Copy OneDrive Files to Another OneDrive Account with 3 Proven Methods

This guide outlines three proven methods to help you seamlessly transfer files from one OneDrive account to another in the event of employee transitions, organizational restructuring, rebranding, or migration scenarios. So, without any further discussion let’s dive into it.

OneDrive is a popular cloud storage service offered by Microsoft that allows users to store, share, and access their files from anywhere. With the daily operations, you might encounter several situations such as employee turnover, position changes, or subscription upgrades. Where you need to transfer OneDrive files to another account.  We got a similar user query on a community page, let’s start with the user query and understand the real-life situation:

When an employee leaves the organization it becomes crucial to keep its data safe for compliance or legal purposes. By default, OneDrive for Business data is retained, when you disable an account, as per your Microsoft 365 retention policy setup. Eventually, it deletes the data forever when the retention period is reached. Hence it becomes a critical task to copy OneDrive files to another OneDrive account before they get deleted.

Table of Content

• Method 1. Via the Admin Center
• Method 2. Via Download & Upload
• Major Limitations of Manual Methods
• Method 3. Via Quick and Reliable Way
• Comparison: Automated Tool vs. Manual Method
• Bringing It All Together

Method 1. Transfer OneDrive Files to Another Account Via the Admin Center

Step 1.  Log in to the Microsoft Admin Center by visiting this – https://admin.microsoft.com/#/users on your browser. You will find a list of active users on the main screen. 

Step 2. Search for the desired user account, for demonstration purposes, we are taking the example of a Test MJ user. Click on the User name and navigate to the OneDrive tab.

Step 3. Now, navigate to Get access to files and click on the Create link to files.

Step 4. It will generate a link to the user’s OneDrive files. Click on the provided link to access the user’s OneDrive location.

Step 5. Here you can see the list of files and folders available in the source user’s OneDrive. 

Step 6. Select all files and folders by clicking to the left of the Name column or choose specific files and folders. Click Download at the top. The files will be downloaded as a .zip file to your downloads folder.

Step 7. Now extract the files and folders from the .zip file.

Step 8. Following the same step access the target OneDrive for Business account in the admin center. For demonstration purposes, we are taking the Test User account.

Step 9. Similarly, Click on Create a link to view and edit the user’s OneDrive files. Click on the link to access the target Test User OneDrive account. 

Step 10. Click on the Add new button, and choose Upload folder. Choose the extracted zip folder and click Upload to transfer the files. 

Following the above steps you can easily transfer files to another OneDrive account. 

Method 2. Copy OneDrive Files to Another Account Via Download & Upload

This method is suitable if you have to perform this task for a few numbers of accounts with limited data. It requires you to manually log in to the source account copy files, and then log in to the destination account to upload them. 

Check out the short steps below:

• Step 1. Log in to your source OneDrive account
• Step 2. Download selected files and folders
• Step 3. Log in to the target OneDrive account.
• Step 4. Upload downloaded files and folders

Below are the expanded steps for more clarity:

Step 1. Log in to your source OneDrive account

Navigate to https://onedrive.live.com/login/ Use the source OneDrive for Business account credentials to log in. Create a folder named Backup. Now select the required files and folders, that you want to migrate. You can select multiple files by holding the “Ctrl” key while clicking.

Step 2. Download selected files and folders

Move all these files and folders to the Backup folder. Click Download to download the selected files to your local device. The Backup folder will be downloaded in the .zip. Now Extract the folder and save it as the Backup folder on your local system.

Step 3. Log in to the target OneDrive account.

Following step 1, browse https://onedrive.live.com/login/ in another browser use the target account credentials, and log in. 

Step 4. Upload downloaded files and folders

Navigate the Backup folder in your local system. Now upload it by clicking on the Add New >> Folder Upload button. 

Following these steps, you can transfer files from one OneDrive to another account but it might seem a repetitive and time-consuming task to you. Moreover, if you have several user accounts, then this approach might not be suitable for you.

However, before getting into the migration process, it is always a good idea to go through a complete pre and post-migration checklist to ensure a smooth and effort-free data transfer. Following the above checklist will facilitate a smooth and efficient transfer of your OneDrive data to another account, mitigating potential data loss or errors.

Note: If you have a large number of data files to download then it might take several hours or days, depending upon the internet bandwidth.

Shortcomings of Manual Methods 

Although the manual methods are free to use, they have several downsides. Some of them are as follows:

• If you use the admin center to create shared links of files, you must have admin credentials and the right permissions.
• Using these links anyone can excess these files which pose a critical security threat to organizations’ privacy policies as they can be exposed to any cyber crimes and can result in malware, hacking, or cyber-attacks.
• If you have bulk user accounts to migrate then opting admin center or download upload method will take days to complete, Since you have to manually login to each user account and do the rest of the process as discussed above.
• With the manual methods, you can not apply any date filter for selective data transfer from the source OneDrive account to the target.
• Unlike the automated software, the manual methods do not offer any dashboard to monitor the migration process, leaving admins unaware of any errors that might occur during the migration.
• You can not download migration reports while using manual methods, making it impossible to document these migrations for future reference.

It is evident from the above shortcomings that manual methods can never be an ideal approach for enterprise-grade data migration in OneDrive for business accounts. As it can result in complex data management, time-consuming, cumbersome tasks, and data disintegrity. Hence, it is always a great idea to switch to the right approach to move OneDrive files to another account, which can simplify the complex migration with ease. Let’s discuss such a solution in the coming section.

Method 3. Quick and Reliable Approach for Copying Files from OneDrive to Another Account

When it comes to the most reliable and professional tool for copying OneDrive files to another OneDrive account, SysTools OneDrive to OneDrive Migration Tool is the only prime choice of Office 365 administrators. It is a highly advanced cloud migration and management software that assists the transfer of data between OneDrive for business accounts easily, and not just that.

Download Now Purchase Now

It simplifies transferring files by making everything automatic at just one click away, and it isn’t just specific to OneDrive since it also supports services like Office 365 migration, Teams migration, and SharePoint migration.

Try Before You Buy

Take advantage of the free demo version to assess tool functionality. Migrate a limited set of accounts to evaluate compatibility and performance. Moreover, the demo version can migrate OneDrive for Business to another tenant of two users’ accounts for free.
You do not need to pay anything for these two accounts. In this way, you can self-verify the workings of this utility before purchasing the full version.

Some Features of this Software That Make It One Stop Solution

• This utility migrates several users’ OneDrive data using the Admin account in a single go.
• The utility offers a delta migration option to transfer newly arrived items.
• Offers a modern Date-based filter option for selective data transfer.
• Supports various document items such as the photo, doc files, PDF files, etc.,
• It maintains the data/file integrity and hierarchy while migrating to another account. It ensures 100% safe, secure, and error-free data migration every time.

Must Read: Migrate Office 365 Shared Mailbox Data to User Mailbox – Know Procedure

Step By Step Detailed Working Guide to Transfer OneDrive Files to Another Account

Follow these below-listed steps with respective screenshots carefully to execute this operation in a modern way with 100% data security and Integrity:

Step 1. In the very first step, download the utility from the above button and install and run it on your computer. Select Office 365 as the source and destination migration platform.

Step 2. Select Document enable Migrate Document Permissions and allow the Use Group Mapping option. Use the date filter if required to migrate selective data and then click on Next to transfer OneDrive files to another account.

Step 3. Now, log in with the source and destination Admin credentials such as Admin Email and Application ID. Then validate permission and Click Next to move OneDrive data to another account.

Step 4. Here, create user group mapping between source and destination (if you want to migrate OneDrive data). For this task, you have three options to use. Let’s use an import CSV file. Click on Download Template enter source and destination users and move to validate required permissions.

Step 5. Once a user mapping is created, validate it by clicking the validate button. Then click on the start migration button to migrate OneDrive to another account.

Automated Migration Tool vs. Manual Method Comparison

Aspect	Automated Migration Tool	Manual Method
Ease of Use	Offers complete automated steps with no need for manual intervention during migration.	Requires manual intervention for each file and folder, which makes it a time-consuming task.
Speed	Allows bulk data transfer without user intervention.	Primarily relies on manual downloading and uploading, which takes hours or days.
Accuracy	Keeps data integrity intact and folder hierarchy throughout and post-migration stage.	Prone to human error, leading to potential data loss or missed files.
Security	Comes with Auth 2.0 which ensures credentials security, without the need to enter passwords outside the Office 365 environment.	Shared URLs and data are at risk of exposure, like hacking or malware during manual handling.
Scalability	Able to handle large-scale migrations across multiple accounts efficiently.	Can only be used for small-scale migration as it lacks multi-user migration at once.
Monitoring and Reporting	Provides real-time progress tracking and detailed migration reports.	Lacks visibility into progress and may require manual tracking.
Compliance and Audit Trails	Helps maintain compliance by documenting migration actions automatically and providing detailed reports.	Requires manual logging and documentation for compliance purposes.
Technical Expertise	Requires minimal technical knowledge for setup and operation.	Demands technical proficiency for manual execution, potentially requiring scripting.
Cost-effectiveness	Saves time and reduces operational costs associated with manual labor.	Involves significant labor costs and potential for operational downtime.
User Feedback and Support	Comes with 24×7 support and user communities for issue resolution.	Relies on personal troubleshooting or external support if available.

Bringing It All Together

As discussed above, the manual method is quite time-consuming and unsuitable for large data transfers in OneDrive. Hence, by using the software as mentioned earlier, it becomes quite easy for novice users to copy OneDrive files to another OneDrive account.

Migrating OneDrive data to another account can be a simple process if follow the right approach. The manual method is quite time-consuming and it is not suitable for large data transfers in OneDrive as discussed above. Hence, by using the above-mentioned software and following the respective steps, you can easily move your important files, documents, and photos to a new OneDrive account.