Before you start
Rebuild, not migrate
There is no carrying SharePoint Designer workflows to SharePoint Online. The 2010 engine was retired there years ago; the 2013 engine went with it in April 2026. On a SharePoint 2016 or 2019 farm those workflows still run, but only until the server reaches end of support. Every workflow you want to keep is rebuilt by hand in Power Automate. So the goal of this playbook is the opposite of effort: rebuild as few workflows as possible. Inventory honestly, retire the dead weight, and the rebuild list shrinks to what the business actually uses.
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| April 2, 2026 | SharePoint 2013 workflows were fully retired in SharePoint Online. They are gone. There is nothing to migrate. |
| November 2020 | SharePoint 2010 workflows, and the built-in workflows that run on that engine, were retired in SharePoint Online. |
| July 14, 2026 | SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 reach end of support. The on-prem workflow engines lose support here too. |
| No converter | The migration tool can scaffold a few simple workflows, but every flow is rebuilt and re-tested by hand. |
| Premium connectors | A flow that reaches SQL, a web service, or on-prem data needs a paid Power Automate licence, about CAD $20 per user per month. |
| 28-day history | Power Automate keeps run history 28 days. Anything needing an audit trail must log it to a SharePoint list itself. |
The eight stages
- 1Frame the work4 steps
- 2Discover and inventory6 steps
- 3Triage and classify6 steps
- 4Score, sequence, and licence6 steps
- 5Set up the environment5 steps
- 6Rebuild the flow6 steps
- 7Parallel-run and validate6 steps
- 8Cut over and hand off5 steps
Stage one · Frame
Frame the work
4 steps
- Accept the starting point: SharePoint Designer workflow engines are already retired in SharePoint Online. Nothing migrates. Every kept workflow is rebuilt.
- Identify every farm and site collection in scope. The workflow work follows that scope.
- Set the goal plainly: rebuild the fewest workflows possible. The deadline is permission to retire the rest.
- Name a business owner who will sign off on every “retire” decision.
Stage two · Discover
Discover and inventory
6 steps
- Run an SPMT scan in scan-only mode. It is the best single inventory of SharePoint Designer 2010, 2013, and built-in list workflows.
- Run a PowerShell sweep for run counts and last-run dates. The scan does not give you these.
- Enumerate site-scoped 2013 workflows separately. The scan skips them.
- Inventory Nintex, K2, and any third-party engine from their own admin consoles. This is often the biggest hidden scope.
- Record per workflow: name, host site and list, platform, trigger, run count, last-run date, and the business process it serves.
- Capture each workflow’s external dependencies: InfoPath forms, web-service calls, SQL, custom code.
Stage three · Triage
Triage and classify
6 steps
- Gate 1, is it alive? No runs in 12+ months means retire it. This clears 30–50% of an aged farm.
- Gate 2, does anyone own it? No owner and no describable process: retire it as an orphan, after a 30-day amnesty notice.
- Gate 3, is it business-critical? Flag the critical ones for the front of the rebuild queue.
- Gate 4, can a built-in feature replace it? Content approval, list rules, column defaults, or Purview retention can stand in. No rebuild needed.
- Gate 5, can it be simplified first? Trim dead branches and consolidate near-identical workflows before rebuilding.
- Gate 6, rebuild what is left. Tag every workflow with its outcome and get owner sign-off on each “retire”.
Stage four · Plan
Score, sequence, and licence
6 steps
- Score each rebuild simple, moderate, or complex, based on actions, branching, external calls, and state-machine logic.
- Flag the patterns that do not translate: state machines, reusable and site workflows, impersonation steps, custom code.
- List the connectors each rebuilt flow needs. Mark each one standard or premium.
- Decide licensing: standard connectors are covered by Microsoft 365; any premium connector needs Power Automate Premium (~CAD $20/user/month).
- Decide where compliance flows keep an audit trail. Power Automate retains run history only 28 days.
- Sequence the rebuild backlog: critical and active workflows first.
Stage five · Set up
Set up the environment
5 steps
- Build the rebuilt flows inside one Power Platform solution, in one environment. Skip Managed Environments for a small organization.
- Decide flow ownership up front: co-own every critical flow, or use a dedicated licensed service account.
- Licence the service account or the one-to-three flow owners before the build starts.
- Install the on-premises data gateway only if a flow must reach on-prem data during the transition. Plan to retire it after cutover.
- Create the SharePoint list that compliance flows will write their own audit trail to.
Stage six · Rebuild
Rebuild the flow
6 steps
- Recreate the trigger (“when an item is created or modified”) and any initiation inputs.
- Rebuild conditions and stages as Conditions, Switches, and Scopes; rebuild loops as Apply to each or Do until.
- Rebuild approvals with the Approvals connector: single, sequential, or parallel.
- Rebuild notifications, field updates, and pauses with Send an email, Update item, and Delay.
- Replace what does not translate: re-architect state machines, swap impersonation for a service account, rebuild web-service calls on the HTTP connector.
- Wrap risky actions in a Scope with “configure run after” error handling. Add the self-logging audit step.
Stage seven · Validate
Parallel-run and validate
6 steps
- Turn the new flow on alongside the still-running legacy workflow. Do not switch one off yet.
- Point the new flow’s output at test columns so it does not touch live data.
- Run both for two to four weeks (or two full business cycles for a monthly process).
- Compare outcomes on a real sample (same approvers, emails, and field updates), including rejection and escalation paths.
- Confirm licensing actually works: no run fails with a “premium required” error.
- Get the business owner to sign off each rebuilt flow before cutover.
Stage eight · Cut over
Cut over and hand off
5 steps
- Disable the legacy workflow and repoint the new flow from test columns to production.
- Monitor the first live runs closely.
- Export any legacy run history the organization must retain. It does not come across.
- Hand over a per-flow sheet: owners, connections, licence required, and where the audit trail lives.
- Schedule a 30-day post-cutover review. Set a reminder before any licensed flow owner leaves.
If the rebuild list outruns the calendar
Every surviving workflow is a hand rebuild, and they add up fast.
Most farms carry more workflows than anyone remembers building. Triage clears the dead weight. What is left (approvals, escalations, the process the whole office quietly depends on) gets rebuilt one flow at a time in Power Automate, and tested against the original. If that list is longer than the time before July 14, 2026, that is the work TenantCraft does. A discovery call is free, 25 minutes, and ends with a written scope, not a sales pitch.
- Web
- tenantcraft.ca
- hello@tenantcraft.ca
- Discovery call
- Free · 25 minutes
Playbook last reviewed May 16, 2026. SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 reach end of support on July 14, 2026. Every workflow still needed must be rebuilt and running in Power Automate before that date.