How to move files from one document library to another in SharePoint Online?

In this SharePoint tutorial, I will show you how to move files from one document library to another in SharePoint Online. Here we will see:

• Copy/move files within a SharePoint document library
• Move files from SharePoint Online to OneDrive
• Copy or move files from one SharePoint site to another SharePoint Online site

Move Files to SharePoint Document Library

This section will show how to move files to the SharePoint document library.

• Open a SharePoint Online document library, select a file, then click on … Show more actions for this item. Then click on Move to

• The Move dialogue box will appear, Click on the documents Icon -> Select the preferred document -> Click Move here. Where we can move the selected file to another document library, as shown in the figure:

• Then, the document or file will be shifted to another SharePoint document library as in the below screenshot :

NOTE:

When we move or copy a file to a location with different properties, only supported properties at the new location are maintained.
For example, if we move a file that has a Priority column from a document library,where the other document library doesnt have that column then the information in the Priority column will be lost. 

• If we wanted to move files to a new folder, select the new folder icon in the top right corner to add a new folder -> Enter a name for the folder and choose Create.

• Then we can select the created new folder and select Move here as shown below :

This is how to move files and documents within the SharePoint document library.

Copy Files Within the Same SharePoint Document Library

Similarly, how to copy a file(s) within the same SharePoint document library.

• This section follows the steps in the Move files within the same SharePoint document library.
• Open the SharePoint Online document library. Here, we are copying a document in a SharePoint library named “MB Documents” to another document library.
• Select a file(s) and Click the Ellipsis(…) to get more options -> Select Copy to

• In the copy property pane, Click on the documents Icon -> Select the preferred document (MB Certificate) -> Click Copy here.

• Then the copied file will also be displayed in the selected SharePoint document library as you can be seen from the below screenshot:

This is how to copy files within the same SharePoint document library.

Move Files to Onedrive From SharePoint Online Site

Likewise, we will go through the process of moving files to one drive from the SharePoint Online Site. Follow the below instructions:

• Open the SharePoint Online document library.
• Select file (s) or folders in a SharePoint Online document library and select the Ellipsis icon (…) -> Click Move to.

• The Move items box will appear, click on My Files -> Select the location you want to move to (Sites appear under the Quick Access section).
  • Ex: Here, we taking the Attachments folder in SharePoint Onedrive.

• Then the selected file or document will be moved to SharePoint Onedrive and stored properly.

NOTE:

When we Move the documents that have version history, only the latest version of the document is moved. To move previous versions,we need to restore and move each one.

This is how to move files from the SharePoint document library to SharePoint Onedrive.

Copy Files to Onedrive From SharePoint Online Site

Similarly, how to copy files from the SharePoint Online site to Onedrive.

• Open the SharePoint Online document library. Here, we are copying a document in a SharePoint library named ‘RENA Documents’ to a Onedrive account.
• Select a file(s) and Click the Ellipsis(…) to get more options -> Select Copy to feature.
• The Move items box will appear, click on My Files -> Select the location you want to move to (Sites appear under the Quick Access section) and Click Copy here.

This is how to copy files from the SharePoint Online site to Onedrive.

Move Files from one SharePoint Online Site to another

Similarly, in this section, we will see Move  Files from one SharePoint Online Site to another SharePoint Site.

• Open the SharePoint Online document library.
• Select files or folders in a SharePoint Online document library to move or copy and on the command bar, select the Ellipsis icon (…) -> Click Move to.

• The Move item pane will appear, click on My Files -> Select the location you want to move to (Sites appear under the Quick Access section). Here, we will select a SharePoint site (Rena Technologies).
• Then it will open another site(Rena Technologies) -> Click on the documents Icon -> Select the preferred document(RENA Documents) -> Click Move here. Where we can move the selected file or documents to another document library in different SharePoint sites, as shown in the figure:

• Then, the document or file will be shifted from one SharePoint site to another SharePoint site as in the below screenshot.

This is how we can move files from one SharePoint site to another.

Copy Files from one SharePoint Online Site to another SharePoint Site

Likewise, we will see how to copy files or documents from one SharePoint site to another SharePoint site.

• Open SharePoint online document library (Assume we are taking project documents on the Mercy Hospital site), Select the file (s) -> Click on Copy to

• Select another SharePoint site (Rena Technologies) that appears under the Quick Access section of copy to property pane.
• Select documents (Rena Documents) in the Property pane and click Copy here.
• Then, the document or file will be copied from one SharePoint site to another SharePoint site, as in the below screenshot.

This is how to Copy Files from one SharePoint Online Site to another SharePoint Site.

Conclusion

This SharePoint Online tutorial taught us all about how to move or copy files from one location to another within the SharePoint Online document library.

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