Step-By-Step Transfer SharePoint Online Data to Google Workspace

Do you know how to move data from SharePoint Online to Google Workspace? This blog will provide you with the native migration tool and a manual option to transfer your SharePoint Online data to Google Workspace. Along with that, I will explain the challenges involved in migrating your data.

Migrating SharePoint Online to Google Workspace helps IT admins and SMBs to reduce licensing costs, simplify collaboration, and standardize their cloud environment. However, moving your data is not that simple because the two platforms have different infrastructures and features. Despite this, many users still want to copy data from SharePoint Online to Google Workspace.

Why Users Need to Move Data from SharePoint to Google Workspace?

In organizations, migrating data from one platform to another is a common occurrence. The main reasons for migrating data are mentioned below.

• One of the main reasons is that the organization is completely shifting from SharePoint to Google Workspace platform.
• Companies often switch platforms due to mergers, restructuring, and acquisitions.
• In some companies, employees use SharePoint while IT admins manage Google Workspace. For managing their data, moving it is needed.
• SharePoint Online is costly for small and medium businesses. So, to reduce the cost, they are shifting to Google Workspace.
• For some users, SharePoint can be complex because of its advanced features. However, Google Sites is simple and much easier to work with.
• Google Workspace is great for real-time co-editing and simple UI compared to SharePoint.

Personal preference can also be a reason for switching platforms. Now, SharePoint stores a lot of organizations’ data. However, it is not possible to migrate all types of data. Let’s see what data you can migrate or whatnot.

Read Also: What are the Difference Between SharePoint and Google Sites?

What Data Can You Migrate from SharePoint Online?

Not all data types in SharePoint can be migrated. Below are some data items that are possible to move from SharePoint to Google Workspace.

• Document Libraries
• SharePoint Site Files
• Files that are stored in SharePoint
• Folder structure
• Metadata
• Permissions (with limitations)
• Lists with Limited Support

After understanding what can and cannot be migrated. You should also know about pre-migration steps before going through the process.

Preparations Before Moving SharePoint Data to G Suite

• Properly review your inventory to identify duplicate, outdated, or unnecessary data. If you find any, remove empty folders in SharePoint Online or archive them to reduce the migration volume.
• SharePoint lists, pages, workflows, and OneNote notebooks cannot be migrated using standard methods. You have to manually move them.
• You must have Global Administrator access to the Microsoft tenant and Super Admin access to Google Workspace.
• If you are migrating team sites, create the target shared drive in the Google Admin console.
• To migrate the data, you have to create a CSV file to map SharePoint users to the corresponding Google Workspace email addresses.
• Inform your users about the migration and any expected downtime so they can plan their work accordingly.

Make sure you properly follow this checklist and then follow the steps to link your SharePoint Online to Google Workspace.

Native Migration Tool to Move Data from SharePoint Online to Google Workspace

Google has a new native migration service that can transfer SharePoint data to your Google Workspace account. To use this feature, you must have a paid Google Workspace license.

1. First, sign in to your Google account using a super administrator account.
2. In the Google Admin Console, go to Menu, then Data.
3. Select Data import & export and then the Data Migration (New) button.
4. Click on Migrate for Microsoft SharePoint Online. Then, connect to the SharePoint.
5. Sign in using a Global Administrator account.
6. Now, create a file for the sites and site collections to migrate.
7. Download the sample CSV file and open it.
8. Provide the source SharePoint URL, Target Drive FolderID, and Target GUser.
9. Add the required information in each row and save the spreadsheet.
10. Again, in Admin Console, click Upload CSV.
11. Choose the file, and then press the open button.
12. Create an identity map to connect users and groups in SharePoint Online.
13. Download the sample CSV and open it.
14. Add the first header, Source Entity, and Destination Email in the second.
15. In the source Entity column, type the source users and groups you want to map.
16. In the destination email, enter a valid email address and group name.
17. Save the spreadsheet and upload the file.
18. Click Start Migration. This action allows domain-wide delegation and creates a client ID for the new data migration in the target account.

Manually Copy SharePoint Online Data to Google Workspace

Another option is to manually download SharePoint data and upload it to Google Workspace. It is a simple method for moving data without requiring admin-level permissions.

1. Go to your SharePoint site and log in to your account.
2. Select the file or folders you want to move, then click Download.
3. Your file will be downloaded in ZIP format. Extract the file.
4. In the Google Drive, press the New button.
5. Choose the Folder Upload and then upload your downloaded SharePoint file.
6. Alternatively, you can drag the file and drop it into the Google Drive.

With these methods, it is simple to migrate your data from SharePoint to Google Workspace. But many of you often face difficulties during the procedure. It is important to understand them

Challenges You May Face During the Process

• Large SharePoint sites contain complex nested folders and multiple document libraries. Therefore, maintaining the folder hierarchy during the migration process can be difficult, especially when using manual methods.
• SharePoint Online and Google Workspace use different permission models, which can cause issues like permission inheritance not transferring properly, some users may lose access, or manual reconfiguration may be required.
• SharePoint files often lose metadata when transferred manually.
• Organizations store terabytes of SharePoint data, and manually moving those files can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
• There are different limitations related to file path length, special characters, and naming conventions in SharePoint and Google Drive. These limitations may cause file upload failures.
• Manual migration increases the risk of missing files, corrupted downloads, incomplete uploads, and duplicate data.

This is why you should take a backup of SharePoint Online to your local computer to prevent these challenges.

Bonus Tip for Entire Migration

Most organizations transfer not only their SharePoint data but also their Exchange Online data to Google Workspace. The SharePoint migration is a part of this, but to move the complete data, professional software like SysTools Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace Migration Tool that migrates Exchange Online data to your Google account without issues.

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Final Note

If you are facing issues while moving data from SharePoint Online to Google Workspace, you can use the new native migration tool or the manual method to copy your SharePoint Online data to Google Workspace. Here, I have properly explained the methods and the challenges you may face during the procedure. For a complete tenant transfer, check the bonus tip mentioned above.