How to migrate same name files from share drive to SharePoint 2016

Question

We have created a document library for a department and they use folder structure to save different files. They use the same naming convention for each file and store them in there respective folder.

For example in folder 1 and folder 2 there is the same file called Issue level 1. We have to get rid of folder structure so when we migrate all the files from different folders it will have multiple files with same name.

In SharePoint, there is no way that I can find to separate files unless we use folder structure in the document library. Can you recommend any possible solution for this problem?

Answer 1

No, you cannot store multiple files with same file name in document library without using folder, not only SharePoint this is case with any files on physical drive also presented on your computer/server etc...

Answer 2

You cannot have same name without the folder structure, but you can have multiple 'Title' with same value, consider substituting that as your main column.

Answer 3

This is possible using a 3rd party tool named SLIM Companion. It allows flattening of the folder structure and ensures the document names in SharePoint are unique. The original path and document name can be captured in SharePoint columns. Note: I am affiliated with the vendor. Paul