How to move documents from sub folders to the root folder

Question

I am using sp 2010. I have a document library with sub folders. I would like to remove the folders. Before I remove them I need to move the documents to the root of the library. Is this possible in SP GUI or in powershell?

Answer 1

As you are using the SP 2010, In your case I think, You can use the Content and Structure options and move the required files.

You can access this page > Site Actions|Manage Content and Structure or Site settings > Site administration > Content and Structure.

Check these blogs to more details: http://www.thesharepoint.com/SitePages/Content%20and%20Structure.aspx

http://sharepointadam.com/2012/06/27/move-a-site-within-a-site-collection-using-content-and-structure/

Answer 2

Yes you can, using the SPFile.MoveTo function, like this example :

string siteUrl = "http://sharepoint-devsite.com/DevSite";
string fileName = "ProjectPlan.docx";
string sourceDirectory = "/DevSite/Shared Documents";
string destinationDirectory  = "/DevSite/ProjectDocs/ProjTeam/DevTeam/TechLead";
using (SPSite currSite = new SPSite(siteUrl))
{
    using (SPWeb currWeb = currSite.OpenWeb())
    {
        MoveFile(currWeb, destinationDirectory, sourceDirectory, fileName);
    }
}

public void MoveFile(SPWeb sourceWeb, string sourceDirectory, string destinationDirectory, string fileName)
{
    SPFile sourcefile = sourceWeb.GetFile(sourceDirectory + "/" + fileName);
    if (sourcefile.Exists)
    {
        object modifiedOn = sourcefile.Item["Modified"];
        object modifiedBy = sourcefile.Item["Modified By"];

        //true - replace if file exists
        sourcefile.MoveTo(destinationDirectory + "/" + fileName, true);   

        ...

Reference : http://adicodes.com/move-files-of-sharepoint-document-library-using-object-model/

Answer 3

Using GUI, you can open Explorer View and make simple drag and drop.

Answer 4

A suggestion: Open the document library in explorer. Try running a search for specific file extensions, and cut/copy the results into the parent document library (a second explorer tab). Try doing this in batches - particularly if the library contains large files.