# Duplicating Tasks also duplicates the Task ID **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask the Community\ **Tags:** projects, tasks\ **Created:** [20 September 2019 20:50 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733 "2019-09-20T20:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charles\_Haynie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/charles_haynie/32/12735_2.png) [@Charles\_Haynie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Charles_Haynie)\ **Post date:** [20 September 2019 20:50 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/1 "2019-09-20T20:50:28Z")
I’ve used the “Duplicate Tasks” action from the dropdown and it works great. If a task needs to be broken up, this is my go to action. Working on reporting though, we’ve noticed that duplicate tasks are also duplicating the “Task ID”. This is creating issues in reporting where a Task ID is expected to be a unique identifier. The Task ID is not one of the selections in the checkbox list while duplicating, but it seems it is happening by default. I can’t think of a good reason to not create a unique identifier here - anyone else having this issue? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/e/c/ecf61f19c02c1f24afa939013f580040c1eb7040.png) ---
**Author:** ![Phil\_Seeman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/phil_seeman/32/81525_2.png) [@Phil\_Seeman](https://forum.asana.com/u/Phil_Seeman)\ **Post date:** [20 September 2019 21:55 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/2 "2019-09-20T21:55:39Z")
Hi Charles, The Task IDs are actually not identical - the situation is that Excel is unable to display the entire ID due to rounding issues. Here’s a thread that discusses this situation: > [@Some Task IDs are incorrect on CSV Export](https://forum.asana.com/t/some-task-ids-are-incorrect-on-csv-export/48026): > > Briefly describe (1-2 sentences) the Bug you’re experiencing: Some Task IDs on CSV Export don’t match the expected Task ID of the URL provided in “Copy Task Link” option. Steps to reproduce: Press project … → Export/Print → CSV Browser version: Chrome Version 73.0.3683.103 (Official Build) (64-bit) Upload screenshots below: The key takeaway from that discussion is: **Workaround:** Google Sheets can easily open the export and doesn’t round the numbers. You can then download as .xls and open in Excel. ---
**Author:** ![Charles\_Haynie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/charles_haynie/32/12735_2.png) [@Charles\_Haynie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Charles_Haynie)\ **Post date:** [23 September 2019 13:33 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/3 "2019-09-23T13:33:58Z")
I do see that if I open the same CSV in Google sheets I get a different last digit, but that digit is a zero in Excel. It is either rounding down always or replacing the last digit with a zero in Excel. When I expand the sheet in Excel, I can see that all the last digits are zero. That tells me that we are somehow dropping the last digit and replacing it with a zero in Excel. Any ideas on how to avoid that? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/4/d/4d8727bad0a0e58a64def231d21dd1e3372f518a.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/6/f/6fec2bd3bbfba1eb63ca1af0c4e855cd11a6764b.png) ---
**Author:** ![Phil\_Seeman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/phil_seeman/32/81525_2.png) [@Phil\_Seeman](https://forum.asana.com/u/Phil_Seeman)\ **Post date:** [23 September 2019 14:17 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/4 "2019-09-23T14:17:11Z")
@Charles_Haynie, I did figure out a way to do it - not sure if this is the only way but it worked. Instead of just double-clicking the CSV to open it in Excel which causes Excel to assume the ID column is numeric, which causes it to lose the last digit because it can’t handle numeric values that large, do this: 1. Open Excel, select **New** for a new blank workbook. 2. Go to the **Data** tab; select **Get & Transform Data \> From Text/CSV** 3. Browse to and select your exported CSV file and click **Import**. 4. In the resulting window, drop down **Data Type Detection** and select **Do not detect data types.** (This step is the key to the whole thing.) 5. Click **Load**. Voila - your IDs are present in their entirety. ---
**Author:** ![Charles\_Haynie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/charles_haynie/32/12735_2.png) [@Charles\_Haynie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Charles_Haynie)\ **Post date:** [23 September 2019 14:44 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/5 "2019-09-23T14:44:01Z")
Ok that works and keeps me out of uploading to a separate program. I’ll need to setup the headers in the first row again, but the data is all there. Thanks! ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/3/3/33ef55a346305e449fb009234626110ccb724087.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/a/1/a1b84d67951a54058f4bada953881325173b2998.png) ---
**Author:** ![LEGGO](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/leggo/32/94022_2.png) [@LEGGO](https://forum.asana.com/u/LEGGO)\ **Post date:** [10 June 2021 21:48 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/6 "2021-06-10T21:48:49Z")
@Phil_Seeman when testing this I noticed that IF one was to edit/double-click a value in the Task ID column the issue gets re-introduced and the 16th character as a zero reappears. The fix to this would be to change the format of this column to be TEXT instead of GENERAL. Another way to do this, if you have access to Power Query Tools, is described in this post: > [@Obtaining the correct Task ID in MS Excel when connecting data from a Web Source](https://forum.asana.com/t/obtaining-the-correct-task-id-in-ms-excel-when-connecting-data-from-a-web-source/124753/1): > > Once you have successfully connected your Asana data in MS Excel, **right click on the query from the Queries & Connections pane** as shown below. **Select the “edit” option** which will open the Power Query Editor. > > _If this pane isn’t shown initially you can view it by selecting “Data” (from the MS Ribbon) then “Queries & Connections”_ > > ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/f/f/ffefdff3394d174663e6b921576f03177ab3f0b9.png) > > Once the Power Query Editor has launched, change the portion of the table formula highlighted in yellow below to read as show. This will convert the raw data from Asana for the Task ID so that it allows for all 16 characters to be shown. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/system/32/276370_2.png) [@system](https://forum.asana.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [30 May 2025 18:55 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/duplicating-tasks-also-duplicates-the-task-id/60733/7 "2025-05-30T18:55:18Z")
Closed on 30 May 2025 18:55 UTC