SharePoint Online Migration Checklist (Download Free PDF)

Moving to Microsoft 365 shouldn’t feel like changing the tires while the car is moving. This SharePoint Online migration checklist gives you a clear path—what to do before, during, and after cutover—so your team stays productive and nothing mission-critical gets lost. Think of it as your complete SharePoint Online migration checklist: practical steps, real-world tips, and gotchas to avoid.

Whether you’re planning a SharePoint on-premise to Online migration checklist for older farms or simply consolidating file shares, you’ll learn how to prep content, protect permissions, and measure adoption. Stick around to grab the SharePoint Online migration checklist PDF—a free, ready-to-share handout for sponsors, site owners, and IT.

SharePoint Online Pre-Migration Checklist (Before You Start)

A smooth move starts long before the first file transfers. Treat this phase as discovery plus cleanup—so the actual migration feels routine. This section anchors your sharepoint online migration checklist with the essentials American teams care about: clear outcomes, clean content, sane security, and the right tools.

1. Align on outcomes and owners

Write down the business reason in one line (reduce legacy risk, modernize collaboration, retire old servers). Name an executive sponsor, IT owner, security/compliance lead, and a communications lead. Define what “done” means—e.g., % of content migrated, cutover dates, adoption targets.

2. Inventory your source the right way

Run Microsoft’s SharePoint Migration Assessment Tool (SMAT) across farms to surface the truth—unsupported customizations, InfoPath/Designer workflows, long paths, large lists, and broken links. These reports become your remediation backlog and time estimate.

3. Fix file/folder blockers before they bite

SharePoint Online enforces specific service limits (for example, the decoded file path—including name—must be ≤400 characters). Clean illegal characters, shorten deep folder chains, and split oversized libraries now; it prevents job failures and throttling later. Keep Microsoft’s limits and “restrictions & limitations” pages open while you clean.

4. Decide your migration tooling and pattern

Most teams pair Migration Manager (agent-based, centrally managed in the SharePoint Admin Center) with the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) for simpler lifts and file shares. Pilot both, confirm reporting and error handling meet your needs, and standardize your runbook.

5. Map identity, permissions, and information protection

Plan how legacy groups map to Microsoft 365 groups and SharePoint roles (least privilege). If you retain or auto-delete content, design Microsoft Purview retention policies/labels now so compliance follows content into the cloud; test label + DLP behavior in a sandbox.

6. Get the network ready for cloud scale

For Microsoft 365, local Internet egress is the winning pattern—avoid hair-pinning traffic through a datacenter when possible. Validate DNS, proxies, and bandwidth at key offices; plan to schedule heavy waves off-peak in the target region.

7. Shape the user experience you want—don’t clone the past

Decide which sites get a fresh modern information architecture (hubs, flatter hierarchy, modern pages) versus a straight lift. Capture what must be rebuilt (2010/2013 workflows, custom master pages, sandbox solutions) and what can be retired. This is where a pre migration checklist SharePoint online pays off: less rework after cutover and better adoption on day one.

8. Pilot, measure, recalibrate

Pick three representative sites (simple, typical, complex). Run a scan-only pass, then a controlled migration. Time the run, track errors, validate item counts/versions/permissions, and document fixes. Use those facts to size the waves for your broader migration to SharePoint Online checklist.

Pro tip: If you’re moving from older farms, this doubles as your SharePoint on premise to online migration checklist. The discovery and cleanup you do here turns the rest of the project into a repeatable playbook.

What this phase delivers (so you can move fast later):

• A signed-off scope, timeline, and “definition of done.”
• A prioritized remediation backlog from SMAT reports.
• A validated tool/runbook combo (Migration Manager + SPMT).
• A tested security/compliance model (permissions + Purview retention/labels).
• Network assumptions confirmed against Microsoft’s connectivity principles.

This front-loaded effort is why mature teams call their plan a complete SharePoint Online migration checklist—because by the time you start “during-migration” work, you’re executing, not guessing.

SharePoint Online Migration Checklist (During Migration)

This is where your plan turns into motion. The goal isn’t “move everything at once”—it’s predictable waves that finish cleanly, with repeatable steps and minimal downtime. Treat this stage of your SharePoint Online migration checklist like a production line: same stages, same quality gates, every time.

1. Stand up the tooling and runbook

Spin up your migration stack (Migration Manager and/or SPMT) exactly as you tested in pilot. Lock in naming conventions for tasks, source/target paths, error-handling rules, and reporting. A short “operator guide” prevents improvisation when the clock is ticking.

2. Structure your waves

Group sites and file shares by complexity and business priority. Start each wave with a scan-only pass to catch last-minute blockers you missed during the pre-migration checklist SharePoint Online phase. Time-box waves so business owners know when to expect cutover.

3. Move data with performance in mind

Throughput depends on how you package content and when you run. Keep packages reasonably sized (avoid thousands of tiny files per task), schedule heavy moves during off-peak hours in the target region, and avoid backhauling traffic through a datacenter. If a library is too large, split it into parallel tasks rather than one giant job.

4. Preserve identity and permissions

Map users and groups to Entra ID (Azure AD) ahead of time so authorship, version history, and ownership survive the move. Migrate permissions in read-only first, validate with site owners, then unlock to normal access.

5. Communicate like a product launch

Before each wave, send a plain-English note: what’s moving, when, what’s read-only, and how to get help. During the window, keep a live “known issues” page and a single escalation channel (Teams/Slack) for site owners. This lowers ticket noise and keeps decisions fast.

6. Use the delta pattern

Run bulk load → content freeze → delta runs → cutover. Deltas prevent data drift between “last business change” and go-live. For global teams, schedule the freeze in a window that hurts the fewest people, and keep it as short as possible.

7. Validate while you go

Don’t wait for the end of the wave to check quality. After each task completes, spot-check item counts, versions, metadata, and permissions; open a few files in the browser to confirm they render correctly. Fix and re-run immediately, then proceed.

8. Triage with discipline

Categorize errors into three buckets: (1) retries (transient), (2) fix upstream (illegal names, long paths, broken links), (3) won’t fix (intentionally excluded/archived). Track these in your wave sheet so sponsors see progress and trade-offs.

9. Coordinate adjacent moves

If you’re also enabling OneDrive Known Folder Move or shifting Teams file storage, communicate that timeline alongside your migration to SharePoint Online checklist. It reduces “where did my files go?” confusion and speeds adoption on day one.

Handled this way, your complete SharePoint Online migration checklist becomes muscle memory—each wave feels the same, moves faster, and ships with fewer surprises.

SharePoint Online Post Migration Checklist (After Migration)

Cutover is complete—now you stabilize. Use this post-migration checklist to confirm what landed, switch on the right policies, tune the experience, and help people ramp up quickly.

1. Validate and secure sign-off

Start with facts. Sample item counts, versions, metadata, and permissions across a few representative libraries. Open common files in the browser to check links and previews. Ask each site owner to try everyday tasks—searching, uploading, sharing, and coauthoring—and record approval. If something’s off, fix it and re-run only the affected jobs.

2. Apply security and compliance

Make sure Microsoft 365 groups and SharePoint roles reflect least-privilege access. Turn on the retention and sensitivity labels you designed earlier and test a few files so protected content still opens, syncs, and shares as intended. If records moved to dedicated libraries, confirm the right policies inherit automatically.

3. Tune the experience and performance

Give users a modern structure instead of a copy of the old one. Associate sites to the correct hub, refresh navigation, retire classic master pages, and replace brittle web parts with modern equivalents. Optimize large image/video libraries (use a CDN where appropriate) and verify that search returns relevant results.

4. Decommission the old world—safely

Set legacy farms or file shares to read-only and post a clear banner or redirect. Update links in intranets, Teams tabs, bookmarks, and line-of-business apps so people don’t wander back to retired URLs. Archive content you intentionally left behind and document where it lives.

5. Rebuild automations (don’t revive them)

Designer/2010/2013 workflows and InfoPath forms rarely translate well. Re-implement critical processes with Power Automate/Power Apps or native features. For scheduled jobs and integrations, rotate secrets and store connections in a supported pattern before you call the wave “done.”

6. Support adoption where work happens

Publish short, in-context “how-to” snippets on the sites themselves (sharing, restoring files, editing pages). Offer office hours for two weeks after each wave and keep a living known-issues note that you update as fixes roll out—transparency reduces duplicate tickets.

7. Measure and improve

Track site/file activity, sharing patterns, storage growth, and top search queries. Watch for permission spikes or unusual external sharing. Turn your punch list into a backlog, prioritize items that unblock daily work, and schedule 30-day and 90-day health checks.

Wrap-up: Do this well, and the move feels like an upgrade—stable, secure, and easier for everyone.

SharePoint On-Premise to Online Migration: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even solid plans stumble on the same handful of traps. Use this section of your SharePoint Online migration checklist as a gut-check before each wave.

1. “Lift-and-dump” without cleanup: Moving everything as-is drags illegal characters, 400-char paths, and bloated libraries into the cloud. Trim ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial) content, fix names/paths, and split oversized libraries before a single task runs.
2. Skipping a pilot and deltas: One big weekend cutover invites surprises and data drift. Pilot on a representative site first, then run bulk → freeze → delta → cutover for every wave.
3. Ignoring service limits and throttling: Files that exceed size/path limits or lists with millions of items will stall jobs. Package sensibly, parallelize where it’s safe, and plan waves for off-peak windows.
4. Backhauling Microsoft 365 traffic: Hair-pinning all migration traffic through a datacenter kills throughput. Prefer local Internet egress and verify DNS/proxy rules at each office.
5. Re-creating the old, brittle IA: Copying deep subsites and classic master pages preserves yesterday’s problems. Flatten the architecture, use hubs, and move to modern pages as part of your migration to SharePoint Online checklist.
6. Permissions sprawl: “Everyone has Edit” feels fast—until audit time. Map legacy groups to Microsoft 365 groups with least-privilege roles, and validate with site owners before unlock.
7. Treating 2010/2013 workflows and InfoPath as portable: They aren’t. Identify business-critical automations early and rebuild them with Power Automate/Power Apps or supported features.
8. Neglecting retention, DLP, and sensitivity labels: Content shouldn’t arrive naked. Design Microsoft Purview policies up front and test on pilot sites so compliance follows content on day one.
9. Under-communicating with users: Silence creates tickets. Before each wave, send what’s moving, when it’s read-only, where to get help, and what changes on go-live.
10. No plan to decommission and redirect: If legacy shares stay writable and old URLs linger, users will drift back. Make them read-only, set clear redirects, and document retention.
11. One tool for every problem: SPMT or Migration Manager alone may not cover edge cases. Standardize on your primary tools, but be ready to supplement for special scenarios (complex metadata maps, tenant-to-tenant).
12. Forgetting to measure success: If you can’t show adoption or time saved, leadership sees “just a move.” Track owner sign-off, search satisfaction, site/file activity, and support volume to prove impact. Avoid these, and your complete SharePoint Online migration checklist reads like a runbook—not a rescue plan.

SharePoint Online Migration Best Practices

Think of these as the habits that separate smooth moves from stressful weekends. Fold them into your complete SharePoint Online migration checklist so every wave looks the same—and finishes clean.

• Start with outcomes, not terabytes: Write a one-line goal (reduce risk, modernize collaboration, retire servers) and a “definition of done.” It keeps decisions grounded when trade-offs pop up.
• Clean before you carry: Archive ROT content, fix illegal characters and 400-char paths, and split oversized libraries. Every hour spent here saves three during cutover.
• Modernize your information architecture: Don’t recreate brittle subsites and classic master pages. Move to a flatter structure with hubs and modern pages; it improves findability and reduces admin overhead.
• Use the right tools for the right jobs: Standardize on Migration Manager for scale and SPMT for straightforward lifts. Document a runbook (task naming, error handling, reports) so operators execute, not improvise.
• Package for throughput: Avoid thousands of tiny files in a single task. Balance package counts and sizes, and schedule heavy runs during off-peak hours in the target region.
• Adopt the delta pattern: Run bulk → content freeze → delta → cutover for every wave. It prevents data drift and shortens after-hours work.
• Keep identity and permissions clean: Map legacy groups to Microsoft 365 groups using least-privilege roles. Migrate permissions read-only, get owner validation, then unlock.
• Bake in compliance from day one: Design Microsoft Purview retention/sensitivity/DLP policies during the pre migration checklist SharePoint Online phase and verify they apply post-cutover.
• Optimize the network path: Prefer local Internet egress and smart DNS over datacenter hair-pinning. Your operators will see fewer throttling dips and faster task completion.
• Rebuild workflows—don’t revive them: Designer/2010/2013 workflows and InfoPath forms seldom translate. Re-implement critical automations with Power Automate/Power Apps or native features.
• Communicate like a product launch: Wave briefs, read-only windows, what changes, where to get help. A live “known issues” note and office hours keep tickets (and anxiety) low.
• Measure what matters: Track owner sign-off, site/file activity, search satisfaction, and support volume. Use those numbers to prove impact—and to tune the next wave.
• Plan decommission and redirects early: Make legacy shares read-only, set clear redirects, and document retention so users don’t drift back to the old world.

Use these best practices as the backbone of your migration to SharePoint Online checklist—and your SharePoint Online post-migration checklist becomes a quick victory lap instead of a cleanup marathon.

Conclusion

A smooth move isn’t about copying files—it’s about giving people a faster, safer way to work. Use this SharePoint Online migration checklist to clean before you carry, migrate in waves with deltas, verify after cutover, and measure adoption. Do that, and the cloud feels like an upgrade—not an upheaval.

Partnering with expert SharePoint Migration Services can further streamline the process, ensuring best practices are followed and risks are minimized. Do that, and the cloud feels like an upgrade—not an upheaval.

FAQs

1. What are the benefits of migrating to SharePoint Online?

Lower infrastructure overhead, stronger security/compliance, modern UX, tight Teams/OneDrive integration, and continuous feature updates—no more big-bang upgrades.

2. How long does a SharePoint Online migration take?

From weeks to months. Volume, customizations, network performance, and how many waves you run affect the timeline more than raw data size.

3. Do I need a third-party tool for SharePoint migration?

Not always. Microsoft’s SPMT (SharePoint Migration Tool) and Migration Manager cover many scenarios. Use third-party tools for edge cases—complex metadata, tenant-to-tenant, or advanced reporting.

4. What are the biggest challenges in SharePoint migration?

Cleaning illegal characters/long paths, replacing 2010/2013 workflows, handling throttling at scale, and driving user adoption after cutover.

5. How do I ensure data security during migration?

Apply least-privilege permissions, use secure identities, and configure Microsoft Purview retention/sensitivity/DLP policies so compliance follows content post-cutover.

6. How much does SharePoint Online migration cost?

Costs depend on discovery/remediation effort, tooling, execution, and change management. Complexity (customizations, sensitive data, compliance) drives services more than licenses.

7. What is the difference between SharePoint upgrade and migration?

An upgrade stays on-prem (e.g., 2016→2019). A migration moves content to SharePoint Online, usually with a new information architecture and cloud governance.

8. How to plan a SharePoint migration?

Define outcomes, run assessments, fix blockers, choose SPMT/Migration Manager, pilot, migrate in waves with bulk → freeze → delta → cutover, then validate and train.