Copy SharePoint List or Library between Sites with PowerShell

In a migration project, we had to move few lists and libraries to different site collection. In SharePoint 2010, using granular export, we can export SharePoint lists and libraries from one site to another with SharePoint Central Administration web interface.

Once exported we've to use Import-SPSite PowerShell cmdlet to restore the list. Lists can be copied to different SharePoint site as well.

Exporting from Central Admin UI and importing it again isn’t that much great time saver, So lets turn our attention to PowerShell to copy SharePoint 2010 list between sites. Here is my PowerShell script to Copy a single List or Library to another SharePoint Site:

Export Import a Library using PowerShell:

Export-SPWeb "http://your-site-url" -itemurl "/document" -path "c:\documents.cmp" -IncludeVersions All

Import-SPWeb "http://your-new-site-url/" -Path "c:\documents.cmp"

PowerShell Script to Backup-Restore (Or Export-Import) SharePoint List:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Function to copy List or Library from One SharePoint site to another 
Function CopyList([string]$SourceWebURL, [string]$TargetWebURL, [string]$ListName, [string]$BackupPath)
 {
    #Get the Source List
    $SourceList =(Get-SPWeb $SourceWebURL).Lists[$ListName]

    #Export the List from Source web
    Export-SPweb $SourceWebURL -ItemUrl $SourceList.DefaultViewUrl -IncludeUserSecurity -IncludeVersions All -path ($BackupPath + $ListName + ".cmp") -nologfile

   #Import the List to Target Web
    import-spweb $TargetWebURL -IncludeUserSecurity -path ($BackupPath + $ListName + ".cmp") -nologfile
 }
#Call the function
CopyList "http://sharepoint.crescent.com" "http://sharepoint.crescent.com/teams/marketing" "Banner" "C:\Temp\"

When I had a bunch of Lists to move from one site to another, I Just placed them in an array and called the function like this:

$Lists = @("Project Docs", "Project Metrics", "Milestones")

 foreach($List in $Lists)
 {
   #Call the function to copy
   CopyList "http://sharepoint.crescent.com" "http://sharepoint.crescent.com/teams/marketing" $List "C:\Temp\"
 }
 
 Write-Host "Completed!"

In an another situation, I had to copy of all Lists and libraries from a one Site Collection to another Site Collection. To export a single list use:

Export-SPweb "https://portal.crescent.com/News" -ItemUrl "Lists/Org News" -IncludeUserSecurity -IncludeVersions All -path "C:\Reports\News.cmp" -nologfile

PowerShell Script to Copy All Lists from One site to Another

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Function to copy List or Library from One SharePoint site to another 
Function CopyList([string]$SourceWebURL, [string]$TargetWebURL, [string]$ListName, [string]$BackupPath)
 {
    #Get the Source List
 $SourceList =(Get-SPWeb $SourceWebURL).Lists[$ListName]

   #Export the List from Source web
    Export-SPweb $SourceWebURL -ItemUrl $SourceList.DefaultViewUrl -IncludeUserSecurity -IncludeVersions All -path ($BackupPath + $ListName + ".cmp") -nologfile -Force

   #Import the List to Target Web
    import-spweb $TargetWebURL -IncludeUserSecurity -path ($BackupPath + $ListName + ".cmp") -nologfile -UpdateVersions Overwrite
 }
  
#Get All List Names
$Lists = @($(Get-SPWeb $SourceWebURL).lists)

 foreach($List in $Lists)
 {
  #Leave the Hidden Lists and exclude certain Libraries
    if($List.Hidden -eq $false -and $List.Title -ne "Style Library" -and $List.Title -ne "Site Pages")
 {
     #Call the function to copy
     CopyList "http://sharepoint.crescent.com" "http://sharepoint.crescent.com/HR/" $List.Title "C:\Temp\"
    }
 }
Write-Host "Completed Copying Lists!"

These scripts copies SharePoint list to another site including security and versions. Saving list as template with content, Export to spreadsheet are the OOTB methods for copying lists between site collections.