SharePoint Migration Limitations
Technical limitations and considerations for SharePoint Online migrations to help you plan effectively.
Overview
While Cloudiway migrates the vast majority of SharePoint content, certain elements have technical limitations due to platform constraints or API restrictions. Understanding these limitations helps you plan for post-migration configuration.
Planning Tip
Review these limitations before migration to identify items that may need manual configuration in the target environment.
Content Limitations
Only the current version of items and files is migrated. Previous versions are not transferred.
SharePoint workflows that automate business processes are not migrated. You'll need to recreate these in Power Automate or SharePoint Designer.
Solution packages cannot be migrated or activated during migration. These must be deployed separately in the target environment.
Email and SMS notification alerts are not yet migrated. Users will need to recreate their alert subscriptions.
Apps are not transferred during migration. Add-ins must be reinstalled and configured in the target site.
Customization Limitations
Visual Customizations
Site logos are not currently migrated. Upload logos manually after migration.
Only composed looks native to SharePoint are migrated. Additional custom themes must be applied manually.
Only web parts included with SharePoint Foundation are migrated. Custom or third-party web parts are not transferred.
Delta Migration Behavior
When running incremental (delta) migrations, be aware of these behaviors:
| Content Type | Delta Behavior |
|---|---|
| Pages | If modified, pages are recreated in target. Any changes made in the target environment are lost. |
| Documents | Updated based on modification dates. Newer versions in source replace target versions. |
| List Items | Entirely re-migrated. Target list is cleared first, then all items are re-added from source. |
Important
Delta migrations to list items clear the target list before re-adding all items. Do not make changes to target list items if you plan to run additional delta passes.
Workarounds and Best Practices
If version history is critical, export versions manually before migration using SharePoint's version history export feature.
Document existing workflows before migration. Recreate them using Power Automate in the target environment.
Inventory custom web parts before migration. Plan for deployment of SPFx equivalents in the target environment.
Create a post-migration checklist for branding items: logos, themes, and composed looks. Apply these after content migration completes.