The SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) is Microsoft's free desktop utility for moving content from on-premises SharePoint Server, OneDrive for Business and Windows file shares into SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams. This guide walks through what SPMT can and can't do in 2026, how it compares to Migration Manager and third-party tools, and the exact steps — including bulk CSV runs, throughput tuning and post-migration cleanup — to move terabytes of content without losing metadata, permissions or your weekend.

Key Stat: SharePoint Online now serves over 200 million monthly active users globally and is used by approximately 85% of Fortune 500 companies (Source: Microsoft). By the end of 2026, an estimated 85–86% of all SharePoint instances are cloud-based, making on-prem holdouts the exception, not the norm.

What Is the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)?

SPMT is a free Windows application built by Microsoft's SharePoint team that moves content into a Microsoft 365 tenant. It's installed on a workstation (or migration jump box), signs in with a Microsoft 365 work account, and pushes data over HTTPS directly to the SharePoint Online migration API. There are no per-seat license costs and no third-party services in the path — Microsoft supports the tool end-to-end. Microsoft's SPMT overview confirms it is free for any organization with a Microsoft 365 or SharePoint Online subscription, and it is the recommended tool for small and mid-sized migrations.

For teams already invested in Microsoft 365, SPMT is almost always the right starting point before evaluating paid alternatives. If your migration is part of a broader SharePoint modernization or a Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 cutover, SPMT still handles the SharePoint / OneDrive leg.

What SPMT Can Migrate

SPMT supports these source-to-destination paths:

Notable exclusions: SPMT does not migrate InfoPath forms, SharePoint 2010 workflows, custom sandboxed solutions or third-party sources such as Box, Dropbox, or Google Drive. For those, you'll need a third-party tool or a Microsoft-provided add-on like Mover (Google / Box / Dropbox) or Migration Manager (large file shares).

Critical Deadline: Microsoft ended extended support for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 on July 14, 2026. After this date, these platforms receive zero security patches, zero bug fixes, and zero vendor support. Running unsupported software introduces significant compliance and security liability. (Source: Microsoft Lifecycle Policy). Additionally, SharePoint 2013 workflows in Microsoft 365 were removed on April 2, 2026, and InfoPath Forms Services are being phased out in favor of Power Apps.

SPMT vs. Migration Manager vs. ShareGate & AvePoint

The four tools most SMBs choose between:

Rule of thumb: start with SPMT. Move to Migration Manager when you have a file share larger than roughly 2–3 TB and need multiple agents pushing in parallel. Reach for a paid tool only if you need pre-migration reporting, complex identity remapping or source systems SPMT doesn't cover.

System Requirements and Prerequisites

• OS: Windows 10 / 11 or Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / 2022
• Runtime: .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later (installer prompts if missing)
• Hardware: 4 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM, SSD for the temp cache
• Network: Direct outbound HTTPS to Microsoft 365; bypass proxy inspection for *.sharepoint.com and *.svc.ms where possible
• Permissions: The migrating account needs Site Collection Administrator on target sites, and read access to sources
• Optional: Enable Microsoft Entra ID sync so on-prem NTFS identities resolve to cloud users during permission migration

Step-by-Step: Run Your First SPMT Migration

1. Install SPMT. Download from Microsoft's official page onto your migration workstation. The installer auto-updates when new versions ship (roughly monthly).
2. Sign in. Use a work account with SharePoint admin rights. If MFA is enforced (it should be), SPMT will prompt for the modern auth flow.
3. Pick a source. Choose SharePoint Server, File Share, or JSON/CSV for bulk (see below).
4. Pick a destination. Paste the target SharePoint Online site URL and library — SPMT creates the library if it doesn't exist.
5. Run "Scan only" first. This dry run enumerates content, flags unsupported files, path-length issues and permission gaps. Fix these before running the real migration.
6. Kick off the migration. SPMT shows a live counter of items scanned, copied and failed. Everything is logged to a CSV report in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\MigrationTool\.
7. Verify. Spot-check the destination for file counts, versions, metadata columns and permissions. Then re-run the same task closer to cutover for an incremental delta sync.

Pro Tip: Industry data consistently shows that typical on-premises environments contain 30–50% redundant, obsolete, or trivial (ROT) data. Clean this out before migrating to reduce storage costs, lower licensing spend, and improve search and Microsoft Copilot performance in SharePoint Online.

Bulk Migrations with a CSV or JSON Manifest

Once you're moving more than a handful of sites, driving SPMT with a manifest is faster than clicking through the UI. Each row is a source-to-destination task; SPMT queues and runs them serially (or in parallel across multiple SPMT instances on the same box).

A minimal file-share CSV looks like this:

\\fileserver01\finance,,,https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/finance,Documents,

\\fileserver01\hr,,,https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr,Documents,

\\fileserver01\legal,,,https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/legal,Documents,

The full column reference and JSON schema are in Microsoft's bulk migration docs. Teams routinely drive several hundred sites this way in a single overnight batch.

Performance, Throughput and Limits You Need to Know

Real-world SPMT throughput is dominated by two things: your outbound bandwidth and the average file size. Migrating one 5 GB video is dramatically faster per-GB than migrating five million 10 KB files, because SharePoint Online has per-file overhead the API can't shortcut. Microsoft's official network planning guide recommends running migration jobs during off-hours and provides a benchmarking methodology to estimate throughput before committing to a cutover date.

Hard limits to design around:

Real-world throughput of 50–100 GB per day per task is typical. Running parallel tasks against different destinations scales it further. Small files hurt throughput more than raw volume does. (Source: SharePoint Online migration speed)

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Skipping the scan. The "Scan only" pass exists for a reason. Skipping it means discovering long paths and unsupported files halfway through cutover night.
• Migrating stale content. A migration is the best time to archive, not just copy. Get file owners to sign off on what stays.
• Assuming permissions map cleanly. NTFS ACLs on a file share often reference disabled accounts, local groups or old domains. If Entra ID sync isn't set up, SPMT can't resolve these — plan an identity cleanup before you migrate, not after.
• Running everything from one workstation. One SPMT instance is a bottleneck. Split large jobs across two or three migration boxes, each targeting different destination sites.
• Losing custom metadata. SharePoint columns don't migrate from a plain file share — configure the destination library's schema first, then use CSV to map columns during migration.
• Underestimating cutover. Bulk-copy weeks ahead. On go-live day, run a short incremental delta and flip DNS / links. Anything you try to do in a single window will slip.

Industry Context: Up to 65% of migration projects stall due to poor planning or lack of a structured strategy. The tool is only one piece of the puzzle. The strategy, governance, and post-migration support determine whether your organization actually benefits from the move to the cloud. The broader cloud migration services market is growing at a CAGR of over 20% through 2035 (Source: Gartner).

Post-Migration Checklist

• Compare source vs. destination item counts using the SPMT report CSV
• Audit sharing links and external access on the new libraries
• Apply sensitivity and retention labels — a clean library is the right time
• Trigger a search re-index on migrated site collections
• Redirect old server URLs with a lightweight IIS rule or user comms
• Decommission the source only after 30+ days and a full user sign-off
• Document what moved, what didn't, and why — you'll need it in the next audit

When to Bring in a Microsoft Partner

SPMT is straightforward when you're moving one site or a clean file share. It gets painful when you're consolidating multiple SharePoint farms, migrating during an M&A, remapping thousands of NTFS permissions, or trying to keep 300 users productive during cutover. That's when a partner earns their fee — planning, running the bulk copies, handling the exceptions and being on call the morning after.

MSPowerhouse is a Microsoft Partner running SharePoint and file-share migrations for US businesses with 50–500 employees. Our data migration and SharePoint services cover discovery, dry runs, cutover and post-migration governance. See our case studies for real examples (including a 40TB+ file share migration for Cross Catholic Services), or book a 15-minute consult and we'll scope your migration in one call.