How to Copy a List in SharePoint or Microsoft 365 (Keep Version History)

Published:

Last updated: 2026-10-23

Whether you're migrating content, consolidating sites, or reorganizing your SharePoint environment, copying a list or document library while preserving metadata and version history is a common requirement. In this comprehensive guide, we cover four proven methods to copy a SharePoint list or document library — and explain exactly when version history is retained.

Tip: Skip the manual steps and try the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit — the Community Edition is available free and handles all of this automatically, including version history, metadata, and author information.

Quick Comparison: Which Method Keeps Version History?

Method

Copy with Versions?

Move with Versions?

Works with Lists?

Cross-Site?

Content and Structure

❌ No

✅ Yes

✅ Yes

Same site collection

Windows Explorer

⚠️ Same site collection only

✅ Yes

❌ Doc libraries only

Same site collection

Copy To / Move To

❌ No

✅ Yes

❌ Doc libraries only

✅ Cross-site collection

List Template (.stp)

✅ Yes (with content)

N/A

✅ Yes

✅ Yes (on-premises only)

SharePoint Essentials Toolkit

✅ Yes

✅ Yes

✅ Yes

✅ Cross-tenant

Method 1: Content and Structure (Classic SharePoint)

One of the simplest out-of-the-box approaches is to use the Content and Structure feature found in SharePoint Site Settings. This feature requires the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure site collection feature to be activated.

Key Points

  • Moving files retains version history ✅

  • Copying files does not retain version history ❌

  • Metadata (custom columns) is retained in both cases

  • You cannot select an entire library — you must select individual items

How to Access Content and Structure

  1. Navigate to Site Settings on your SharePoint site

  2. Under Site Administration, click Content and structure

  3. Browse to your source list or library

  4. Select items, then use Actions → Move (to preserve versions) or Actions → Copy

⚠️ Deprecation Notice: Microsoft announced (MC143382) that Content and Structure in SharePoint Online has been replaced by the native Copy To and Move To capabilities (see Method 3). This method remains available for SharePoint Server on-premises deployments.

Method 2: Windows Explorer View (WebDAV)

You can use the "Open with Explorer" option in a document library to open it in Windows File Explorer. This allows you to drag and drop files between libraries or from your local file system.

Key Points

  • Moving files retains version history ✅

  • Copying files within the same site collection retains version history ✅

  • Copying files across site collections retains versions but may lose "Last Modified By" information

  • Only works with Document Libraries, not custom lists

  • Requires Internet Explorer or Edge (legacy) with WebDAV support

Steps

  1. Open the source document library and click Open with Explorer in the ribbon (Library tab)

  2. Open the destination document library in Explorer view as well

  3. Drag and drop files between the two Explorer windows

  4. Use Move (cut + paste) rather than Copy to preserve version history

Limitations

  • Files with special characters unsupported by SharePoint will cause failures

  • SharePoint on-premises (2010–2016) has a 260-character URL path limit; SharePoint 2019 and Online support up to 400 characters

  • Classic drag-and-drop was limited to 100 items in SharePoint 2013 and older

  • Maximum file size: 15 GB (SharePoint Online modern experience), 10 GB (SharePoint Server)

Method 3: Copy To / Move To (Modern SharePoint)

Available in SharePoint Online, SharePoint 2016, and SharePoint 2019, the modern Copy To and Move To commands are the recommended approach for moving content between libraries.

Key Points

  • Move To retains version history ✅

  • Copy To does not retain version history ❌ — only the latest version is copied

  • Works across site collections within the same tenant

  • Supports files and folders

  • Does not work with custom SharePoint lists (only document libraries)

  • Does not work across different tenants

Steps

  1. Navigate to your source document library in the modern experience

  2. Select the files and/or folders you want to copy or move

  3. Click Copy to or Move to in the command bar

  4. Choose the destination site and library

  5. Click Copy here or Move here

Folder Support in Modern Libraries

The modern document library experience (introduced in 2017) added native support for drag-and-drop folder uploads. This works in Microsoft Edge (Chromium) and Google Chrome. The 100-item upload limit from classic libraries no longer applies.

Method 4: Save as List Template (.stp File) — On-Premises Only

This legacy method involves saving a SharePoint list as a template file (.stp) and recreating it on the destination site. While it can include content and version history, it has significant limitations.

Steps

  1. Go to the list or library's Settings page

  2. Click Save list as template

  3. Check Include Content to capture items and version history

  4. Click OK — the template is saved to the site's List Template Gallery

  5. Download the .stp file from the gallery

  6. Upload it to the destination site's List Template Gallery

  7. Create a new list from the uploaded template

Limitations

  • Not supported in SharePoint Online — this is an on-premises only method

  • Template size limit of 50 MB (can be increased to 200 MB via PowerShell)

  • Source and destination sites must use the same site template

  • Does not work reliably with Publishing sites

  • The "Save list as template" option may be hidden if the Publishing feature is enabled

Increase Template Size Limit with PowerShell

If your list exceeds the 50 MB default, you can increase the limit:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
$webservice = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]::ContentService
$webservice.MaxTemplateDocumentSize = 209715200  # 200 MB
$webservice.Update()

How to Check Your List Size

  1. Go to the top-level site of the site collection

  2. Navigate to Site Settings → Site Collection Administration → Storage Metrics

  3. Filter by Lists to see the size of each list in megabytes

The Better Way: SharePoint Essentials Toolkit

All of the methods above have notable limitations — especially around version history, metadata preservation, and the inability to copy custom lists. The SharePoint Essentials Toolkit by Cognillo eliminates these limitations with a comprehensive migration and copy solution. The best part is it is completely free. It uses the Microsoft Migration API so you get a high fidelity copy, preserving IDs, version history, metadata, creation info etc... See details below

What the Toolkit Handles

  • ✅ Copies version history (all versions, not just the latest)

  • ✅ Preserves metadata, including custom columns

  • ✅ Retains Created By and Last Modified By author information

  • ✅ Optionally preserves Item IDs and Document IDs

  • ✅ Works with Document Libraries and Custom Lists (including Task lists, Calendar lists, etc.)

  • ✅ Handles the list view threshold (5,000+ item lists)

  • ✅ Supports cross-site collection and cross-tenant migrations

  • ✅ Supports scheduled copy jobs for recurring migrations

  • ✅ No file size or item count limitations

See why organizations like Microsoft, NASA, and the Australian Government trust the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit for their SharePoint content management needs.

Learn more about the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit →

Conclusion

There are several built-in approaches to copying or moving files and list items between SharePoint libraries. Each has its trade-offs — particularly around version history retention, list type support, and cross-site capabilities. For simple one-off moves within the same site collection, the modern Move To feature (Method 3) is the most convenient option. For comprehensive migrations that require full fidelity, the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit is the recommended solution.