Fix Broken Links After SharePoint On-Premises to Online Migration
Migrating from SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online changes every URL in your document ecosystem. The base URL shifts from your internal server (http://intranet or http://sharepoint.company.com) to Microsoft’s cloud (https://company.sharepoint.com), breaking every embedded link in every Office document stored or linked across both environments.
- Old URL:
http://intranet/sites/Finance/Documents/Budget.xlsx - New URL:
https://company.sharepoint.com/sites/Finance/Documents/Budget.xlsx - ReplaceMagic updates every link across all documents in one run, preserving all SharePoint metadata
What Changes During On-Premises to Online Migration
- URL format changes: from HTTP to HTTPS, from internal hostname to .sharepoint.com domain
- Authentication changes: from Windows/NTLM to modern Microsoft 365 authentication
- Metadata considerations: last-modified dates and author data can be preserved with ReplaceMagic using Site Admin rights
- Throttling: SharePoint Online applies API rate limits; on-premises typically does not
Types of Links That Break
- Hyperlinks pointing to on-premises SharePoint pages or documents
- OLE object links referencing files stored on the old SharePoint
- Link sources (Excel/Word external data) referencing on-premises SharePoint data
- VBA macro code containing hardcoded on-premises URLs
- Headers and footers with embedded SharePoint paths
- SharePoint Canvas and Wiki page content (ASPX pages)
How ReplaceMagic Fixes the Migration
Step 1 — Pre-Migration Scan
Connect ReplaceMagic to the on-premises SharePoint and scan all document libraries. Export the full link inventory — this becomes your baseline for post-migration verification and helps scope the repair effort for project planning.
Step 2 — Define URL Mapping Rules
The core replacement is typically straightforward:
-
http://intranet/sites→https://company.sharepoint.com/sites -
http://sharepoint.company.com→https://company.sharepoint.com
Additional rules may be needed if site URL paths changed during migration.
Step 3 — Execute Against SharePoint Online
After migration, connect ReplaceMagic to SharePoint Online. Run the replacement in bulk across all migrated document libraries. Metadata is preserved with Site Admin rights. Documents are processed in parallel without being opened.
Step 4 — Handle Throttling
SharePoint Online rate-limits API calls. Configure ReplaceMagic to use 3–5 parallel threads and enable automatic throttling management. Run during off-peak hours for best performance on large document libraries.
Step 5 — Verify
Re-scan to confirm all links now resolve to valid SharePoint Online URLs. Export a verification report for audit and project sign-off.
SharePoint On-Premises Authentication
When connecting to the source on-premises environment, use Windows Authentication. When connecting to the target SharePoint Online, use SharePoint Online (Office 365) or MFA authentication. See the SharePoint Authentication Guide for step-by-step configuration.
Special Considerations
- Hybrid environments: if running a hybrid SharePoint setup during migration, some documents may be on-premises and some online simultaneously — ReplaceMagic can target both in separate runs
- SharePoint Canvas/Wiki pages: links embedded in ASPX pages are also repaired (requires “All SharePoint Libraries” option in Configuration)
- Large libraries: plan for throttling; consider scheduling the replacement run outside business hours
- Tenant-to-tenant element: if the migration also involves a tenant change, see the tenant-to-tenant guide for ID-based link handling
