How to Migrate an On-Premises File Share to SharePoint and Teams

Moving your organization's data from local servers to a cloud-based infrastructure requires careful planning to ensure data integrity and continuous user access. When planning migrating an On-Premises File Share to SharePoint and Teams, the primary goal is to map your existing local folder structures and Active Directory permissions into Microsoft 365 groups and document libraries. Because Microsoft Teams channels store their files in connected SharePoint sites, migrating to either platform utilizes the same underlying administrative tools and workflows. This guide covers the exact steps to inventory your local data, route it to the correct cloud destination, and verify the transfer.

Preparing Your Local Environment and Cloud Destinations

Before executing the data transfer, you must align your local storage architecture with Microsoft 365 limitations. Those working to migrate an on-premises file share to SharePoint and Teams often overlook the strict file path limits in cloud environments. SharePoint enforces a 400-character limit for the entire file path, which includes the site URL, library name, folders, and the file name itself. Deeply nested local folders often exceed this limit when moved.

Run a pre-migration inventory on your local server to identify potential conflicts. You can use PowerShell scripts or third-party analysis tools to locate files with paths exceeding 250 characters, as the cloud URL will add extra length. Additionally, rename any local files containing characters that SharePoint restricts, such as leading spaces, trailing periods, or specific symbols like the tilde or asterisk.

Next, prepare the destination. Microsoft Teams does not have a separate storage repository; every Team automatically generates a SharePoint site. To direct files into a specific Teams channel:

• Open the Microsoft Teams desktop client and navigate to your target Team.
• Select the specific channel, click the Files tab at the top, and click the three-dot menu icon.
• Select Open in SharePoint. This opens the exact document library folder in your web browser.
• Copy the URL from your browser's address bar. You will need this specific URL to tell the migration tool exactly where to place the local files.

Executing the Transfer with the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)

Microsoft provides a dedicated desktop utility designed specifically for this workflow. If you are managing a standard network drive transfer, working to migrate an on-premises file share to SharePoint and Teams via the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) is the most direct method. SPMT preserves your local file versions and translates your local Active Directory permissions into Microsoft Entra ID permissions.

Follow these exact steps to configure and run your migration task:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint Admin Center, expand the Migration menu on the left sidebar, and click SharePoint Migration Tool to download and install the client on a machine that has read access to your local file shares.
2. Open SPMT and sign in using an account with SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator credentials.
3. Click Start your first migration and select File Share as your source.
4. In the source path field, enter the absolute UNC path to your local folder (for example, \\LocalServer\SharedData\Finance) and click Next.
5. Select Microsoft Teams or SharePoint as your destination. Paste the URL you copied earlier from the Teams channel's SharePoint site.
6. The tool will prompt you to select a destination document library. Select Documents, and then select the subfolder that matches your Teams channel name.
7. On the settings screen, ensure the toggle for Keep Active Directory user permissions is enabled so your local security groups map to the cloud. Enable Migrate file version history if you want to retain older drafts.
8. Click Migrate to begin the transfer.

Once the task completes, click the View Task Report button. Open the generated CSV file and filter the "Status" column for "Failure" to identify any files that were skipped due to open file locks or path length violations.

Managing Bulk Transfers via Migration Manager

If you are decommissioning multiple local servers with terabytes of data, the desktop SPMT app may become a bottleneck. In these enterprise scenarios, figuring out migrating an On-Premises File Share to SharePoint and Teams requires a scaled approach using Migration Manager. This web-based interface allows you to deploy lightweight agent applications across multiple local servers and coordinate the data transfer centrally.

To use this alternative mechanism, go to the SharePoint Admin Center, click Migration, and select File shares under the Migration Manager section. Click the Agents tab and download the agent setup file. Install this on every local server you wish to migrate data from. Once the agents check into the Admin Center, you can upload a CSV mapping file that pairs each local server path with its corresponding SharePoint site URL. Migration Manager will distribute the transfer workload across your active agents, significantly reducing the total migration time for massive datasets.

Working with WPS Office Post-Migration

After successfully transitioning your infrastructure, end-users will need to adjust how they interact with their documents. While WPS Office cannot change Microsoft-side settings like SharePoint sharing links, document library permissions, or Teams channel routing, it serves as an exceptionally fast and lightweight suite for managing the actual documents you just migrated. Users exploring migrating an On-Premises File Share to SharePoint and Teams often discover large archives of legacy scanned PDFs and outdated Word templates that require processing.

To integrate WPS Office with your newly migrated cloud files, instruct users to sync their SharePoint document libraries using the Microsoft OneDrive desktop client. Once the local sync folder is established in Windows File Explorer, users can set WPS Office as their default application for standard document formats.

For legacy files moved from the old server, the WPS PDF toolset is highly effective. If your migration included hundreds of locked, scanned policy manuals from a local drive, you can open these directly from the synced SharePoint folder into WPS Office. Use the PDF to Word feature in the WPS toolbar to instantly convert these flattened documents into editable formats, allowing your team to finally update them and save the revisions straight back to Microsoft Teams.

Use Word, Excel, and PPT for FREE

Free Download

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I verify that local folder permissions successfully applied to SharePoint?

After the migration completes, navigate to the SharePoint document library in your web browser. Hover over a migrated folder, click the three vertical dots, and select Manage Access. Under the "Direct Access" or "Groups" tab, you should see your local Active Directory security groups listed. If they are missing, confirm that your local Active Directory is properly synced with Microsoft Entra ID via AD Connect, as SPMT relies on this sync to map users.

What is the maximum file size I can transfer during this process?

The SharePoint Migration Tool supports individual file sizes up to 250 GB, which aligns with SharePoint Online's maximum file size limit. However, files larger than 15 GB may take a significant amount of time to upload and can cause timeout errors on unstable network connections. For massive files, such as video archives or local database backups, consider moving them during off-peak hours or utilizing Azure Data Box for physical data transfer.

Why are my files appearing in SharePoint but not showing up in Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams filters files based on the folder structure of the underlying SharePoint site. Each standard Teams channel is hard-linked to a specific folder within the default "Documents" library. If you migrated your local files into the root of the "Documents" library instead of the specific channel folder (e.g., migrating to /Shared Documents/ instead of /Shared Documents/General/), the files will not appear in the Teams interface. You must move the files into the designated channel folder within SharePoint to make them visible in Teams.

Can users continue to edit local files while the migration is running?

SPMT performs a copy operation, not a cut operation, meaning local files remain accessible. However, any edits made by users on the local server after SPMT scans a file will not be reflected in SharePoint. To prevent version conflicts, it is recommended to set the local file share to "Read-Only" for standard users just before you click "Migrate." Alternatively, you can run an initial migration while users work, and then run a final "incremental" migration over the weekend to capture only the files modified since the first pass.