Write-host ' - Duplicate file is newer, move the file' -BackgroundColor DarkGreen # Check if the source file is newer then the target file

Write-host ' - Comparing files dates: duplicate file: '$sourceFileDate 'original file: '$targetFileDate $targetFile = Get-PnPFile -Url $targetFilePath -AsListItem $sourceFile = Get-PnPFile -Url $sourceFilePath -AsListItem

$targetFileExists = Get-PnPFile -Url $targetFilePath -ErrorAction Silentl圜ontinue

# If the file exists, we need to compare the dates to keep the latest files # Check if the file already exists in the target location When you going to test a script like this, you may only want to move a couple of files first and then check the results before you continue. I added a counter here that will count the number of files that are moved. Write-host ' to' $targetPath -BackgroundColor DarkCyan Write-host ' - Move file from' $siteRelativeUrl -BackgroundColor DarkCyan Move-PnPFile -SiteRelativeUrl $siteRelativeUrl -TargetUrl $targetPath -OverwriteIfAlreadyExists -Force:$force Write-host ' - Move item to' $targetPath -BackgroundColor DarkYellow $moveFile = Compare-FileDates -sourceFilePath $siteRelativeUrl -targetFilePath $targetPath If it does, we need to compare the file dates, we want to keep the last modified file in this case. Before we can move the file, we need to check if the file exists in the original location. So we now come to the part that it’s all about, moving the actual files. # Recursively calls Get-PnpFolderItem for a given Document Libraryįunction Get-PnpFolderItemRecursively($FolderSiteRelativeUrl) Comparing files dates in SharePoint Online and moving the files The function is based on a script from Josh Einstein that you can find here. We use the Get-PnPFolderItem function here, but then in a recursive way. # SharePoint urlĬonnect-PnPOnline -Url $url -UseWebLogin Finding the duplicate filesīecause we need to process the subfolders as well, the trick here is to go through the folders recursively. We can do this simply with PnPOnline, and I am using the web login switch here so we can use our normal login with MFA here.Ī t the end of the article, I will show the complete script. Create the target path (the original location)īefore we can do anything we need to connect to the SharePoint site.I have broken down the script into a couple of steps, each translated to there own function: So we need to work recursively through all the folders, looking for items with (1) in the name. The duplicate folders are not only at the root level of the document library but can also be 3 levels deep in a subfolder. Merging the duplicate folders and files will take a couple of steps. As you can see in this case, the files can be restored, but having a backup solution would make restoring so much easier. I have written before about it Do you need a backup solution for Microsoft 365. This is one of those situations where a third-party backup solution would really be a lifesaver. Microsoft was unable to assist with the cleanup, so I stepped in. Only due to a communication error, the restore job was done in two parts, resulting in duplicate files. Because of the large number of files that were deleted (over 750.000), they asked Microsoft to restore it, which they did. In case you are wondering what happened An user deleted files locally without stopping the syncing first. So this made it really easy to find the files and folders and merge them with the original location. Users had already worked in the duplicate folders, so we not only needed to merge the folders but also preserve the last modified file.Īll duplicate files or folders had the same pattern, (1), in their file name. A reader of this blog reached out to me if I knew a way to merge duplicate folders in SharePoint Online.

Powershell find duplicate files