or with larger datasets looking for alternatives that offer additional flexibility and robustness.
Method 2: Using Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool (Third-Party Solution)
For users who require a more robust and scalable migration option, Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool draws on significant capabilities that are above and beyond what Microsoft’s free migration tools offer.
Key Benefits of Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool:
- Supports SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Online migrations between any version of SharePoint: on-premises, online (and visa versa)
- No limits for data size so you can migrate large or multiple SharePoint sites
- Users can filter by date, file type, size, library or sub-site
- Has a simple, built-in scheduler to automate regularly recurring migrations
- Provides comprehensive reports to give complete visibility of migrated content and errors
- No technical expertise required, so both IT techies or non-techies can use the software without issues
- This professional tool is designed specifically to make SharePoint migration quick, accurate and trustworthy – essential for organizations that can’t afford any downtime or loss of data.
How to Use the Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool:
- Download and install the Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool.
- Open the application and select “SharePoint to SharePoint Migration.”
- Identify the source SharePoint location (either on-premises or online) and the destination (target).
- Apply filters as needed
- Migrate only specific file types, date ranges, or specific sites/libraries.
- Change any migration settings and preferences.
- Choose to schedule the job (to run either routinely or later on), or run it now.
- Click Finish and monitor the progress, live, in real time. Shoviv’s solution really provides a much more seamless experience for users with large SharePoint environments or needing more granularity over what is being migrated.
Assuming your organization has a rather simple SharePoint site and your migration needs are limited to relatively simple sites, you may find the Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool an appropriate and adequate tool. It is free, easy to use, and supported directly by Microsoft.
Assuming that your organization has a significant and complex SharePoint environment and your migration needs include a more advanced toolset and you want control and visibility throughout the migration process, you may wish to consider a professional solution such as Shoviv SharePoint Migration Tool. It gives you the speed, flexibility, and confidence that your SharePoint Migration needs are done efficiently and without risk.
Conclusion
Moving to SharePoint Online is not just a technical upgrade; it’s also a change of strategy. By moving from an on-premise version of SharePoint, you have access to a more modern, secure, and scalable platform that supports collaboration while future-proofing your digital workplace.
With a measured assessment, a sound migration plan, the right tools, and post-migration assistance, you can embark on the journey of migration confidently. Concerning your migration plan, remember, (1) no two migrations will be alike, and (2) create a plan that’s unique to your organization; conduct a pilot, and start from there and grow your migration effect.
If your organization has complicated needs, such as: lots of data, tons of customizations or regulatory compliance issues to consider, then you should consider using SharePoint migration specialists who assist in SharePoint On-Premises to SharePoint Online migration. Their skill set can make the migration easier – and save you time and money down the road.
By spending the time early on to plan/prepare, you can ensure that your SharePoint Online environment is set up to function well and for the long term success for your organization. Are you ready to get started? Reach out to our team directly for a personalized consultation or check out our SharePoint migration services section to learn more about how we can help you with every step of your migration process.
