Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for preserving collection data across interfaces are disclosed. The system can generate, for a collection of content items stored in multiple user accounts in a synced online content management system, an index of the content items in the collection. The index can store, a content item identifier and a file location, for each content item. Upon detecting that a content item in the collection is moved to a new file location, the system can retrieve a collection identifier from metadata associated with the content item. The system can then locate the index for the collection associated with the collection identifier based on the collection identifier retrieved from the metadata associated with the content item. The system can then update the file location stored at the index for the content item to identify the new file location.