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Microsoft 365 Groups migration

Updated

Microsoft 365 Groups is a valuable Microsoft 365 service that connects other services like SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Planner to offer centralized access for your users.

Learning how to migrate a SharePoint site with an associated Microsoft 365 group can be practical if you wish to later use that site with services like Microsoft Teams or Planner. 

While you cannot migrate a Microsoft 365 group directly, the migration tool will copy a Microsoft 365 group when you migrate its associated site collection.

You can also get any site collection not already associated with a Microsoft 365 group migrated as a Microsoft 365 group-connected site at the destination.

Tip: For a better understanding of Microsoft 365 groups and how they relate to other Microsoft services like SharePoint, see The relationship between Microsoft 365 Groups, Teams, and other services.

Index

Prerequisites

Note: Site collection admin permissions are required on the source even if you have higher admin privileges like SharePoint admin or global admin permissions. For more information, see Microsoft administrative permissions.

Copy a site collection and its associated Microsoft 365 group as a new site and group

To copy a site collection and its associated Microsoft 365 group as a new site and group at the destination, follow these steps:

  1. Select Copy from the sidebar.
  2. Select Copy structure and content.
  3. Use the address of the Team Site connected to your Microsoft 365 Group for the source.
    Tip: You can list your Microsoft 365 Groups in Explorer.
  4. Add your source credentials.
  5. Click Connect.
  6. Select your source.
  7. Click Next.
  8. For the destination, use the address of the admin center of your tenant.
  9. Add your destination credentials.
  10. Click Connect.
  11. Select Sites. 
  12. Click Next.
  13. Click Options on the top-right if you want to apply specific parameters, and give the site collection a new name or a new URL.
  14. Drag and drop the site connected to your Group from the source to the destination, or select the row and click Start copy.

Copy a site collection without an associated Microsoft 365 group as a new site collection with an associated Microsoft 365 group

To copy a site collection (classic or modern) and make it connected to a Microsoft 365 group at the destination, follow steps (1) to (12) from the how-to above to begin the Copy structure and content process. Then:

  1. Click Mappings.
  2. Select the Site templates tab.
  3. Map the source site template to the destination Team site (when you hover your mouse over it, the Template Name is GROUP#0).
  4. Continue from step (13) above.

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Merge a site collection with an associated Microsoft 365 group into an existing site and group

You can merge a site collection associated with a Microsoft 365 Group into an existing destination site collection. The destination site must:

  • Already be associated with a Microsoft 365 group.
  • Use the same GROUP#0 template.

To do so, follow steps (1) to (7) from the how-to above to begin the Copy structure and content process. Then:

  1. Use the target site collection's URL for the destination.
  2. Add your destination credentials.
  3. Click Connect.
  4. Select the target site collection.
  5. Continue from step (12) above.

The destination Microsoft 365 Group name and description will stay the same. It will not be replaced with the source and description. The site collection associated with the source Microsoft 365 Group will gain the name and description from the source site collection.

Note: The Members security group used by Outlook is not preserved if you merge your source site into an existing destination site.

Default behaviors

The following users will be added as Microsoft 365 group owners at the destination:

  • Site collection administrators.
  • The user account you used to connect to the destination.
  • All the members in the SharePoint Owners group (up to a maximum of 100 Owners).

Membership can be easily changed and reallocated post-migration using the Microsoft 365 Groups management features in Explorer.

The owners of a Microsoft 365 group are automatically granted site collection admin permissions on the associated site collection. This means they can access everything on the site, including items with custom permissions.

For more information, see The membership between Microsoft 365 Groups, Teams, and SharePoint.

The ShareGate migration tool is subject to the following limitations when migrating Microsoft 365 Groups:

  • The ShareGate migration tool will only migrate the SharePoint-associated items in a Microsoft 365 Group (items in the site behind the Microsoft 365 Group, like documents and list items). We do not migrate emails or teams associated with the group.
    Tip: To migrate Teams, see Walkthrough - Copy teams.
  • The group calendar migration is not supported.
  • ShareGate's migration tool does not provision all the services around Microsoft 365 Groups.
  • The site collection associated with the group has the same web part limitations as other Modern templates.

After your migration

Go beyond your migration with ShareGate and keep your Microsoft 365 destination organized, secure, and clutter-free with the following features:

  • ShareGate Management grants you better visibility and control of your Microsoft 365 teams, groups, and communication sites.
  • ShareGate Provisioning allows you to customize Teams templates with the right governance policies to facilitate your Microsoft Teams users' creation of new teams.
  • ShareGate Cloud copy allows you to copy teams from anywhere with online access. It is currently the only way to merge two teams.

With ShareGate, you can also automate tasks like asking your owners about their inactive teams and groups and external sharing; you can export custom teams and groups reports; you can audit your tenant's activity; and so much more.

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