DocumentationExperience Cloud KCS

How to migrate assets from Adobe Experience Manager while preserving folder structure and metadata

Last update: October 25, 2026

This article explains how to migrate digital assets from Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) while ensuring that folder structures and metadata such as IPTC, XMP, and JCR-XMP Sidecar files are preserved during the export process.

Description description

Organizations migrating from AEM Assets often need to retain the original folder hierarchy, metadata, and asset relationships. This is especially important for photography and other media assets where metadata is critical for search and organization. Key considerations include understanding the number of assets to migrate, available export options, the format of exported content, and the ability to perform test exports before a full migration.

Environment

  • Adobe Experience Manager (all versions)

Symptoms

  • Need to export assets from AEM with folder structure and metadata intact
  • Requirement to test export a subset of assets before full migration

Cause

AEM doesn’t provide a single out-of-the-box migration path to other digital asset management systems. Careful planning and configuration are required to ensure all asset relationships, folder structures, and metadata are retained during export.

Resolution resolution

Follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

  1. Assess your asset inventory:

    • Use AEM’s asset reporting tools or repository browser to determine the total number of assets and folders to be migrated.

  2. Review export options:

    • Evaluate available export mechanisms such as AEM APIs, custom scripts, or bulk export tools that support exporting assets with their metadata and folder hierarchy.

    • Confirm that the chosen method supports extraction of IPTC, XMP, and JCR-XMP Sidecar metadata.

  3. Ensure appropriate permissions:

    • Make sure the user performing the export has the necessary permissions in AEM to access and export the required assets and metadata.

  4. Configure export scripts or tools:

    • Set up and configure your export scripts or tools according to your organization’s requirements. This may involve updating configuration files or authentication details, as needed, for your environment.

  5. Test a subset export:

    • Before performing a full export, conduct a test export of a small subset of assets to verify that folder structure and metadata are preserved.

    • Check the output format (such as a local file system or cloud storage location), and confirm compatibility with your target import requirements.

  6. Perform the full export:

    • Once you have validated the process with a subset, proceed to export the full asset set using the same method.

  7. Verify the migration:

    • After export, review a sample of assets in the destination to ensure folder structure and metadata have been retained as expected.
recommendation-more-help
experience-cloud-kcs-help-kbarticles