Migrate Microsoft Teams channel files
The files of a Microsoft Teams team live in SharePoint: a folder of the Documents library for a standard channel, a separate site for a private or shared channel. You pick the team and the channel; the tool finds where the files are and migrates them with their history.
Short answer
Tauri Migration migrates the files of Teams channels, standard, private and shared, with their versions, authors, dates and permissions, into a channel of a team that already exists. Conversations, tabs, apps and team creation are out of scope.
What is migrated
| Item | Migrated | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Files and folders of a channel | Yes | With version history, authors, dates and metadata |
| Standard channels | Yes | The channel folder in the Documents library of the team site |
| Private and shared channels | Yes | The channel’s own SharePoint site, found automatically |
| Unique permissions on folders and files | Yes | Team site groups are matched; those of private channel sites are not |
| Conversations and replies | No | They stay in the source team |
| Tabs, apps, Planner, wiki | No | |
| Creating the team and channels | No | The target team and channels must exist |
| Team members and owners | No | Managed in Teams or Entra ID |
Every combination
A Teams channel is one side of a pair like any other: it combines with a site, a OneDrive, a file share or another channel.
- Channel to channel, to another tenant, or within one tenant to merge teams.
- OneDrive to channel: a colleague’s project folders join the team taking them over.
- File share to channel: a department’s folder on the file server becomes its channel’s folder.
- SharePoint site to channel, and back: a library of an old team site joins the channel that replaces it.
- Channel to site, OneDrive or file share: archiving a team that closes.
How it works
- Allow reading teamsOn top of the SharePoint permissions, an admin consents to reading teams and channels through Microsoft Graph. Teams is only used to choose: the tool writes nothing to Teams.
- Prepare the targetThe team and its channels exist, and so do the accounts. The migration account can access the sites of private and shared channels.
- Pick the team, then the channelsSearch the team by name. By default, “Copy everything” migrates the files of every standard channel; for a private or shared channel, or a specific subfolder, each folder pair picks its channel.
- Or plan in ExcelIn the template, a cell accepts the channel link copied from Teams (“Get link to channel”). The tool resolves it on import and checks every row.
- Passes and cutoverAs for a site: a first pass, incremental passes while the source team keeps working, then a last pass on cutover day.
Good to know
- Links to files posted in conversations still point to the source.
- If the tool reports that the site of a private or shared channel does not exist yet, open that channel’s Files tab in Teams, then run again.
- To also move conversations, tabs and the teams themselves, you need a full Teams migration tool. See our ShareGate comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Are channel conversations migrated?
Must the target team be created beforehand?
Are private and shared channels supported?
Can a OneDrive folder or a file share go into a channel?
Test it on your own tenant
The 14-day trial migrates 10% of every library, with versions, metadata and permissions. After you subscribe, an incremental run migrates the rest.