SharePoint Online: Copy a Document Library to another Site using PowerShell
Requirement: Copy document library to another site SharePoint Online using PowerShell
How to copy a Document Library to another site in SharePoint Online?
There are no direct ways to copy a document library in SharePoint Online. However, You can use this workaround:
- Save the source document library as a template – Go to the source library >> Click on Settings gear >> Choose Library Settings >> Click on “Save as Template”. More info: How to Save List as Template in SharePoint Online?
- Download the List Template and Upload to the Destination Site
- Create a new document library from the list template – Login to your destination SharePoint Online site >> Click on the Settings gear icon and click “Add an app”. You can use the pagination at the bottom of the page to find your custom list template, or use the “Find an App” search box and pick your list template. More info: SharePoint Online: Create List from Custom Template using PowerShell
- Copy all items from the source document library to the new document library – Once you created a new instance of the document library from the existing list template, you can copy all files and folders from the source library to the destination library by selecting all items in the source library and choose “Copy to” button in the toolbar and then specify the document library created in step 3.
SharePoint Online: Copy document library to another site collection using PowerShell
To copy a document library with its files and folders, use this PowerShell script.
#Function to Copy library to another site
Function Copy-PnPLibrary
{
param (
[parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)][string]$SourceSiteURL,
[parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)][string]$DestinationSiteURL,
[parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)][string]$SourceLibraryName,
[parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)][string]$DestinationLibraryName
)
Try {
#Connect to the Source Site
$SourceConn = Connect-PnPOnline -URL $SourceSiteURL -Interactive -ReturnConnection
$SourceCtx = $SourceConn.Context
#Get the Source library
$SourceLibrary = Get-PnPList -Identity $SourceLibraryName -Includes RootFolder -Connection $SourceConn
#Get the List Template
$SourceRootWeb = $SourceCtx.Site.RootWeb
$SourceListTemplates = $SourceCtx.Site.GetCustomListTemplates($SourceRootWeb)
$SourceCtx.Load($SourceRootWeb)
$SourceCtx.Load($SourceListTemplates)
$SourceCtx.ExecuteQuery()
$SourceListTemplate = $SourceListTemplates | Where {$_.Name -eq $SourceLibrary.id.Guid}
$SourceListTemplateURL = $SourceRootWeb.ServerRelativeUrl+"/_catalogs/lt/"+$SourceLibrary.id.Guid+".stp"
#Remove the List template if exists
If($SourceListTemplate)
{
Remove-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $SourceListTemplateURL -Recycle -Force -Connection $SourceConn
}
Write-host "Creating List Template from Source Library..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
$SourceLibrary.SaveAsTemplate($SourceLibrary.id.Guid, $SourceLibrary.id.Guid, [string]::Empty, $False)
$SourceCtx.ExecuteQuery()
Write-host "Done!" -f Green
#Reload List Templates to Get Newly created List Template
$SourceListTemplates = $SourceCtx.Site.GetCustomListTemplates($SourceRootWeb)
$SourceCtx.Load($SourceListTemplates)
$SourceCtx.ExecuteQuery()
$SourceListTemplate = $SourceListTemplates | Where {$_.Name -eq $SourceLibrary.id.Guid}
#Connect to the Destination Site
$DestinationConn = Connect-PnPOnline -URL $DestinationSiteURL -Interactive -ReturnConnection
$DestinationCtx = $DestinationConn.Context
$DestinationRootWeb = $DestinationCtx.Site.RootWeb
$DestinationListTemplates = $DestinationCtx.Site.GetCustomListTemplates($DestinationRootWeb)
$DestinationCtx.Load($DestinationRootWeb)
$DestinationCtx.Load($DestinationListTemplates)
$DestinationCtx.ExecuteQuery()
$DestinationListTemplate = $DestinationListTemplates | Where {$_.Name -eq $SourceLibrary.id.Guid}
$DestinationListTemplateURL = $DestinationRootWeb.ServerRelativeUrl+"/_catalogs/lt/"+$SourceLibrary.id.Guid+".stp"
#Remove the List template if exists
If($DestinationListTemplate)
{
Remove-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $DestinationListTemplateURL -Recycle -Force -Connection $DestinationConn
}
#Copy List Template from source to the destination site
Write-host "Copying List Template from Source to Destination Site..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
Copy-PnPFile -SourceUrl $SourceListTemplateURL -TargetUrl $DestinationListTemplateURL -SkipSourceFolderName -Force -OverwriteIfAlreadyExists
Write-host "Done!" -f Green
#Reload List Templates to Get Newly created List Template
$DestinationListTemplates = $DestinationCtx.Site.GetCustomListTemplates($DestinationRootWeb)
$DestinationCtx.Load($DestinationListTemplates)
$DestinationCtx.ExecuteQuery()
$DestinationListTemplate = $DestinationListTemplates | Where {$_.Name -eq $SourceLibrary.id.Guid}
#Create the destination library from the list template
Write-host "Creating New Library in the Destination Site..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
If(!(Get-PnPList -Identity $DestinationLibraryName -Connection $DestinationConn))
{
#Create the destination library
$ListCreation = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ListCreationInformation
$ListCreation.Title = $DestinationLibraryName
$ListCreation.ListTemplate = $DestinationListTemplate
$DestinationList = $DestinationCtx.Web.Lists.Add($ListCreation)
$DestinationCtx.ExecuteQuery()
Write-host "Library '$DestinationLibraryName' created successfully!" -f Green
}
Else
{
Write-host "Library '$DestinationLibraryName' already exists!" -f Yellow
}
#Copy content from Source to the destination library
$SourceLibraryURL = $SourceLibrary.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl
$DestinationLibrary = Get-PnPList $DestinationLibraryName -Includes RootFolder -Connection $DestinationConn
$DestinationLibraryURL = $DestinationLibrary.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl
Write-host "Copying Content from $SourceLibraryURL to $DestinationLibraryURL..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
#Copy All Content from Source Library to the Destination Library
Copy-PnPFile -SourceUrl $SourceLibraryURL -TargetUrl $DestinationLibraryURL -SkipSourceFolderName -Force -OverwriteIfAlreadyExists
Write-host "`tcontent Copied Successfully!" -f Green
#Cleanup List Templates in source and destination sites
Remove-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $SourceListTemplateURL -Recycle -Force -Connection $SourceConn
Remove-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $DestinationListTemplateURL -Recycle -Force -Connection $DestinationConn
}
Catch {
write-host -f Red "Error:" $_.Exception.Message
}
}
#Parameters
$SourceSiteURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/Legal"
$DestinationSiteURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/Compliance"
$SourceLibraryName = "Documents"
$DestinationLibraryName = "Documents"
#Call the function to copy document library to another site
Copy-PnPLibrary -SourceSiteURL $SourceSiteURL -DestinationSiteURL $DestinationSiteURL -SourceLibraryName $SourceLibraryName -DestinationLibraryName $DestinationLibraryName
You can also use this PowerShell method to move a document library to another site! Just add a step to delete the source document library (Which we call “Move”!)
Great script, thank you. Does this preserve metadata?
I want to copy to a folder with the site name in the target document and fix the variable – but when I run the script it gives an error.
$DestinationLibraryName = “Documents\COPY”
To copy a folder, use: How to Copy a Folder in SharePoint Online using PowerShell?