Export / Import site, list or document library

To export a site, list, or document library, you can use either Windows PowerShell or Central Administration. But to import them, you can use only Windows PowerShell. So let's focus on the Power Shell.

Export command:
Export-SPWeb -Identity <Site URL> [-ItemUrl <Object URL>] -Path  <Export file name> [-IncludeUserSecurity] [-IncludeVersions] [-Force <True|False>] [-NoFileCompression] [-Verbose]
Import command:
Import-SPWeb -Identity <Site URL> -Path <Export file name> [-Force] [-NoFileCompression] [-Verbose]
-Force overwrites the export package if it already exists. During import use it to overwrite the list or library that you specified.

-NoFileCompression disables file compression in the export package. The export package is stored in the folder then. Use this parameter for performance reasons. If you used this option when exporting,  you have to specify it during import  as well.

-Verbose is used it to view the progress of the operation.

The site that you are importing to must have a template that matches the template of the exported!


Here you can read how to find out what is the site template?

The site that you are importing to must have the same default language as the exported site!