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Migrating emails from network folders to SharePoint
Who is this article for?Administrators moving existing filed emails from network folders into SharePoint.
Adminpermissions are required.
We strongly recommended planning any migration in detail to ensure success and avoid poor performance of the system in the meanwhile. This article outlines the suggested approach to the process and links out to useful resources along the way.
1. Planning migration
Before starting the process, answer the following questions:
- What data needs to be migrated (emails or all document types)?
- Does the migration need to include existing folder hierarchy or just email folders?
- What are the requirements for user access permissions (everyone has access, restricted for some users, a mixture of both)?
- What are the general user and admin training requirements?
Next, consider some of the best practices and things to avoid.
| Dos | Don'ts |
|---|---|
| Use the Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool. | Use the default tenant home site |
| Use multiple sites | Use sub-sites, that can lead to performance degradation |
| Apply access permissions at site level | Migrate all data into a single SharePoint site |
| Enable inherited permissions for libraries and folders | Apply access permissions at folder level |
| Use a flat folder hierarchy (e.g.: Site > Documents > Project 1) | Create folder hierarchies with more than two levels |
2. Preparing migration
2.1. Applications
To prepare apps:
- Prepare a Windows desktop installer.
- Apply Microsoft 365 app approvals as required:
- Mail Manager Desktop (required for "Classic" Outlook).
- Mail Manager Web Add-In (required for "New" Outlook).
- Mail Manager Teams Discovery (optional).
- Mail Manager Background Services.
- Mail Manager Web Search (required for "New" Outlook).
- Mail Manager Teams Chat Filer (optional).
- Mail Manager Mobile Apps (optional).
2.2. Shared Configuration Folder
To prepare the Shared Configuration Folder:
- Create a Mail Manager site to host configuration files.
- Migrate, review, and edit Admin Preferences.
- Migrate, review, and edit Collections.txt.
- Enable OneDrive for personal filing Locations rather than using a local folder.
2.3. Filing Locations
To prepare Locations:
- Auto Discover Collections for current projects, clients etc.
- Create Collections for archived projects, clients etc.
3. Testing migration
Once you have performed the migration, make sure that everything was transferred and is behaving as expected.
3.1. Configuration
Check that:
- User preferences have applied correctly from the Admin Preferences.
- Auto Discovered filing Locations and/or .mmcollection filing Locations are available as expected.
- Search results are available as expected.
- Shared Configuration Folder path has been updated with the new URL.
- (Optional) Export and import index to minimise the time users are without an up-to-date index.
A period of time should be allowed to build an index that can then be exported and imported to users machines.
4. Finalising migration
After confirming that the migration was successful, make sure your users understand what changes have taken place.
4.1. Configuration
- Make original network folders read-only to ensure emails are only filed to the SharePoint locations.
- Rerun the SharePoint Migration Tool to transfer data that may have been added since the original migration.
4.2. Training
Communicate what changes users should expect:
- One time prompt to all allow Mail Manager to obtain filing Locations and file their emails into SharePoint.
- Obtaining search results will take a while before search results are available. If available, use the new web search.
- OneDrive used for personal filing Locations.