A simple move/copy function between SharePoint Online Document libraries/folders/files
SharePoint Online Document Libraries are missing possibly the two most basic and fundamental functions in the online portal:
- A move/cut function, which is missing altogether, both for folders and files
- A copy function, which although technically exists, is really over complicated for a function which has existed in a much simpler form in every document repository technology since the mid-1980s...
Currently, in order to move a file or folder from within the online portal between different libraries or even different folders within the same library...well the function just doesn't exist. So users need to either sync the site just to simply MOVE something or they need to Open in Explorer (and we all know how badly and slowly that works).
Secondly, in order to copy a file from within the online portal between different libraries or even different folders within the same library, I need to copy the URL of the target folder preemptively, then paste in the copy dialog box...should this be the procedure for simply copy/pasting something? Oh and that function's missing for folders...
So again users need to sync a site library or Open with Explorer just to simply copy paste something easily.
How does a document library product make it into production for years on end without having proper move/copy functionality? How does it even make it out of approval?
Rick McKeon
shared this idea
AdminSharePoint UserVoice Admin
(SharePoint UserVoice Admin, Microsoft SharePoint)
responded
Copy/Move within library, between libraries and across sites is now possible.
https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/move-or-copy-files-in-sharepoint-00e2f483-4df3-46be-a861-1f5f0c1a87bc?ui=en-US&rs=en-IE&ad=IE
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90 comments
Comments are closed-
Ludovic B.
commented
We use SP2013 in Azure IaaS. As confirmed this morning, copying files between same farm site collections using the explorer view or even the "send to" actually downloads and immediatly uploads the files to the user's computer.
File does this:
Azure SharePoint site A --> User's computer --> Azure SharePoint site B
It would really be awesome if the solution SP Experiences Team is working on will be able to cut this short. -
Douglas
commented
I can't understand why Microsoft hasn't built in a tool for copying/moving files and folders BETWEEN document libraries. This a very common request! Keep in mind that SharePoint was released in 2001. 15 years later, the product STILL lacks this tool.
Many users are now on Macs or run FF or Chrome without support for the Explorer view. Keep in mind that Microsoft has developed the SiteManager (/_layouts/sitemanager.aspx) but for unknown reason stopped the development of that tool. Yes it's there in SPO but lacks move/copy capabilities (!) -
Anonymous
commented
"COPY TO" and "MOVE TO" currently exists for destinations in the same library, but thats all. Need to extend this functionality to allow copying and moving to other libraries, other sharepoint sites, and also to your own OneDrive folders.
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Per Magne Gabrielsen
commented
COPY AND MOVE files within document libraries. I can't understand that this can be difficult to fix. Such feature is ready to use both in Google Drive and Appel iCloud.
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Anonymous
commented
That's not what we want. We want to simply move and copy files and folders within and between document libraries. Not between sites and OneDrive.
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André
commented
It should be possible to copy the file to multiple libraries as in sharing a financial document from finance with internal auditors, external shareholders and stakeholders. Would like if the copy option could be conditional.
A report should than be possible to show if the source and target library have the same version. I.e. an update that has not been sent to target should be spotted!
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Guillaume ARNOLD
commented
with METADATA
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Enrique Dixon
commented
Amazingly I used robocopy to upload 200GB to a document Library, but there is no OOB feature to copy/paste/move folders tree from one library to another
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J.C. Kern
commented
I strongly second this request. Perhaps just improve the “Copy” command in a document library so that it provides the current document library as the default destination folder. Currently it provides the current team site, so if you just take the defaults and click “OK” you get an error message. Also, there is no easy way to point the copy destination towards any folder (e.g., directory browse option), so if you don’t know how to manipulate the URL or copy the destination URL a priori (like in the original message of this thread) you’re out of luck.
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KTNN
commented
