Forum Discussion
Issue with Moving Data Between SharePoint Sites Using Synced Document Libraries
Hi everyone,
I work at an MSP IT company, and over the past 14 days, I’ve encountered the same issue with two different users from separate customers.
Both users have synchronized document libraries on their local machines.
Here’s what happens:
When they cut a large set of files from one SharePoint site to another, the data doesn’t seem to move correctly. On the user’s computer, everything looks fine, but when I check online, the files are still in the original location.
If I then cut the data from the new location to a temporary folder (e.g., C:\#temp), the files disappear from the old location both locally and online. After that, if I move the data back into the new location, it synchronizes perfectly.
Has anyone experienced this behavior before or can explain if the users are doing something wrong? Any insights would be greatly appreciated! :)
Best regards,
Michael Boye
1 Reply
When you move files between two different synced SharePoint libraries, OneDrive doesn’t really see it as a move. Instead, it treats it like you copied the files into the new library and left the originals behind. File Explorer makes it look like everything moved, but the cloud doesn’t catch up until OneDrive processes a delete. Sometimes that delete never fires, so the old files stay online. If you right‑click the OneDrive icon and choose View sync problems, you’ll often see errors like - “can’t move between libraries”
Because the sync client isn’t reliable for cut/paste between libraries, the safer options are:
- Use Move To in the SharePoint web browser, this handles permissions and metadata correctly.
- Or copy the files to a local folder (like Downloads or Temp), let the source sync update, then paste them into the new library.
