No matter you want to synchronize two SharePoint document libraries to your File Explorer, or sync multiple document libraries in different SharePoint accounts, this post covers all what you need.
Content Overview:
I have a folder (let's call it folder 1) (with subfolders) in one SharePoint Documents library that I want to sync to another folder (folder 2) in another SharePoint Documents library. I want to sync in both ways so if I add/edit/remove any file or subfolder in folder 1 it will be synced with folder 2 and if I add/edit/remove any file or subfolder in folder 2 it syncs with folder 1. This is possible? how to synchronize two SharePoint document libraries. Thank you very much.
- Question from powerusers.microsoft.com
SharePoint is a web-based collaboration and document management system powered by Microsoft. It is mainly used for document sharing, business intelligence, advanced search, content collaboration, etc. With SharePoint, authorized users can instantly view, edit, or share documents within the system securely.
In one word, SharePoint offers easy access to critical document libraries and seamless collaboration among teams, boosting productivity and efficiency when working remotely.
Sometimes, you may need to sync Document libraries in two SharePoint accounts. There might be some reasons for that SharePoint data migration:
No matter what the reason is, syncing files between two SharePoint sites is quite essential for all of us. Although you can use Power Automate to sync two SharePoint libraries, it's complicated to configure and you have to run it manually at first, so it's not recommended. So, how to sync two SharePoint document libraries easily, check the following parts.
In this part, we will show you how to sync two SharePoint folders in the Document library from one SharePoint account to another, and you can find ways in the next part to synchronize two SharePoint Document libraries to File Explorer.
To sync a Document library in SharePoint from one account to another, the most traditional way might be downloading from the source SharePoint account to the local disk, and then re-uploading it to the destination SharePoint. This method works well when you have quite a few folders or files to sync. If the contents are huge, the downloading and uploading process might slow down and be affected by the network speed.
In this case, you can turn to the powerful web-based cloud file manager - MultCloud, which is designed to put all your clouds in one place and help transfer and sync required data across clouds directly without switching accounts and downloading. Quite easy to use and follow.
Step 1. Register an account with your email account. Or directly sign up with your Google or Facebook account.
Step 2. Login the MultCloud and click on the "Add Cloud" option on the left side. Choose SharePoint Online and follow the onscreen instructions to add SharePoint to MultCloud.
Tip: Repeat the step 2 and add another SharePoint account as well. After that, you can see two different SharePoint accounts in the "My Cloud Drive" list.
Step 3. Click on "Cloud Sync" > "Real Time Sync". Choose the Documents library in the source SharePoint account and the library in another SharePoint site as the target location.
Tips:
Step 4. Then click on "Sync Now" to automatically sync two SharePoint Document libraries.
You can choose "One-way sync", "Two-way sync", or "Real-Time Sync" as you need.
The above method can be applied to sync two SharePoint folders in the Document library from one account to another. Now, we will talk about how to sync Document libraries from SharePoint to computer File Explorer (taking Windows 10 computer as an example). You have to use the OneDrive desktop app to make it.
Before that, you should turn on "Files On-Demand" in OneDrive: select the OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows notification area and select "Help and Setting" -> "Settings". Then choose "Sync and backup", expand "Advanced settings" and toggle on the "Files On-Demand" option in the popout window.
After that, sign into the SharePoint site and do as following:
Step 1. On the SharePoint site, navigate to the Documents Libraries you want to sync with.
Step 2. Select "Sync" in the toolbar to sync SharePoint document library with local folder.
Step 3. Once synced, the SharePoint files will appear in File Explorer under the name of your organization.
In this way, when you edit the files or folders in the Documents, they will be updated simultaneously in your computer File Explorer. Besides, you're able to download files from SharePoint Online easily if the SharePoint sync folder not showing in File Explorer. You can also use this way to add SharePoint to Mac Finder and manage files on your Mac.
When you have created a shared folder in OneDrive, SharePoint, or Teams, you can add shortcut for the shared folder in OneDrive, so you can access them in OneDrive for web, Windows File Explorer, Mac Finder, Teams, and the OneDrive mobile apps for easy access and management. Let's find out how it works:
1. Please log in to your SharePoint account, tap Documents from the top and tick a shared document library.
2. Tap Add Shortcut to OneDrive from the top menu.
3. The shortcut to the SharePoint document library will be show up in OneDrive, File Explorer, and others.
So, to synchronize two SharePoint Document Libraries from one account to another, MultCloud is a great choice. To sync a document library in SharePoint to your computer File Explorer, you just need to turn on the "Files On-Demand" in OneDrive cloud service.
Apart from the "Cloud Sync", the MultCloud also comes with "Team Transfer" for managing business cloud service in one place, and helping with data transfer across Google Workspace, OneDrive for Business, Dropbox Business, Box for Business, and Shared Drive).
If you encounter SharePoint sync problems with multiple users while syncing multiple SharePoint Libraries, please find solutions here to fix them.