For migrating large volumes of documents from files shares to SharePoint Online, allowing users to drag and drop files manually works generally well for small/ad-hoc moves of data, but for serious volumes (tens/hundreds of thousands of files and folders), Microsoft has recently come up with a tool of its own, which is conveniently free. This is the process of how to migrate file shares to SharePoint Online using Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool:
Step 1: Download and install the Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool
You can download the migration tool directly from Microsoft here, or:
1. Click on Office 365 App Launcher > Admin
2. Navigate to SharePoint Admin Center
3. Under Migration, click on Desktop tool (SPMT) (SPMT = SharePoint Migration Tool)
4. Click the Download tool button to download the software
5. Once downloaded, install Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool on your computer by clicking on the downloaded file
6. Next, you will need to log in to the tool using your Office 365 credentials
Step 2: Perform your first migration
1. Click on Start your first migration button
2. On the next screen, you can choose the source of files. You can migrate from the old SharePoint on-prem environment too, but in our case, we want to migrate file shares to SharePoint Online (that are located on local or network drives). So on this screen, choose FileShare
3. On the next screen, select the source of your files (the top-level folder you want to migrate). This could be a folder on C:Drive or a network drive. Click Next
4. On the Next Screen, paste the URL of the SharePoint site you want to migrate to
5. An important note about the above URL. Make sure to paste the URL of the site and not a page. For example, if you paste full URL (the URL of the specific page), like this: , it will give you an error: “The site does not exist. Please create the site first before continue the migration.” This is because you need to drop the SitePages/Home.aspx at the end of the URL.
6. Once you enter the proper URL, it will generate a list of all document libraries that exist on a site. Choose the library you want to migrate to
7. Hit Next
8. On the next screen, you can give your migration a name and click Next
9. On the next screen, all you have to do is click the Migrate button. You can also click View all settings to alter some advanced settings, but for basic migration, accept the default.
10. You will now see the progress of the migration live on your screen
11. When migration completes, you will get a confirmation message
12. You can Save it in case you will need to run incremental migrations later, or you can also access the detailed migration reports by clicking View reports
13. This is how the migrated files will appear on a site (document library). You will notice that Modified Date metadata is maintained by the migration tool and does not default to today’s date (if you were to drag and drop the files manually). You will also notice System Account appearing under Modified By instead of your name (which is excellent!)
14. Congratulations, we did it! To learn more about the SharePoint Migration Tool and its improvements and limitations, please refer to this article from Microsoft.