Preserving Metadata And Version History When Moving Documents In Sharepoint

Why Metadata and Version History Matter

Metadata and version history are critical to maintaining context and records when moving documents in SharePoint. Metadata refers to data that describes and gives information about other data, such as documents stored in SharePoint. This can include details like document authors, creation dates, custom tags and ratings, taxonomy fields, and other descriptive data. Version history tracks the different iterations and edits made to files over time.

Having rich metadata associated with documents ensures that business context and meaning are not lost when content is moved to new locations. It allows users to search, filter, group and organize content based on metadata values. Similarly, version history provides a valuable audit trail showing incremental changes made to files. It permits rollback to previous versions if the latest draft or edits are unsatisfactory.

Key Benefits

• Metadata enables discovery, management, and governance of SharePoint content
• Version histories act as a record of edits and steward document evolution
• Custom fields, ratings, and labels classify materials based on business metadata schema
• Facilitates rollback to earlier document states if needed

Challenges When Moving Documents

While metadata and versioning provide immense value, they also pose migration challenges. Often when moving SharePoint files to new document libraries or site collections, metadata properties and revision histories can be lost or fail to carry over. At best, this causes frustration for users trying to locate files. At worst, vital compliance records, institutional knowledge, and changes are erased from documents.

Common Risks

• Core metadata like authors, tags, and taxonomy getting stripped away
• Custom metadata fields and values not transferring to destination
• Historical versions and audit trails not persevering after move
• Risk of migration tools mishandling metadata and versioning

Best Practices for Preservation

Follow these vital best practices to help avoid metadata and versioning loss when migrating SharePoint content:

• Use built-in SharePoint tools – Leverage Send To or Content and Structure to transfer files whenever possible while preserving metadata and histories.
• Configure migration settings – If using third-party tools, ensure metadata and versioning settings are explicitly enabled while mapping source and destination libraries.
• Verify settings – Double check that version history and metadata extraction are toggled on for migration jobs.

Core Concepts

• Rely on native SharePoint tools to maximize preservation
• Scrutinize tool configuration to retain metadata
• Confirm version history migration is operative

Migrating with SharePoint Migration Tool

As an example, we can examine migrating files with the SharePoint Migration Tool. This utility copies documents while transporting metadata and versions.

Key Capabilities

• Bulk migration of SharePoint libraries across sites and tenants
• Configuration settings to explicitly enable metadata extraction
• Options to map source and destination managed metadata term sets
• Logging showing number of files moved and metadata status

Step-by-Step Migration Instructions

1. Install and launch SharePoint Migration Tool on a cloud or local machine
2. Connect source and destination SharePoint environments by URL
3. Select a source library to migrate
4. Choose corresponding destination library for files
5. In settings, toggle on metadata extraction and version history
6. Preview and confirm mapping between sites
7. Run the migration job
8. Check logs to verify success and statistics

Sample Configuration File

<Settings>
  <ExtractMetadata>True</ExtractMetadata>
  <ExtractVersions>True</ExtractVersions>
  <TermMapping>
     <Term sourceTerm="Documents" targetTerm="files">
  </TermMapping>
</Settings>

Verifying Metadata and Version History Post-Migration

Once migration is complete, confirmation checks should be conducted to validate metadata and versioning are intact.

Verification Techniques

• Spot check documents to test for expected metadata values on fields
• Open version history on sampling of files to inspect records
• Filter and search based on metadata to confirm maintenance
• Check migration tool logs for stats on preserved metadata and versions

Troubleshooting Missing Metadata and Histories

• Recheck migration settings to find incorrectly configured values
• Confirm supported metadata types based on tool and destination library
• Assess timeouts or throttling that can interrupt transfers
• Use logging to identify the specific point of failure

Recovering Lost Information

• Rerun migration with corrected settings to recapture metadata and versions
• Manually set metadata values on moved files missing properties
• In severe cases, rollback files to original source library to restore metadata

Additional Considerations

While the above addresses common cases, below are some supplementary factors to weigh:

Large Document Volumes

• Test migration process and tools at smaller scale first
• Use batching to split movement into manageable blocks
• Monitor throttling limits to avoid timeouts mid-transfer

Security and Permissions

• Account for permission inheritance changes between source and destination
• Confirm mapped users or groups retain access after migration
• Adjust unique permissions manually post-move if needed

Ongoing Governance

• Classify migrated content using metadata and taxonomies
• Apply retention policies to moved documents
• Train users on new library locations and metadata schema