Various Options to Copy items from one list to another in SharePoint

A very commonly used activity is to Copy items from one list to another in SharePoint. I often think what option suites best in what senario.In this blog post will mention some of these methods to perfom the copy operation.

1. DataSheet View -  Probably the easist method to Copy items from one list to other. Just Open your Source list in Datasheet view and then open your destination list in Datasheet view. Make sure that the columns are same (same datatype and name). Copy paste like you do in Excel.
Refer this for details.

2. Manage Site Content and Structure Option - This option is good becaue its easy and it copies Matadata of the item along with the item to the destination list. It does not work across site collection though.
All you have to do is go to the ‘Site Content and Structure’ page and select the source list. Next select the items that you need to copy and then in Actions -> Copy. You’ll then be prompted with a pop-up where you will let select your destination List. Refer this for details.

3. Copy by Export-Import stsadm command - "Manage Site Content and Structure" actually exports and imports the list item using the deployment API. You can use this in a code to create your own Copy solution. Refer this for Details.

4. PowerShell CopyTo and CopyFrom functions - You can use PowerShell Command to Copy items Refer this article for Details.

5. Save list as Template - This works only when you need to move whole list from one site collection or Farm to other. For example If you need to move a list with items you would save the list as template and then upload to your destination site. Dont forget top select "Include content" when you save list as template. Next create a new list out of your list template in the detsination site.