The Easy Way to Export Asana Projects

Asana is a great workflow management tool with task and project management capabilities. It allows you to organize, monitor, and manage projects from one centralized location. 

Being an integral part of your business project activities, Asana holds so much valuable data. This information can be used for advanced reporting and other purposes as well. However, to do so, you need to export the data from the platform.

In this article, first, we will guide you on how to export Asana projects. Then, we will cover how you can benefit from extracting Asana data.

Export project from Asana

There are two ways to export Asana project data.  

• The first one is the native method, which is the manual way to export projects built in Asana.  

• The second method is automating the export process using third-party software. 

Each method has its pros and cons, so let’s take a look at them.

Native method: Asana’s built-in method is straightforward and easy to use. It allows you to export a single project at a given time. You can export an Asana project as a JSON and CSV file. The export will contain all of the details of your project, such as Task ID, Start Date, End Date, Name, Assignee, Due Date, Tags, Notes, Project Name, and Parent Task (if it’s a sub-task).

One major problem with this method is that it is impossible to export multiple projects at once, and it will also be a tedious process if you need to export this data frequently. As a result, exporting large volumes takes far longer than necessary, thus decreasing productivity. 

Automatic Method:  If you need to export projects from Asana on a regular basis, you may consider automating the process with the help of third-party solutions.

You can export Asana projects, tasks, and more with this technique. It allows you to create custom reports to track productivity and make timely decisions. Additionally, data is automatically refreshed with no further work on your side, making it ideal for populating reports and dashboards.

You can automate the exporting process from Asana to Excel and Google Sheets. Additionally, you can automatically back up your data by sending it from Asana to BigQuery on a schedule that works for you with the help of tools like Coupler.io. 

This method doesn’t have any major drawbacks for you, except for the cost of using the software. 

We’ve covered the pros and cons of each approach; now let’s dive into how to implement them.

How to export Asana projects manually

It is often thought that such tasks might seem complicated. But in reality, as we have explained earlier, it is quite simple to export a project from Asana. The procedure is as follows:

First, select the Asana project you want to export. You can either select one from the main hub.

Or by clicking on the project title from the sidebar on the left. In this example, I’m selecting the project titled “Event Project Plan”.

After your project tab loads up, click on the dropdown arrow next to the title of the project.

Then, hover your mouse on the “export/print” in the dropdown menu. And select CSV from the additional options. 

Afterwards, the CSV file with the selected project’s data will be downloaded to your device. You can use it with any spreadsheet tool and apply a broad variety of analyses and visualizations to the data. 

Here is an example of what it will look like.

As you can see, the exported data contains project tasks with all the important details, such as task progress, due date, priority, assignee, and so on.

Automatically export Asana projects list

Now, what if you want to export all of the projects? Asana only allows you to export one at a time; this makes the process extremely lengthy. So is there any way to speed up this tiring process? 

With Coupler.io, you can export all of your projects at once. It’s a far more efficient way than what’s available inside the app. What’s more, the projects will update automatically on the schedule you choose, for example, daily, so you don’t need to worry about the freshness of your data.

In Coupler.io, there are two ways to export projects from Asana:

• Export the complete projects list or only those meeting certain criteria (e.g., created this year).

• Or export tasks created after a certain date from all your projects

Of course, you can fetch both if you’d like.

Let’s have a look at how Coupler.io can be used to export project lists from Asana automatically.

First, you will need to create an account on Coupler.io. You can try out the service risk-free for 14 days to see whether or not it meets your needs. While you try it out, no payment information is needed.

After you’ve set up your account, click “Add Importer”. Data may be imported from a wide variety of apps into Coupler.io, including but not limited to, Asana, HubSpot, MailChimp, Shopify, and more. See the full list of the available integrations.

This functionality allows you to combine data from multiple sources so you can customize the report-making process to your liking.

The next step is to choose a source point and a destination. At the moment, we will connect Asana to Google Sheets, but if you’re planning to import the data into a data warehouse, BigQuery is the way to go. Excel integration is also available.

You’ll then need to connect your Asana account and choose the data type. In this example, we chose to export Asana projects. Coupler.io allows for the export of other data entities as well, such as tasks, portfolios, teams, etc. 

You can export all these different data types into a single spreadsheet file to make custom Asana reporting that provides a better overview of your business activities. To export the Asana project list, we will select the “Projects” data type and a starting date for the export.

We’ll move on to the Destination options now. Sign in with your Google account and choose the spreadsheet you want to use to import the data, in this instance, “Asana Project List.” If you decide to export Asana to Excel, follow the same procedure. BigQuery requests that you specify a dataset and table name.

The last step allows you to choose how often you’d want the data imported and updated. With this functionality enabled, the app will automatically update your project details on the schedule you choose. You can use this feature to monitor and analyze the day-to-day progressions of your projects.

Next, choose “Save and Run” and you will be finished.

Here is an example of what the final result will look like. 

As you can see, using Coupler.io is more efficient for exporting data from Asana than the manual method. This solution allows you to export all your projects, tasks, and other data types automatically with no manual effort. Besides this, Coupler.io can keep your Asana information in a spreadsheet always up to date. Thanks to all this, you can increase your productivity and create advanced reports with this integration.

Why you should export project details from Asana

Asana project details provide additional value when interpreted correctly. Exporting it naturally makes the process a lot easier. Some of the ways in which this enhancement might improve your experience with Asana are discussed below.

Export Asana project for record-keeping

As your business activities expand, more and more projects will be created. It will become increasingly difficult to locate previous projects or search for specific information about a particular project. Details like this will be far more accessible and can be used for future operations if they have been exported to a spreadsheet like Excel. For example, for project budgets, you might have to keep the record for auditing purposes. 

Export Asana for Summary of Project

The project data stored in Asana can be easily interpreted and used for analytical purposes. Whether you’re a data-driven marketer, provide customer service, or work in sales, you can use Asana export project features to generate custom reports with graphs, pivot tables, and more. Even though Asana has its own reports system, the export allows you to be more flexible and use data in more creative ways. 

You can share these snippets of information with your team and investors in meetings, presentations, and discussions to provide them with an overview of your project’s progress.

Export Asana project status

You can create custom performance analysis reports for each employee with the information available, such as assignee, a task created, finished, etc. As a result, managers will have the chance to conduct an even more in-depth study of employee productivity. 

The date of creation, the date of completion, the date of the last modification, and the assignee fields are especially helpful for immediately demonstrating success, showing momentum, and emphasizing significant milestones.

Export Asana project: final words

Now that you know how to export Asana projects, you only need to choose which method will work best for you. For example, if you need to prepare a monthly report on your completed projects, the manual method may just be enough. 

However, if you want to keep track of productivity and generate custom reports regularly, the Coupler.io automated method is ideal. Automated scheduled exports can save you significant time, increase your work efficiency, and make your team more productive.