SharePoint's built-in Copy To and Move To features are convenient, but they're notoriously unreliable for larger jobs.
Administrators frequently report that Copy To times out, Move To crashes, or stops part-way through with no clear indication of what completed. If the browser closes or loses connectivity, the operation can fail silently and leave you with a partial result.
Why SharePoint Copy To / Move To is error-prone
Built-in SharePoint Copy / Move
- Times out on large folders or deep structures
- Crashes if the browser closes, refreshes, or loses connectivity
- Leaves content partially copied or moved
- No resumability or recovery
- Hard to audit what succeeded vs failed
- Hard 100GB limit
ShareMaster Copy To / Move To
- Runs outside the browser — avoids browser timeouts
- Executes in small, controlled chunks
- Uses a human-readable CSV plan (auditable, resumable)
- Recoverable after crashes, restarts, or internet drops
- No 100GB limit — designed for very large moves
- Slightly slower, but far more reliable
In practice many admins find that SharePoint Copy To crashes or times out far below documented limits, especially with thousands of files, nested folders, or large libraries.
How ShareMaster avoids timeouts
1. Create a migration plan
ShareMaster first generates a CSV migration plan listing every file and folder. You get visibility before execution — something SharePoint's UI does not provide.
2. Move and copy in small chunks
Instead of attempting one massive Copy To operation that can time out or crash, ShareMaster processes items in small batches using the SharePoint Copy API.
3. Resume safely if interrupted
If the machine restarts, the app closes, or connectivity drops, the job can continue without starting over or duplicating data.