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File and folder permissions when using the SharePoint Migration Tool

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What happens to the permissions on a migrated file?

The location of your on-premises data, and whether your Active Directory accounts to Microsoft Entra ID are synchronized or not, can affect the permission settings on your files after they're migrated to SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

Syncing your environment: In order to maintain existing on-premises file permissions, there must be a corresponding user in SharePoint. The easiest way to accomplish this permission maintenance is to synchronize your Active Directory accounts to Microsoft Entra ID.

User mapping type File share details SharePoint on-premises file
User mapped between on-premises and SharePoint There are three types of permissions that are migrated: Read, Write, and Full control.
If a file has Write permission for user1, then the file is set to Contribute for user1 in SharePoint in Microsoft 365. If a file has Read permission for user1, then the file is set to Read for user1 in SharePoint. For Full control permission, the file is migrated as Full control in SharePoint in Microsoft 365.
Note: At this time, the special permissions, such as Deny, aren't saved.		 All the unique permissions on a file are migrated to SharePoint in Microsoft 365. Inherited permissions aren't migrated.
No user mapping (not synced, no user mapping file) Files are assigned the default permission of the location to which it's migrated in SharePoint in Microsoft 365. Files are assigned the default permission of the location to which it's migrated in SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

Permissions conditions and results

Various conditions affect the SharePoint Migration Tool's permission control. The following table lists all the conditions and the corresponding results.

Source Preserve user permissions setting set to On Migrating to Target library permission before migration Target library permission after migration Note
File share No Root folder Inherited Inherited Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed; migrated files inherit permission (Inherited role assignments from the target library).
File share No Root folder Unique Unique Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed. Migrated files inherit permission (Inherited role assignments from the target library).
File share No Sub folder Inherited Inherited Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed. Migrated files inherit permission (Inherited role assignments from the target library).
File share No Sub folder Unique Unique Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed. Migrated files inherit permission (Inherited role assignments from the target library).
File share Yes Root folder Inherited Unique The role assignments in the source root folder replace the role assignments of the target library. Existing files with inherited permissions are still inheriting permissions but with a new role assignment from the target library. Existing files with Unique permissions aren't changed. Migrated files without any permission in the source inherit permissions and role assignments from the target library. Migrated files with any permissions in the source carry over these permissions as unique.
File share Yes Root folder Unique Unique Permissions from the source folder are added as new role assignments to the target library. Existing files with inherited permissions are still inherited permissions but with a new role assignment from the target library. Existing files with unique permissions aren't changed. Migrated files without any permissions in the source inherit permissions and role assignments from the target library. Migrated files with any permissions in the source carry over these permissions as unique.
File share Yes Sub folder Inherited Inherited Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed. Permissions from the source folder and files are carried over to the target subfolder and corresponding files, which have unique permissions as new role assignments.
File share Yes Sub folder Unique Unique Role assignments of the target library and existing files aren't changed. Permissions from the source folder and files are carried over to the target subfolder and corresponding files, which have unique permission as new role assignments.
List/Document library No Root folder Inherited Inherited The same as file share migration with the same condition.
List/Document library No Root folder Unique Unique The same as file share migration with the same condition.
Document library No Sub folder Inherited Inherited The same as File share migration with the same condition.
Document library No Sub folder Unique Unique The same as file share migration with the same condition.
List/Document library Yes Root folder Inherited Unique The same as file share migration with the same condition.
list/Document library Yes Root folder Unique Unique The same as file share migration with the same condition.
Document library Yes Sub folder Inherited Inherited The same as file share migration with the same condition.
Document library Yes Sub folder Unique Unique The same as file share migration with the same condition.
Site/Web No Not applicable Inherited Inherited The role assignment of the target site/web is unchanged.
Site/Web No Not applicable Unique Unique The role assignment of the target site/web is unchanged.
Site/Web Yes Not applicable Inherited Unique The role assignment in the source site/web replace the role assignment in the target site/web.
Site/Web A with Subsite B (both migrated with SPMT) Yes Not applicable Subsite B or sub web inherited from main Site A Subsite B/web unique from the new SharePoint main site A. Site A is migrated as described for normal site migration. Subsite B becomes unique Subsite B's role assignments are replaced.
Site/Web Yes Not applicable Unique Unique The role assignment of the source site/web is added as new role assignments to the target site/web.