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How to Migrate OneDrive for Business to Another Tenant – A Roadmap for Successful Migration

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Written By Mohit Jha
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On December 11th, 2024
Reading Time 12 Minutes Reading

 With the rise in mergers, acquisitions, and rebranding activities, the demand for a detailed guide on – “how to migrate OneDrive for Business to another tenant?” has increased significantly. In this step-by-step write-up, we will outline the best practices, manual methods, and explain how to simplify the process using specialized tools. 

OneDrive for Business is a key component of Office 365 or SharePoint server, it provides secure space on the cloud to store files and collaborate among others. Unlike the free version of OneDrive, which is personal cloud storage, OneDrive for Business is designed for workplace use. With OneDrive for Business, users get 1 TB of cloud storage, where they store their daily work-related documents and files. Hence, it becomes crucial to ensure proper data transfer to the target tenant in the event of merger and acquisition.  

But before moving to the solution, let’s have a glance and discuss why the user needs to perform OneDrive tenant-to-tenant migration.

Table of Content 

Why Do Users Need to Perform Cross-tenant OneDrive Migration?

To know why users want a solution to perform OneDrive migration to new tenants, we have collected some queries. Take a look

Query 1 –
Migrating OneDrive to a Different Office 365 Tenant
“Our organization planning to migrate Office 365 so our first priority is to migrate OneDrive for business to a different tenant. Therefore, I need help to perform this task.”

Query 2 –
Need to Migrate OneDrive to Tenant
“Our organization acquired a company that also using Office 365, we have to migrate their entire data. We have migrated the other data except for OneDrive. We need an easy solution to migrate OneDrive data to the tenant”

Apart from the user queries, there can be several reasons why a business or organization may need to migrate OneDrive for Business to another tenant. Some of the common reasons include:

  • Business Merger or acquisition – In business operation, there comes a time, when organizations have to face events such as mergers or acquisitions. When two organizations merge, or one company acquires another, then it becomes crucial to combine their OneDrive for Business accounts into a single tenant.
  • Rebranding – When an organization rebrands itself, it is required to create a new tenant with a new domain name. It generates a sudden requirement to migrate OneDrive for Business to new tenant.
  • Security and compliance – Several businesses have to undergo OneDrive for Business tenant-to-tenant migration for security and compliance reasons. This event can trigger due to industry regulations or to comply with data protection laws.
  • Improved collaboration – In general business operations, there comes a need to share files and information efficiently across different teams and departments. Migrating their OneDrive for Business to another tenant enhances overall collaboration and productivity
  • Significant cost reduction – To reduce the overall cost, administrators move OneDrive for Business accounts to another or new tenant with more favorable pricing and advanced features. It significantly reduces the overall IT cost.

Now, we know scenarios where users need to migrate OneDrive for business to another tenant. In both user queries, the organization wants to migrate its data from OneDrive for business to the tenant. Office 365 OneDrive provides 1 TB of cloud storage, so it is quite complicated for the organization to perform this migration manually. Therefore, every organization wants an automated solution to accomplish this OneDrive migration to new tenant tasks.

Some Best Practices to Migrate OneDrive for Business to Another Tenant

Some migration best practices must be followed before heading to migrating OneDrive for Business from one tenant to another. These include:

  • Access to both tenants – You must have administrative access to both the tenants – the source tenant (where the OneDrive data is currently stored) and the destination tenant (to which the OneDrive data will be migrated).
  • OneDrive licenses – You have to ensure that the users of OneDrive for Business accounts have a valid License in the destination tenant before migration.
  • Network connectivity – The computer or server that is used to perform the OneDrive tenant-to-tenant migration must have suitable broadband network connectivity to both the source and destination tenants.
  • Pre and Post Planning – You need to have a plan in place for the desired data that needs to be migrated. Not only this but also the migration method, and the schedule for the migration. Once the migration is completed you should verify the migrated data at the destination tenant.
  • End user communication – You must communicate with end users about the migration and provide instructions for accessing their files after the migration is complete. 

Ensuring that these best practices are followed before beginning the migration will help ensure a smooth and successful migration process.

How to Migrate OneDrive for Business to Another Tenant Manually?

During mergers or divestitures, the ability to transfer users’ OneDrive accounts to a new Microsoft 365 tenant is essential. Cross-tenant OneDrive migration allows tenant administrators to use familiar tools like SharePoint Online PowerShell to smoothly move users to their new organization.

SharePoint administrators from two separate tenants can establish an organizational relationship using the Set-SPOCrossTenantRelationship cmdlet. To initiate tenant-to-tenant OneDrive migration, they can use the Start-SPOCrossTenantUserContentMove command.

Up to 4,000 OneDrive accounts can be scheduled for migration ahead of time. These migrations happen within the Microsoft 365 cloud, causing minimal disruption. The user’s data remains within the cloud throughout, with only a brief read-only period for the user’s OneDrive (lasting a few minutes). 

After migration, a redirect is placed in the original OneDrive location, ensuring continued functionality of links to files and folders in the new location.

Prerequisites and Settings of Manual Method for Cross-Tenant OneDrive Migration

  • Ensure you have the latest version of Microsoft SharePoint Online PowerShell installed. Obtain the SharePoint Online Management Shell from the official Microsoft Download Center.
  • Disable service encryption if Customer Key is enabled. Check that the source OneDrive tenant does not have Service encryption with Microsoft Purview Customer Key activated. Migration will not succeed if this is enabled on the source tenant. Find additional information about Service encryption with Microsoft Purview Customer Key.
  • Make sure Source OneDrive accounts are configured for Read/Write access. Migrations will not work if they are set to Read-only.

Method 1: Migrate OneDrive for Business to Another Tenant Manually 

Here are the steps to follow for a Cross-tenant OneDrive migration:

  • Step 1. Connect to the source and target tenants.
  • Step 2. Establish trust between the source and target tenants.
  • Step 3. Verify that trust has been successfully established.
  • Step 4. Pre-create users and groups in the target tenant.
  • Step 5. Prepare identity mapping between source and target users.
  • Step 6. Initiate the OneDrive tenant to tenant migration process.
  • Step 7. Complete post-migration tasks as needed.

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/cross-tenant-onedrive-migration?view=o365-worldwide

Method 2: Migrate OneDrive for Business to SharePoint Online Tenants Using PowerShell Scripts

If you are a technically sound administrator and a technocrat, who is aware of using PowerShell then you can use the scripts below to automate the migration process. Since this approach is quite customizable, the admins can do the needful and configure it as per their specific needs.

Step 1. Install Required Modules

Install the SharePoint Online Management Shell and the PnP PowerShell module.
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Force -AllowClobber
Install-Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline

Step 2. Authenticate to Source and Destination Tenants

Authenticate to the source and destination tenants using the following commands:

Connect-SPOService -Url https://source-tenant-admin.sharepoint.com
Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://source-tenant-admin.sharepoint.com -UseWebLogin

Connect-SPOService -Url https://destination-tenant-admin.sharepoint.com
Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://destination-tenant-admin.sharepoint.com -UseWebLogin


Step 3. Export User OneDrive Data

Use PowerShell to export the data from the source OneDrive account to a local or temporary storage location.

Start-SPOSiteMigration -SourceUrl "https://source-tenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/user_source_tenant_com" -DestinationUrl "https://destination-tenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/user_destination_tenant_com" -NoAzureACSAuth


Step 4. Import Data to Destination Tenant

Use PowerShell to import the data to the destination OneDrive account.

Start-SPOSiteMigration -SourceUrl "https://source-tenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/user_source_tenant_com" -DestinationUrl "https://destination-tenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/user_destination_tenant_com" -NoAzureACSAuth

Step 5. Validate Migration

After the migration is complete, you can validate the data in the destination tenant.

Limitations of Manually Performing OneDrive Tenant-to-Tenant Migration
  • Each OneDrive account has a maximum limit of 2 TB of content or 1 million items.
  • After migrating a OneDrive account, users clicking on shared links to the old location will be redirected to the new one, as long as they still have access to the destination.
  • Redirects persist until the source tenant is de-provisioned. Admins can selectively remove redirects on a site-by-site basis.
  • Microsoft enforces a path limit of 400 characters, encompassing the entire path, not just the file name.
  • Microsoft recommends not creating OneDrive sites before or during migration. As it can interfere with migration. 
  • To prevent new OneDrive sites from being created, you have to manually restrict OneDrive creation in the source tenant if users continue accessing resources there.
  • Support is limited to Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Business Standard/Business Premium/F1/F3/E3/A3/E5/A5; Office 365 F3/E1/A1/E3/A3/E5/A5; Exchange Online; SharePoint Online; OneDrive for Business.
  • A complete manual approach involves lengthy and technical steps, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.

Method 3: Move OneDrive from One Tenant to Another Using the Reliable & Effortless Way

To simplify this whole complex task we developed a powerful tool known as SysTools OneDrive to OneDrive Migration Tool. With this software, you can migrate OneDrive for business to another tenant easily. Moreover, there is no additional need (software) to migrate OneDrive to the tenant. Here we explain a step-by-step working guide for how to migrate OneDrive to another tenant.

Download Now Purchase Now

Some of the Remarkable Features of the Tool

It is a software solution designed to simplify the process of migrating data from various sources to Microsoft OneDrive. Here are some key features:

  • Migrate data from multiple sources to Microsoft OneDrive.
  • Bulk migration for efficient transfer of large amounts of OneDrive data.
  • Incremental migration to synchronize only newly added or modified files.
  • Filter files and folders based on specific dates for selective migration.
  • Maintain file permissions and ownership details during migration.
  • Generate extensive reports with detailed migration details.
  • User-friendly intuitive interface for easy navigation and usage.
  • Robust security measures to protect data during migration.
  • Dedicated technical support for assistance and issue resolution.

Step-by-Step Tutorial to Perform Cross-Tenant OneDrive Migration

To successfully migrate OneDrive for business data to another tenant follow the given steps:-

Step 1. Download, install, and run the software from the above buttons.

Step 2. Install and start the software on your machine. Then select Office 365 as a source and as a destination.

Step 3. Now, to migrate OneDrive to another tenant you have to check the Document check-box enable Migrate document permission, and use the group Mapping option. If you need to migrate only selective data then you can apply a Date-based filter.
After applying all the required options click on “Next”.

Step 4. Now, enter the Office 365 source Admin ID and Application ID. Then click on the Validate button to validate permissions.

Step 5. You can see permissions are validated by software. After that, click on Next to move OneDrive from one tenant to another.

Step 6. Now, enter Office 365 destination Admin ID and Application ID then click on the Validate button.

Step 7. Once the software validated permission click on Next.

Step 8. Now, we have to create a mapping between source OneDrive users and destination OneDrive users. To do this task software provides three options: Fetch Users, Import Users, and Download Template.

Step 9. Once the mapping gets created, click on the Validate button to validate permission.

Step 10. After validating permission click on the Start Migration button to migrate OneDrive for business to another tenant.

Step 11. Now, the software has completed the migration.

Also Read: How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST File?

Conclusion

Migrating OneDrive for Business to another tenant can be a complex process, but it is often necessary for organizations that are merging or restructuring. Hence, in this article, we have explained all aspects of migration including planning and executing.

Moreover, with the right plan in place and using the above-mentioned software, organizations can ensure that all data is transferred properly and that users can access their files after the migration is complete.

FAQ

Q1. How to perform cross-tenant OneDrive migration using this utility?

A. You can easily perform this migration project with the help of the above software. Just follow these 5 simple steps for OneDrive for Business tenant-to-tenant migration.

  • Step 1. Download, Install, and Launch Software.
  • Step 2. Choose Office 365 as the  Source and Destination.
  • Step 3. Enable Document from Workload Selection.
  • Step 4. Login with Valid Credentials and Validate.
  • Step 5. Select OneDrive User IDs and Click on Start.

Q2. How to move data to another OneDrive user account?

A. Using the above software, you can easily copy OneDrive files to another OneDrive account. It only requires the admin credentials to fetch associated user accounts. Moreover, you can choose the user accounts according to your requirements and the software migrates its data to destination OneDrive accounts quickly. 

  author

By Mohit Jha

Mohit is a writer, researcher, and editor. Cyber ​​security and digital forensics are the two subjects that keep Mohit out of his seat. In addition, he hopes that the well-researched and thought-out articles he finds will help people learn.