Frequently asked questions: SharePoint Migration tool (SPMT)

Question: Can the SharePoint Migration tool (SPMT) migrate content from one SharePoint tenant to another SharePoint tenant?

Answer: No. SPMT can migrate content from SharePoint on-premises Server, but not from another SharePoint tenant in Microsoft 365. However, a cross-tenant migration solution for SharePoint and OneDrive is available. Learn more at Cross-tenant OneDrive migration.

Question: How can I use SPMT to migrate a large amount of data to Microsoft 365?

Answer: First, you need to install SPMT on physically different Windows computers or virtual machines. Then create bulk migration jobs on each SPMT instance, and finally run them in parallel to achieve the maximum migration throughput. If you want to reach high throughput by orchestrating migration jobs automatically, use Migration Manager.

Question: Where are local SPMT logs stored?

Answer: SPMT logs are stored here: C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MigrationTool

Question: Is SPMT available for Government clouds?

Answer: Yes. Learn how to configure your settings: Government cloud settings.

Question: Can I migrate only Site Pages?

Answer: Yes. However, site pages can only be migrated by uploading a CSV or JSON file.

JSON Example

{
  "Tasks": [
    {
      "SourcePath": http://source_path/sitename,
      "TargetPath": https://destination_path/sitename,
      "Items": {
        "Lists": [
          {
            "SourceList": "Site Pages",
            "TargetList": "Site Pages"
          }
        ],
        "SubSites": []
      },
      "MigrationType": "Content"
    }
  ]
}

Question: How can I preserve existing web parts on a destination site in site incremental migration?

Answer: Under the setting Migration of web parts and pages, select Don’t migrate to skip web part migration in incremental migration. Learn more: SharePoint Migration Tool Settings.

Question: Why do I see deletion entries in the audit log by the system account after completing migration?

Answer: This behavior is expected during migration. When you migrate files to SharePoint in Microsoft 365 using the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), the tool checks if the source files are newer than the destination files. If the source files are newer, the system account deletes the destination files and logs the deletion in the audit log. Deletion entries in the audit log after migration are due to this behavior.

Question: which features does SPMT not support for SharePoint on-premises Server migrations?

Answer: See items listed in this table:

Not supported	Description
Structure only migration	Users can't migrate a site without content.
Setting modern site template for destination	Users can't set the template for destination site. SPMT decides the destination site template based on the character of source site and destination site.
Migrate master pages	Master pages in a site or site collection migration can’t be migrated.
InfoPath forms	InfoPath forms can't be migrated.
Customer New/Edit/View forms	Customer New/Edit/View forms of a list or library can't be migrated along with their content.