How to Check SharePoint 2010 Sites in a SharePoint 2013 Database
Question details
The user needs to identify and address site collections or subsites using the legacy SharePoint 2010 experience within a SharePoint 2013 database before migrating.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint Server
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to migrate and mount a SharePoint 2013 content database into a new SharePoint 2016 environment.
- Observed behavior
- Mounting the SharePoint 2013 content database in SharePoint 2016 fails because certain site collections or subsites are still running on the unsupported SharePoint 2010 experience mode.
Ensure you have full administrative privileges on your SharePoint 2013 server and have completed a full backup of your content databases before running any upgrade scripts.
Use SharePoint PowerShell to Identify and Upgrade 2010 Experience Sites
Use the SharePoint Management Shell to find all legacy sites and upgrade them to the 2013 experience mode, which is required before mounting the database to SharePoint 2016.
SharePoint 2016 does not support the SharePoint 2010 compatibility level (Level 14). You must perform a visual upgrade for all sites to the 2013 compatibility level (Level 15) before moving the database.
Log into your SharePoint 2013 server as an administrator. Open the Start menu, search for 'SharePoint 2013 Management Shell', right-click the application, and select 'Run as administrator'.
Run the command 'Get-SPSite -Limit All | Where-Object {$_.CompatibilityLevel -eq 14}' in the console. This will generate a list of all site collections that are still using the SharePoint 2010 user interface and compatibility mode.
For each site identified in the previous step, execute the command 'Upgrade-SPSite -Identity "<SiteURL>" -VersionUpgrade' to upgrade the site collection to the SharePoint 2013 experience.
Run 'Test-SPSite -Identity "<SiteURL>"' to ensure the site has been successfully upgraded and reports no errors. Once all sites are upgraded, you can safely proceed to mount the database in SharePoint 2016.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does mounting a SharePoint 2013 database in SharePoint 2016 fail?
SharePoint 2016 requires all site collections and subsites within the database to be running in the 2013 experience mode (Compatibility Level 15). If any sites are still using the SharePoint 2010 mode (Compatibility Level 14), the database mount is explicitly blocked to prevent corruption.
Can I migrate directly from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2016?
No, Microsoft does not support direct version skipping for server migrations. You must first upgrade your SharePoint 2010 database to SharePoint 2013, upgrade all site collections to the 2013 experience, and then migrate that database to SharePoint 2016.
How do I know if my site is using the SharePoint 2010 experience?
Site administrators typically see a pink 'Experience Upgrade' banner at the top of the site when viewed in a web browser. Alternatively, IT administrators can check the site's compatibility level using the 'Get-SPSite' cmdlet in the SharePoint Management Shell.
