Microsoft 365 Migration

SharePoint Migration Tool Limits and Best Practices for Large Data

John Wilson Oct 13, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to understand the job limits, throttling, and performance considerations when migrating a large amount of data from SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint Online.

SharePoint Migration Tool Limits for Large Data Migrations

Product: SharePoint Migration Tool
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: A large-scale project requires migrating substantial data from on-premises SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint Online.
Observed behavior: Concerns regarding potential job limits, excessive queuing, performance degradation, and system throttling during heavy migration tasks.

Before you start

Before starting a large-scale migration, audit your source data in SharePoint 2013 and organize your migration batches to avoid overloading the destination environment.

Solution 1Recommended

Optimize Migration Jobs and Manage Throttling

Structure your migration tasks effectively to prevent database overload and handle SharePoint Online throttling gracefully.

When migrating massive volumes of data using the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), managing the number of simultaneous requests is crucial. SharePoint Online employs throttling mechanisms to ensure backend stability during peak usage or excessive system load.

Limit simultaneous migration jobs

Do not submit more than 5,000 migration jobs or requests at once. Exceeding this limit causes excessive queuing, which increases database load and ultimately slows down the migration.

Manage your task queue

Wait for active tasks to complete fully before uploading or adding additional requests to your migration queue.

Plan for throttling

Expect throttling when too much content is migrated in a single task or when running migrations during peak office hours. Schedule heavy migrations during off-peak times.

Consult Microsoft guidelines

Review Microsoft's official SharePoint migration performance guidance for up-to-date recommendations on optimizing throughput.

Optimize Migration Jobs and Manage Throttling

Throttling Expectation: Throttling is a standard self-preservation feature in Microsoft 365. If your migration is throttled, the tool is designed to pause and retry automatically once resources are available.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I submit more than 5,000 migration jobs at once?

Submitting over 5,000 jobs simultaneously can cause excessive task queuing. This increases the backend database load and significantly slows down your overall migration progress. It is recommended to let current batches finish before adding more.

Why is my SharePoint migration being throttled by Microsoft?

Throttling occurs to protect the reliability and availability of SharePoint Online for all tenants. It is commonly triggered when you migrate an excessive amount of content in a single task or run heavy transfers during peak business hours.

Can I completely disable throttling during a large SharePoint migration?

No, you cannot disable throttling in Microsoft 365 as it is a system-level protection. However, you can mitigate its impact by running migrations outside of normal business hours and packaging your data into smaller batches.

Where can I find Microsoft's official migration performance guidance?

Microsoft provides dedicated performance documentation on their official Learn platform for SharePoint and OneDrive migrations. These guides detail current throughput limits, network optimization strategies, and best practices for using the SharePoint Migration Tool.

Migration & Recovery