10 SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations and 1 Alternative

• User Case: What are the Limitations of SharePoint Migration Tool?
• What are SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations
• SharePoint Migration Tool Alternative – MultCloud [Cloud-to-Cloud Migration]
• Conclusion

User Case: What are the Limitations of SharePoint Migration Tool?

What are SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations

Microsoft offers a free tool called the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) to assist businesses in moving content from network file shares, on-premises SharePoint sites, and other sources to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). Despite being a strong and intuitive tool, it does have some drawbacks. Some main restrictions of SharePoint Migration Tool are listed below:

1. Supported Sources 

► On-Premises SharePoint: Only SharePoint versions 2010, 2013, and 2016 are supported. There is no support for SharePoint 2007.

► File Shares: Facilitates file migration from network file shares, such as SMB 3.0.

► Limited Third-Party Support: SPMT does not support facilitating migration from third-party platforms, such as Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive; you may need to use third-party tools or Microsoft's Migration Manager for these.

2. SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations of Content

► SharePoint Migration Tool File Size Limit: 250 GB is the maximum file size allowed for migration from SharePoint Server to Microsoft 365.

► Limits on Items: Over 100,000 items may cause performance problems or prevent migration for lists and libraries.

► Length of File Path: There can be no more than 400 characters in the entire file path (including the file name). 

► Types of Files: Certain file types (like DLLs and executable files) might not be migrated because they are prohibited by Microsoft 365 security policies.

3. Permissions and Metadata

► Migration of Metadata:

• Some custom metadata might not be fully supported, but basic metadata—such as created/modified dates and created/modified by—is migrated.
• Scripting or manual intervention may be necessary for complex metadata mappings.

► SharePoint Migration Tool Permissions:

• Complex permission structures, such as unique permissions on individual items, might not always transfer correctly, even though permissions are migrated.
• During migration, permissions inheritance may break and need to be manually fixed.

4. Scalability and Performance

► Migration Speed:

• The size of the content being migrated, server performance, and network bandwidth all affect migration speed. Microsoft recommends a minimum of 1 Mbps per migration job. However, for large-scale migrations, a much higher bandwidth is advisable to ensure timely completion.
• Migrations on a large scale could take a long time.

► Concurrent Migrations: Although the tool supports multiple concurrent migrations, large-scale migrations may be slowed down by the maximum number of tasks that can be executed at once.

► Throttling: If too many requests are made in a short amount of time, Microsoft 365 may throttle them, which would affect the speed of the migration.

5. SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations of Reporting and User Interface

► Restricted Reporting: Although the tool offers basic migration reports, complex migrations might not find them to be sufficiently detailed.

► Absence of Real-Time Monitoring: Large migrations may be challenging to track because the tool does not offer real-time monitoring of migration progress.

6. Customizations and Complicated Situations

► Customized Processes and Solutions: There is no migration of third-party add-ons, custom workflows, or solutions. In the intended setting, these must be manually recreated.

► Types of Content and Site Designs: Certain site templates and custom content types might not migrate properly and might need to be adjusted by hand.

► Version History: Although version history migration is supported by SPMT, the maximum number of versions that can be migrated is usually 500 per item.

7. SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations of the Environment

► Network Requirements: SMPT needs a quick and reliable network connection. Migration delays or failures may result from unfavorable network conditions.

► Verification:

• SharePoint Migration Tool requires the source and destination environments to have the appropriate permissions and authentication.
• If not set up correctly, multi-factor authentication (MFA) can lead to problems.

8. Modern Sites Do Not Support Every Microsoft 365 Feature

► Modern Sites: There may be extra steps or manual configuration needed when moving to contemporary team or communication sites.

► Integration of Teams: Although SPMT can move content to SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams is not directly integrated with it. Linking migrated content to Teams requires extra steps.

9. SharePoint Migration Tool Limitations of Gradual Migration

► One-Time Transfer:

• The main purpose of SPMT is one-time migrations. Out of the box, it doesn't support delta or incremental migrations.
• You might need to use custom scripts or third-party tools for incremental migrations.

10. Not All Languages Are Supported

Non-English characters or languages might not be fully supported by the tool, which could lead to problems with file names, metadata, or content during migration.

SharePoint Migration Tool Alternative – MultCloud [Cloud-to-Cloud Migration]

If you are limited by SharePoint Migration Tool because it cannot migrate files from other clouds like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box to SharePoint (or vice versa), you can use an alternative, such as the best cloud file transfer service – MultCloud.

MultCloud Cloud Transfer is a mature and popular function that is designed to directly transfer files from one cloud to another without downloading and uploading. It can bring you convenience from multiple perspectives, such as:

What’s more, it is easy to create a Cloud Transfer task. You can see that from the following example of migrating files from Google Drive to SharePoint Online.

Step 1. Go to the MultCloud website and create an account for free.

Step 2. Add your Google Drive and SharePoint Online accounts to MultCloud by clicking “Add Cloud” and the cloud logos.

Step 3. Select the “Cloud Transfer” function and choose Google Drive as the source and SharePoint Online as the target. Then, tap “Transfer Now” to initiate the task.

Conclusion

This post lists 10 SharePoint Migration Tool limitations, including limitations in file size, bandwidth, customizations, permissions, supported sources, and more. After looking through the post, you must have a further comprehension of SMPT.

If you are looking for an alternative to SharePoint Migration Tool, you can use MultCloud Cloud Transfer for cloud-to-cloud file transfer. It can break some limitations of SMPT like cloud restrictions of cloud sources, bandwidth, and incremental migration. Since MultCloud is free to use, if you are interested in it, you can try it now!