Automating Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 Administration with Windows PowerShell® 2.0

Export and Import Sites and Lists

Prior to SharePoint 2010, we had the ability to export and import Sites. However, when it came to lists, we had to resort to third-party tools or custom STSADM extensions. The capability was always there via the SharePoint API, but Microsoft never exposed it to STSADM, which left a rather large void in the product. With SharePoint 2010, however, we now have this ability via two new PowerShell cmdlets: Export-SPWeb and Import-SPWeb. Don't be fooled by the names of these cmdlets; they are not limited to just Sites—you can export and import lists as well.

Notice that we have been saying “export” and “import” and not “backup” and “restore”. It's a seemingly minor difference in wording that carries some rather significant ...