How to Move SharePoint Site to Another Tenant: A Complete Guide

IT administrators and MSPs can move SharePoint site to another tenant using Microsoft’s Native Cross-Migration or a professional third-party migration tool such as SysTool SharePoint Migrator.

It is an undeniable fact that migrating SharePoint Online site to another tenant is indeed one of the high-stakes, stressful assignments for IT admins -usually led by a merger, acquisition, or divestiture. It requires undivided precision. Approaching it as a simple “download and reupload” can lead to:

Permission Break
Disappeared Version History
Lost Structural Integrity or Broken Inheritance
Overwritten “Created by” and “Modified By” Metadata

Hence, if your organization plans to move SharePoint site to another tenant without compromising compliance and operational history, you must follow this technical guide. It outlines the 2 best, proven methods to migrate SharePoint sites without any data loss. So, stay tuned till the end!

Move SharePoint Site to Another Tenant: 2 Most-Effective Methods

Moving SharePoint site to another tenant without hampering data integrity and broken inheritance can only be achieved effectively by:

Native Cross-Tenant SharePoint Migration (Via SharePoint Online Management Shell
B2B Ready Third Party Migration Tools

Method #1: Native Cross-Tenant SharePoint Migration (Via SharePoint Online Management Shell)

To move SharePoint site to another tenant, Microsoft’s native cross-tenant SharePoint migration feature appears as a powerful, workload-specific method. It is driven by SharePoint Online Management Shell. And functions completely in the background via Microsoft’s data centers by establishing an internal server-to-server migration directly between the two Microsoft 365 environments.

Related Reads: How to Update SharePoint Online Management Shell? Expertly

This SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) allows it to bypass local bandwidth issues of downloading and uploading data. Microsoft specifically designed this native cross-tenant architecture for enterprise scenarios like mergers and acquisitions.

The Remarkable Feature: Microsoft automatically designates a redirect on the original SharePoint site post-migration. In simple words, it ensures that the user’s old links continue to work and route them to the new tenant.

However, there are some critical prerequisites that your environment must meet before running scripts in SharePoint Online Management Shell. Otherwise, it will result in migration batch failure every time you fail to meet the following technical requirements:

Pre-migration Assessment Checklist

Requires the Cross-Tenant user Data migration add-on license. Currently, it is restricted for Enterprise Agreement users.
SharePoint Online Management Shell latest version (module version 16.0.27424.12000 or later ) is non-negotiable.
5 TB of storage or 1 million items (including all file versions and list items) per SharePoint site is allowed.
Target folder path and file name cannot exceed 400 characters (combined URL length). Ensure you review this beforehand, as deep source folders merged with a new target UPN often trigger this path length limit.
An apostrophe ( ‘ ) mark must not be added to the source usernames or URLs. Otherwise, it will fail to migrate natively.
Delta migration is not allowed. Modified or newly added files in the source environment will not be synced after the migration begins.

Step #1: Authenticate Both Tenant Endpoints

Connecting to the SharePoint Admin endpoints requires the latest SharePoint Online Management. Also, SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator credentials to move SharePoint site to another tenant.

Open Windows PowerShell (as administrator). Press Windows key + X >> Terminal (Admin).

Run the given command to install the latest module:

Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Force

Execute the given PowerShell scripts for SharePoint in the source and target environments.
(Replace yourtenant with the organization’s SharePoint domain).

# Connect to the Source Tenant

Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com

# Connect to the Target Tenant

Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com

Step #2: Authorize the Connection Between Both Tenants

A cross-tenant host URL is used to authorize the organization connection between the destination tenant and the source environment. However, it needs to be retrieved on both tenants. To do so,

Run on the Source Tenant:

Set-SPOCrossTenantRelationship -Scenario MnA -PartnerRole Target -PartnerCrossTenantHostUrl

Run on the Target Tenant:

Set-SPOCrossTenantRelationship -Scenario MnA -PartnerRole Source -PartnerCrossTenantHostUrl

Step #3: Execute the Cross-Tenant Compatibility Check

Running the Cross-Tenant compatibility check is a key step to move SharePoint Site to another tenant without any batch failures. To ensure both source and target are fundamentally compatible

Run this script in the Shell:

Get-SPOCrossTenantCompatibilityStatus -PartnerCrossTenantHostURL

If the status displays “Compatible” or “Warning”, you can move forward. And if it returns “Incompatible”, audit the error logs. Usually, it triggers when the required license is missing or required features are disabled on the target tenant.

Step #4: Pre-Create Target Tenant Assets (Avoid Provisioning Sites)

Provisioning identities (users, security groups, and Microsoft 365 Groups) on target environments before moving SharePoint site to another tenant is crucial. So, pre-create all the necessary assets on the target tenant.

Caution!: It is firmly advised to refrain from creating the target SharePoint sites. As if a site already exists at the destination URL, the SharePoint Online site migration will immediately fail! It does not support merging data into an existing site.

The migration engine will itself provision the target site on-demand when the SharePoint site transfers to another tenant.

Step #5: Upload the Identity Mapping File

Mapping source identities to target identities using a 6-column CSV file is incredibly critical. It ensures that the permissions don’t break and “Created By” and “Modified By “ remain intact.

The CSV maps the source “UserPrincipalName” and Group Object IDs to the new target tenant because you cannot map one source user to multiple target users. Once the CSV is built, upload it in the target environment using PowerShell:

Add-SPOCrossTenantIdentityMapping -MappingCsvPath "C:\migration\identitymap.csv"

Step #6: Begin the SharePoint Online Site Migration

Finally, initiate the batch to move SharePoint site to another tenant by running the following scripts in PowerShell:

For Standard SharePoint Sites:

Start-SPOCrossTenantSiteContentMove -SourceSiteUrl -TargetSiteUrl -TargetCrossTenantHostUrl

For Microsoft Group-Connected Sites (such as Teams backends):

Start-SPOCrossTenantGroupContentMove -SourceGroupAlias -TargetGroupAlias -TargetCrossTenantHostUrl

Note: Once you start the migration, your source SharePoint site will get locked into Read -Only mode. It will prevent users from creating or adding new files during the SharePoint site data transfer.

And, if you wish to track the migration’s progress in real-time, you can easily monitor it by running the following command either in the source or the target tenant:

Get-SPOCrossTenantSiteContentMoveState (or Get-SPOCrossTenantUserContentMoveState

To check the status of a particular site move, execute this:

Get-SPOCrossTenantSiteContentMoveState -PartnerCrossTenantHostURL -SourceSiteUrl

Check out the given statuses to interpret the state of your site migration correctly:

Not Started/Scheduled: SharePoint site migration is successfully queued in Microsoft’s backend. But has not commenced moving the SharePoint site to another tenant yet.
In Progress: The site data is actively transferring to the target environment. The source site is now read-only
Success: The site transfer is completed without any errors. The target site is now in Read/Write mode. Microsoft has placed a redirect on the source URL, navigating users to the new tenant.
Failed: SharePoint site migration encountered an error (path length exceeded, unmapped identity). The source site is automatically switched to Read/Write mode.

Unfortunately, if you realize that you made an error after starting the SharePoint site migration, you can still attempt to cancel it. Use

Stop-SPOCrossTenantSiteContentMove in PowerShell.

However, there’s a catch to it! Once the migration status transitioned to InProgress, it cannot be stopped.

Also Check Out: Difference Between Document Library and List in SharePoint – Easy Explanation

Method #2: SysTools SharePoint Suite

Use the SysTools SharePoint Migrator software to move SharePoint site to another tenant. This SharePoint tenant to tenant migration software automates the SharePoint Online site migration and ensures a secure transfer with near-zero downtime.

Along with site transfer, it also excels in moving lists, document libraries, document sets, and document folders while preserving the metadata, version history, and permissions (user-level and group-level).

A robust, corporate-compatible software strongly recommended by IT experts and professionals. But why is it the first choice of IT administrators and MSPs? You may ask!

✅ This enterprise-grade tool allows bulk SharePoint site migration at once.

✅ Automatically maps source and destination user permissions.

✅ Transfers entire SharePoint site structures (Subsites, Documents, Sets, and Folders).

✅ Provides delta migration to migrate only freshly created SharePoint sites.

✅ Features a built-in dashboard to track real-time site migration.

✅ Offers Granular filtering (filter by date, specific lists, or file types)

✅ For selective SharePoint Online data migration, it offers data-based filters.

✅ Secures SharePoint Online Site migration via Microsoft Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0).

✅ Generates detailed and summary migration reports of all migrated sites and individual sites.

✅ Minimizes downtime by providing the batch migration feature.

✅ Supports cross-tenant transfer and cloud-to-cloud migration.

✅ Users can also use the incredible option to stop or resume the SharePoint Online transfer.

✅ Strongly compatible with Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025, and Windows 10/11 (64-bit).

Prerequisites for an error-free SharePoint Online Site Migration:

Use the migration tool’s auditing feature to locate corrupted files and missing permissions. Including path lengths exceeding the 400-character limit.
Repair broken SharePoint sites and remove outdated workflows before SharePoint Online site migration to another tenant. It will save bandwidth and time.

So, let’s bypass the heavy PowerShell scripting and apply the straightforward steps given below to move SharePoint site to another tenant:

Steps to move SharePoint Site to Another Tenant (via a 3rd-party migration tool)

Click the “Download” button. Open the migration tool and activate it.

Download Now Purchase Now

In the Source and Destination screen, select Microsoft 365.

Scroll down to the Workloads section, check the Sites box. Use the Date filter for selective site migration.

Enter the Source environment Admin Email and Application ID. Validate and click Next.

Provide the Admin Email and Application ID in the Destination environment. Review them and hit Next.

In the Resources screen, add the Users and click Validate (in the top-right corner).

Choose one of the following options to load the Sites:
- Fetch Sites
- Import Sites
- Download Template

Lastly, hit the blue Start Migration button to move SharePoint Site to another tenant.

People Also Explored: Learn 5 Ways to Create a Document Library in SharePoint Online

Post-Migration Checklist

Audit Data Integrity: Ensure the exact number of items are migrated from the source environment to the target destination. To do so, run automated reports.
Review Custom Views: Check whether the custom list views and formatting are applied to document libraries rendered correctly in the target tenant.
Re-Authenticate Apps: Third-party apps such as Power Automate Flows or custom Power Apps connected to the old SharePoint site don’t migrate natively. Re-authentication is required in the new tenant.

Author’s Final Words

“How to move SharePoint site to another tenant?” is not just a baseline SharePoint query but a critical operation that requires sheer accuracy. It directly affects the organization’s compliance and operations history.

So, to move SharePoint site to another tenant securely, implement the 2 two most effective methods shared in this complete guide. And migrate the SharePoint Online site to the tenant while preserving permissions, metadata, and structural integrity without any data loss. Also, for any technical queries and support beyond SharePoint Migrator, feel free to contact us anytime at [email protected]. Our IT experts will always be ready to assist you!

Helpful Reads:

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q.1 How to move SharePoint site to another tenant?
Use Microsoft Native Cross-Tenant SharePoint Migration or a credible, enterprise-grade migration tool to move the SharePoint site to another tenant.

Q.2 Is there a way to preserve version history during SharePoint migration?
Yes, you can preserve version history during SharePoint migration. Use:

Microsoft SPMT: To migrate from on-premises SharePoint or file share to SharePoint Online.
Third-Party Migration Tools: For deep, customizable migration supporting version history retention.

Q.3 Can I migrate SharePoint permissions exactly?
Yes, by using Microsoft SPMT and professional migration tools, you can migrate SharePoint permissions exactly.

Q.4 What happens to checked-out documents during a migration?
The checked-out documents during a SharePoint migration either get skipped or migrated as its last checked-in version. Use premigration scans, disable “Require Check Out,” or force check-in by running a source analysis or custom report to prevent this.

Q.5 Does the free SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) copy version history?
Yes, the free SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) migrates file version history. By default, it only transfers the most recent version. However, you can migrate past versions as well by enabling the feature in the settings.

Q.6 How do I migrate a SharePoint list to another site without losing formatting?
To migrate a SharePoint list to another site without losing formatting, create a duplicate list from Existing List in the target site. To do so,

Go to the destination SharePoint site (where you want to place the site).
Right-click New >> List.
Select From existing list (or importing from existing list).
From the list on the left, select the source site >> choose the original list >> Next.
Name the new list >> click Create.
Move the data:
- For Simple Lists: Open the source list >> Export to Excel > save the .igy file >> open the downloaded file >> copy rows >> switch to grid view and paste the data.
- For Complex Lists with Attachments: Configure a cloud flow in Power Automate to move all the list items with file attachments and preserve the formatting.

Q.7 Why did my metadata change to the migration date?
This happens because most operating systems and migration tools create new files in the destination. And when a file is copied, the “Date Created’ and “Date Modified” system timestamps reset to the exact date it was migrated.