How to maintain folder structure when using the sharepoint migration tool to migrate from File server to sharepoint online

Question

I have a task to move our file server contents to sharepoint and when i use the migration tool it just dumps all the files in one location without any structure. for example, on the file server i have a parent folder with three child folders, and within those three child folders are one file each. when i use the migration tool, it disregards the folder structure i have on the server and just dumps the three files into the ' Documents' location.

My other issue is permissions. even when i check " perserve file share permissions" in the migration tool it never copies over permissions.

Is there a way to keep the same folder structure that was on the file server in sharepoint when using the tool and is there a way to perserve file share permission

Answer 1

Hi @D'oster ,

1. As per my test, migrations can currently only go to the first subfolder level of the library. Maybe you could use the Move to function directly as a workaround, which is relatively convenient in SharePoint Online.
   

You could also use PnP PowerShell to Move a Folder in SharePoint Online:

 #Config Variables  
 $SiteURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"  
 $SourceFolderURL= "Shared Documents/1/Active"  
 $TargetFolderURL = "Shared Documents/1/2/3"  

 #Connect to PnP Online  
 Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials (Get-Credential)  

 #sharepoint online powershell move folder  
 Move-PnPFolder -Folder $SourceFolderURL -TargetFolder $TargetFolderURL  

2.The SharePoint Migration Tool permission control is affected by various conditions. Below this official article lists all the conditions and the corresponding results for your reference:
File and folder permissions when using the SharePoint Migration Tool

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

Thank you, i found out that the tool is limited in that scope. i had to go to a third party tool to get this feature.