“Copying” a List on SharePoint 2007

from One Site to Another Site Using

Built-In SharePoint functionality

Jennifer Lewis
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Overview
Sometimes, a change in the business hierarchy, like a restructuring that causes changes in job
responsibilities, requires changes to SharePoint sites. For example, a list that was once
maintained on one site needs to now reside and be maintained on another site. Other times, a
site likes how another site created a list, and the users of the site would like a similar list on their
site with their own data but they don’t want to have to manually create a new list.

Unfortunately, SharePoint doesn’t have a “quick and easy” command to copy or move a list from
one site to another. You can use a programmatic solution, but it may take too long to do. The
good news is you can “copy” a list from one site to another site using the built-in SharePoint
functionality.

All you have to do is the following:

• Create a list template for the list that you will be copying or moving
• Copy the list template to the new site that will have the list
• Create a new list on the new site using the list template
• If applicable, delete the list from the “old” site

The following step-by-step instructions will show you how to “copy” a list from one site to another
site.

Note: You must have the proper permissions on the sites to be able to do this. Typically
site administrators and SharePoint system administrators will have the permissions to do
this.

Directions
In this example, we will be “moving” a list called Reference Library from Team Site site1 to Team
Site site2.

1. From your browser, go to the site where the list is currently located. In this example, the
list is located on site1.

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An example of the site ’s home page. Your

site may look different.

2. Go directly to the list. In this example, we are going to open Reference Library from the
Quick Launch navigation since there is a link to the list in the Quick Launch navigation.
3. Select Settings – List Settings

4. Under Permissions and Management, select Save List as Template.

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5. Do the following:
a. In the File Name section, enter a valid filename
b. In the Name and Description section, enter the name of the template. You may
enter a description, but that is optional.
c. In the Include Content section, if you want to include the content in the list,
check the Include Content check box. Otherwise, leave it unchecked. In this
example, we are going to include the content.

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The file extension of templates is stp. Also, make sure

you try not to put spaces in the file name. You may
put spaces in the template name.

6. Click OK
You will get the following screen letting you know that your template was created
successfully. Click OK again.

Now you’ve created the template. The next stage is to export the template so you can put it
on the other site.

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7. Go back to the “home” page of the SharePoint site.

8. Depending on how the site is configured, select Site Actions – Site Settings – Modify
All Site Settings, or Site Actions – Site Settings.

9. Under the Galleries section, select List Templates.

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10. Right click on the template that you want to “download”

11. Select Save Target As

12. Save the file to a folder on your machine. Note the folder where you saved the file,
because you will need to know the location when uploading the template to the other site.
In this example, the file is being saved in the My Documents folder.

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Now you are going to upload the template to the other site.

13. In your browser, go to the SharePoint site that will get the new list. In this example, the
site that will be getting the list is site2.

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14. Depending on how the site is configured, select Site Actions – Site Settings – Modify
All Site Settings, or Site Actions – Site Settings.

15. Under the Galleries section, select List Templates.

16. From the library, click the Upload button.

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17. In the Upload Document field, enter the path and file name that you have downloaded
from the other site (reference steps 10-12 in the document). Rather than typing the name
of the path and the file name, you can click on the Browse button and select the file from
the Open File dialog.

18. Click the OK button.

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The following screen allows you to confirm the current settings, or you may change the
settings if you like. If you are satisfied with the settings, click the OK button. You should now
have the list template in the library.

Now you are going to create a new list using the list template.

19. Go back to the “home” page of the SharePoint site where you uploaded the template.
20. Select Site Actions – Create.

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21. Under the Custom Lists section, you should now see the template that you uploaded. In
this example, the template is called Reference Library. Select the template.

In this example, the template is called Reference

Library. You should see the same name as you
entered in step 5 of the document. For example, if you
entered Bogus for the template name, you will see
Bogus under the Custom Lists section.

22. Do the following:

a. In the Name field, enter the name of the list.
b. In the Description field, enter a description. This field is optional.

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c. For the Display this list on the Quick Launch question under the Navigation,
answer Yes or No. If you want the list to appear in the quick launch, select the
Yes radio button. In this example, the list will appear in the Quick Launch
navigation.

23. Click the Create button

Congratulations! Your other site now has a copy of the list!

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