Can You Transfer the Ownership of a Doc in SharePoint?

Can I Transfer Ownership of a Document in SharePoint
Can I Transfer Ownership of a Document in SharePoint

The truth is that you cannot directly transfer ownership of a document in SharePoint. However, there are workarounds that you can use to achieve the same result by adjusting the permissions or transferring the doc to another account. Since you may need to change the permissions, let’s first figure out the different permissions in SharePoint.

  • Site Owners: Have full control over the entire site, including all documents and libraries. They can manage permissions, add/remove users, and change site settings.
  • Site Members: Typically have "Contribute" permissions, meaning they can add, edit, and delete items within document libraries and lists. 
  • Unique Permissions: You can break the inheritance of permissions from the site level and set specific permissions for individual documents or folders. This allows you to grant a user more control over a specific item.

How to Transfer the Ownership of a Doc in SharePoint [2 Ways]

Now you know the answer to “Can you transfer the ownership of a doc in SharePoint?” is not directly. It is time to see how to alternatively grant others full control permission to get the ownership of the document

Way 1. Grant Full Control Permission to the User

If you are the owner of this site and need to give the ownership of just one document to another user, this method is right for you.

Step 1. Open SharePoint and navigate to the document.

Step 2. Select the document and click the 3-dot icon next to it. Then, choose “Manage Access” in the dropdown menu.

Choose Manage Access
Choose Manage Access

Step 3. Tap the 3-dot icon in the upper-right corner of the pop-up window and select “Advanced settings”.

Enter Advanced Settings
Enter Advanced Settings

Step 4. Select the member you want to transfer ownership to.

Step 5. Choose the “Edit User Permissions” option in the upper bar. Then, tick the “Full Control” option and click “OK” to save the changes.

Transfer Ownership of a Document in SharePoint
Transfer Ownership of a Document in SharePoint

Way 2. Make the User a Site Owner

If the user needs to control more documents rather than just one, you can make them the site owner.

Step 1. Open SharePoint and go to the desired site.

Step 2. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and choose “Site permissions”.

Enter Site Permissions
Enter Site Permissions

Step 3. Tap the “Share site” button and add the user whom you want to transfer ownership to.

Click Share Site
Click Share Site

Step 4. Extend the menu of “Site visitors – no control” and find the user added before. Then, click the downward arrow and choose “Full control”.

Change Ownership of a SharePoint Document
Change Ownership of a SharePoint Document

Step 5. Extend the menu of “Site owners – full control” and you can see another user becomes the owner of this site, too.

Note: In this way, you can choose to remove yourself as the owner of this site. However, please think twice before exercising.

Bonus Tip: How to Transfer SharePoint Documents to Another Account

If you have multiple SharePoint accounts and plan to quickly transfer documents from one to another, using MultCloud can be your best choice. MultCloud is a professional cloud-to-cloud transfer, sync, and backup service. You can add your multiple SharePoint Online accounts to MultCloud and manage all the files altogether in one tab.

After adding the SharePoint accounts, you can copy, cut, delete, rename, and share the files on MultCloud. Besides, you can utilize the “Cloud Transfer” or “Copy to” function to directly transfer files between different accounts.

⭐ Cloud Transfer: Transfer files from various accounts to one account at once.

⭐ Copy to: Copy files from one account and transfer them to multiple accounts at one time.

Except for the basic transfer function, there are some features you can apply to your “Cloud Transfer” task to make it smarter.

  • Schedule: Set an auto-start time for the task to transfer files daily, weekly, or monthly.
  • Filter: Select the files you want to transfer or ignore by file extensions.
  • Transfer Options: You can choose to skip or overwrite the already-existing files, delete all the files in the source after the task is done, and keep all the files in one folder in the destination.
  • Email: If you want to be notified as soon as the transfer is complete, you can tick the Email option.

Option 1: Use Cloud Transfer

Step 1. Go to MultCloud and click “Get started for free” to register for a new account.

Step 2. Add a SharePoint account to MultCloud by clicking “Add Cloud” and the SharePoint Online logo. Then, you will log in to your SharePoint account and allow MultCloud to access your files. After adding one account, add another in the same way.

Add SharePoint Online
Add SharePoint Online

Step 3. Select the “Cloud Transfer” function in the left sidebar and choose the source and destination SharePoint accounts.

Transfer Files from One SharePoint to Another
Transfer Files from One SharePoint to Another

Step 4. Open “Options” to check the transfer settings. Then, you can choose to use “Schedule”, “Filter”, and “Email” to customize your task. After all the settings, tap the “Transfer Now” button to initiate this task.

Cloud Transfer Options
Cloud Transfer Options

Option 2: Use “Copy to”

Step 1. Create a MultCloud account and add your SharePoint accounts to it.

Step 2. Open the source SharePoint account and select the files you want to transfer.

Step 3. Click the “Copy to” function in the upper bar and choose another account as the destination. Then, tap the “OK” button to start transferring.

Copy Files from One SharePoint to Another
Copy Files from One SharePoint to Another

Note: MultCloud uses data traffic to execute the transfer, so your task can proceed offline. Every month, you can get 5 GB of free traffic. If you need more, you can upgrade to a premium plan.

Conclusion

Can you transfer the owership of a doc in SharePoint? The answer is yes, but not in a direct way. There are 2 workarounds: you can grant the document’s full control permission to another user or add another user as the owner of the site.

What’s more, if you want to transfer files between different SharePoint accounts, try MultCloud for free! It offers the “Cloud Transfer” and “Copy to” functions to help you directly transfer SharePoint files between accounts without downloading and uploading.

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