Power Automate method to Copy SharePoint Data to Another site

Transferring data from one SharePoint site to another is usually straightforward. However, when dealing with a large number of files and folders, using the Power Automate method can simplify the process and transfer all data at once.

This video demonstrates both the manual and Power Automate methods for moving data between SharePoint locations efficiently. With Power Automate, there’s no need to manually select individual files or folders before starting the flow, saving time and effort.

Manual Method – Copy or Move Directly in SharePoint

Login to SharePoint admin centre with Admin credentials. You can also access SharePoint site with the required permissions.

Go to your SharePoint site and open the Document Library or the folder where your files are stored.
You can also navigate to “Site Contents” then Document folder.
Now, select the files or folders you want to move or copy.
You can select multiple items by clicking the checkbox next to each file.
Click on right mouse button and select “Move to” or “Copy to”.
With “Copy to”, you can duplicate files to another location.
While “Move to” option transfer them completely.
Let’s first copy the file.
Choose destination site.
As you can see it is empty. Now click on “Copy here” button.
According to the size, it will take some time to copy these files to the destination.
Now, let’s check “Move to” option.
Select the files. Choose “Move to” option.
Go to target site and click on “Move here” button.

That’s it.

I hope it clear what happens when you choose to move or copy. This is a very simple and easy method to copy data between two SharePoint sites.

But it you have a large set of files, folder, and subfolder then it is bit difficult to manage. Also, you must repeat the process every time new files are added to the source.

To automate this, we can create Power Automate flow to move every single item to the target site in just one click.

Power Automate to Copy SharePoint Files, Folder and Subfolders to Another

Go to Power Automate via make.powerautomate.com or through all apps option in the Microsoft 365 dashboard then choose Power Automate.

You can see I have data in this communication site that I want to copy to a newly created Team site.

In Power Automate, click Create then choose Instant Cloud Flow.

Select "Manually trigger a flow" from the list.
Click on add icon and find "Get folder metadata" action from the SharePoint connector.
Specify the "Site Address" of the source SharePoint site and the "Folder" path of the folder you want to copy.
Now again click on add icon and find "Get files (properties only)" action from the SharePoint connector.
Specify the "Site Address" of the source SharePoint site and the "Library Name" where the folder resides.
Next, you can filter for items within your specific folder using "Filter Query" field.
Add an "Apply to each" control and set its input to the value from the "Get files (properties only)" action.
Inside the "Apply to each" loop, add a "Copy file" action from the SharePoint connector.
Give the source site address
In “File to Copy” section: Use the "Identifier" dynamic content from the "Get files (properties only)" action.
Now select the destination SharePoint site address.
Specify the destination folder path on the target site.
Finally, choose your desired behaviour, either Replace or Copy with a new name.
I don’t have any existing files, but I’ll still select the “Replace” option for future reference. (You can choose whichever option you prefer.)
Now save this and test the flow.
Choose manually then click on Test button.
If it is asking for permission, then click on continue then Run flow.
And done.
Monitor the flow.

Now if you are getting some error. But still the files are successfully migrated. According to the documentation, it happens because of fast migration before SharePoint services can process and index the file. So, we can ignore this with Delay action.