Featured image illustrating a step-by-step guide on syncing Asana to Microsoft Excel through Unito, depicted by the connected logos through circles and dotted lines.

How to Easily Export and Sync Asana to Microsoft Excel With Automated 2-Way Updates

Published in Use cases on .

This guide will walk you through the process of syncing Asana tasks to a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel with automated 2-way updates. Exporting Asana projects to Excel rows with Unito is as easy as using any new app or platform – no coding knowledge required.

This 2-way workflow is helpful if your team in Asana wants to import tasks from Excel rows or vice versa with relying on a CSV file. Once you’re done, you’ll have set up a workflow that turns each Asana task into an Excel row automatically (or vice versa if you want Excel to create Asana tasks).

If you’d like to learn more about Unito first, check out our integration overview for Microsoft Excel and Asana. By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to:

  • Export Asana project data from tasks to Excel rows automatically.
  • Generate new Excel rows automatically as your team creates Asana tasks.
  • Update Excel in real-time with a 2-way sync whenever you make changes in Asana tasks, or vice versa.

Here’s an example of our completed integration that exports Asana to Excel:

Fields syncing between Asana and Microsoft Excel, including task title, project, assignee, description, status, tags, due date and more.
Asana tasks are synced to Excel rows automatically

In this article

Feel free to skip ahead if you’re already in the middle of trying to manage your Asana – Excel flow.

Watch this integration sync Asana tasks to Excel rows

Best use cases for syncing Asana tasks to Excel rows

Unito can export Asana to Excel or vice versa (keeping both in a real-time, 2-way sync) to not only save you from copy-pasting tasks manually into a spreadsheet, but also to keep your data up-to-date from end-to-end.

Integrating Asana and Excel simplifies the process of building progress reports, project timelines, managing human resources, analyzing financial details related to tasks and other use cases requiring you to paste Asana project details into Excel.

Sync custom fields with Unito to truly explore any use case

Custom fields are fully supported by Unito. You can even sync new custom fields from Asana to Excel by adding them to your flow. A flow is the connection between apps that you create in Unito.

A screenshot of a user's set of field mappings between Asana and Excel in which custom fields are used extensively in a bidirectional flow.
Here’s an example of custom fields in Asana synced to Excel rows

Can Asana import tasks from Excel?

Yes absolutely! You can import Asana project data without needing a CSV file to sync new tasks or historical data automatically. The goal is to create workflows that enable you to efficiently organize your project management without replacing an old process with an equally complex one.

Optimize your process in Asana and Microsoft Excel

Your ability to import or export from Asana or Microsoft Excel will massively impact your process on how best to track teams quickly and effectively, by working the way you want from the interface of your choice.

Enjoy the comfort of a familiar project or spreadsheet

Those who prefer to stay in their projects or spreadsheets can do so, and you can track any teams progress automatically. It’s a new tool in your toolkit that will make a big difference whether you’re syncing new projects or older on-going campaigns.

Why connect an Asana project to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet?

No more need to export or import a CSV file

Syncing Asana tasks to Excel rows enables you to speed up the reporting process by populating your data table with live updates from Asana that change as work is completed. So when someone in Asana updates a task, Unito enables you to see those changes from Excel in real-time.

This method saves you the hassle of exporting or importing a CSV file. Instead you can manage data manually with a 2-way integration. Your project timeline will thank you when all of your exported data appears in Excel automatically as a synced spreadsheet.

Spend more time finessing your dashboard

You can build reports for stakeholders quickly and efficiently through simple automation that establishes a fully-synced spreadsheet. It’s handy for reviewing budgets and expenses; resource management; and collaborating with external contractors, clients, or other contacts across a variety of apps and tools.

Project management is all about efficiency and optimizing your workflow. So being able to manage multiple projects at once becomes a simpler process when you export Asana task field data to Excel quickly and automatically.

Before you connect Asana and Excel to Unito:

  • Permissions required to sync: You must have read & write permissions in Excel, and your Asana account needs to be a full member of your organization, not a guest.
  • Excel Add-in: Install the Unito add-in for Microsoft Excel Online. Without the add-in, you won’t be able to sync data between Asana and Excel.
  • Table header: Set up a table header in Microsoft Excel so that the first row includes the names of your Asana task fields (e.g., title, description, assignee, etc.). More on this below.

If you aren’t sure where to begin, we created this template for Microsoft Excel users you can use to get started. Just be sure to download the template and then upload it to your own One Drive in order to use it. Feel free to create a new project and export Asana data from there if you’d like to test the integration before syncing historical data.

Step 1. Prepare your table header in Excel

Your Excel table header tells Unito where to put Asana task fields in your spreadsheet. So be sure to give each column a name that matches with fields in Asana. They don’t need to match perfectly, but keeping a similar naming convention in place may help you stay organized and manage projects more easily.

Here’s a full list of Asana task fields.

Once you connect Asana and Excel to Unito and set up your table header, your rows will become tasks and your columns will become fields.

Here is an example of a header row. You’ll need to title the first and last columns of your sheet: “UnitoID” and “Last Modified”. This process is described in Step 2.

Step 2. Install the Unito add-in for Excel

Go to www.office.com and open Excel Online.

  1. Then, from your spreadsheet click on File, then Get Add-ins.
  2. In the next screen click STORE and type Unito into the search box.
  3. Click Add and follow the on-screen instructions to install the Unito add-in. 

Three small screenshots showing how to find the Unito Add-In and install it for Microsoft Excel to sync spreadsheets

Follow the on-screen instructions to add Unito to your Microsoft workspace. 

Once the add-in is installed, click Insert the two columns in this sheet.

You’ll see UnitoID and Last Modified. Only columns between those two will sync with Unito. Having these columns in your table header is essential for this integration to function as intended. You can hide them, but don’t delete or modify those columns.

Step 3. Connect Asana and Microsoft Excel to Unito

  1. Open the Unito App and click +Create Flow.
  2. Click Start Here to connect Asana and Excel in any order.
  3. Select an account for each of your tools.
  4. Choose the Asana Project and Excel spreadsheet to connect.
Connecting an Asana project and Excel file and sheet with Unito
If you created or changed the name your project or sheet while the Unito app is still open, you’ll need to close Unito and re-launch it in order to see the new Sheet.

When you’re ready, click Confirm.

Step 4. Set a flow direction between Asana and Excel

Flow direction determines how new Asana tasks or Excel rows are created but not modified or updated. That comes in step 6.

Setting directional flow with Unito between Asana and Excel
A 2-way flow here would allow us to create Asana tasks based on rows in Microsoft Excel. For now, we only want tasks to create rows, so we’ll set a 1-way direction here.

Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction. 

Step 5. Set up rules to filter data between Asana and Excel

You can set rules to filter out specific Asana tasks from syncing to Microsoft Excel (or vice versa). This is especially valuable if your projects contain many tasks, but only some of them are relevant for your spreadsheet use case.

setting a trigger to filter specific tasks from syncing between Asana and Excel with Unito.
The rule above marked “Creation Date” is a safeguard to let you test out your flow with a new task in Asana before syncing historical tasks to Excel. If you trash this condition, then you can sync all historical tasks that match your rules.

By customizing Asana tags, you can be even more precise about what kind of data is shared with Excel:

Rules to sync strategic account tasks from Asana to Excel
In this case, any Asana tasks in our project: “Winter Initiatives 2023” will sync to our chosen sheet in Microsoft Excel as long as it has the tag “Strategic Accounts”.

Find out more about setting rules.

Step 6. Set up field mappings between Asana and Excel

Next, select Start from scratch. Since every field in Excel is a custom field, Unito can’t auto-map them.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Asana-master-project-mappings-method-selection.png

Click +Add mapping to select an Asana task field and a matching Excel field to keep in sync. This is where the fields you create in your table header will appear.

If you forgot to include a field in Excel, you can add new columns or change the names, but you’ll have to close your browser tab with Unito and re-open it for the changes to appear in your flow.

Setting fields to sync between Asana and Excel
Any changes in the synced Asana task will appear in Excel, but Excel users are a bit more restricted. Changes to the Excel description or task title will update the synced Asana task, but no other changes will affect the original task.

Click Confirm when you’re satisfied with your field mappings to proceed.

Find out more about setting field mappings.

Note: If you change a column name in a synced spreadsheet, be sure to update your flow’s field mappings in Unito or else your data will stop syncing.

Step 7. Save, close, and launch your Asana – Excel Flow!

If you’ve followed the steps above, your Unito flow will now:

  • Create new rows in Excel based on specified Asana tasks.
  • Keep those rows and tasks updated in real-time based on our field mappings.

Here’s one last look at our demo integration between Asana and Excel:

Synced Asana Excel Demo
Here is our demo Excel sheet synced to Asana with Unito

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.

What’s next after syncing Asana tasks to Excel rows?