What you’re seeing
- Custom columns such as Owner, Department or Client come through blank after dragging folders into a SharePoint library.
- Every uploaded file shows the person who uploaded it as Created By and Modified By, not the original author.
- Original created and modified dates are replaced with today's date.
- Staff are filling in metadata by hand, file by file, to make the library usable.
Common causes
Every environment is different, but these are the causes our engineers find most often:
- Browser drag-and-drop upload copies only the file contents; it has no way to read or map metadata from the old location.
- Custom columns in the library are SharePoint-only fields that the source file system never had, so there is nothing to carry across.
- Author and timestamp fields are set by SharePoint to the uploading account unless a migration tool that preserves them is used.
- Column defaults for folders were never configured, so new uploads inherit no values from the folder they land in.
- Metadata kept in a separate spreadsheet or naming convention was never linked to the upload process.
Why it matters
Metadata is what makes a SharePoint library searchable, filterable and governable. Without owner or department values, views and retention policies stop working and finding the right document takes longer. Losing original authors and dates can also matter for legal holds, audits and records retention, where proving who created a file and when is part of compliance. Hand-entering metadata across thousands of files wastes days of staff time.
How AskTechGurus fixes it
Skip the trial and error. A certified engineer works on your actual system, finds the root cause, and fixes it properly.
Tell us what’s happening
Submit a ticket in about two minutes. Paste the error, describe what changed, and pick your tier. No charge to submit.
A certified engineer diagnoses it
A vetted, US-based systems engineer claims your ticket, usually within minutes during business hours, and investigates over a secure remote session you can watch and end at any time.
Fixed and verified with you
The engineer resolves the root cause and confirms with you that it’s working. You don’t just get a workaround, and you get a plain-English summary of what was wrong.
Pay only when it’s resolved
Fixed price from $99, invoiced only after you approve the fix. If it isn’t resolved, you don’t pay.
Frequently asked questions
Can the original dates and authors still be recovered?
If the source files still exist on the old share, yes. They can be re-migrated with a method that preserves that information; once the source is gone, recovery is much harder.
Do we have to redo the whole upload?
Not necessarily. Depending on how much has changed since, the metadata can sometimes be applied in bulk to the existing files. We look at what you have before recommending an approach.