Create a custom list from a template that includes lookup columns

Question

I have a custom list that contains a number of lookup columns (looking up in 2 other lists). I would like to create copies of this list in subsites (with a subset of the data in the parent site's list). I have created a template of the list in the parent site, including the contents, but when I create the list in the subsite, I get the error "One or more field types are not installed properly. Go to the list settings page to delete these fields."

It appears that the "field types" that are not installed properly are the lookup columns, as there is no list name in the "get information from" section of the Edit Column form for those lookup columns.

I understand that the better approach would be to define the lookup fields as site columns in the parent site, but there is quite a bit of data (human entered) in the parent list, and I believe if I delete the lookup columns and re-add them, they will have different "internal" names, and this would wreak havoc with my client-side rendering scripts.

I've tried creating the lookup lists (from contents-included templates) on the sub site both before and after creating the main list on the child site. Neither approach works.

How can I move a copy of the list and it's lookups to the child site without starting over??

Answer 1

1. Get the ID of the parent list from SharePoint list settings.
2. Extract child list template manifest.xml & change the lookup column list ID to the above.
3. Create a cab project & add this manifest.xml & rename the *.cab to *.stp
4. Use that modified template & create the list.

Please refer below for more details: https://mariagraziamerlo.com/2016/04/03/how-to-export-a-sharepoint-2013-list-with-lookup-columns/