Further to this, our organisation is forcing a transition from Monday.com
Being able to import and update tasks is a key feature i use (esp. when setting up the database)
Absolutely insane that 5+ years after this request for basic import/export functionality that this doesn’t exist now…The fact this isn’t supported is not acceptable. This is the kind of functionality that would prevent me from recommending Asana to others, and right now it’s really hurting adoption in my organization.
Can we get an ETA or some acknowledgement from Asana on this?
Just a reminder that the free mass task editor I created a couple of years ago is still up and running. It’s limited (100 rows at a time) and rough around the edges but dozens of people use it every month to update existing tasks from Excel or CSV files. Are there bugs? You bet. Hope it helps. https://app.bulkyapp.com/
Graeme - so sorry that I did not see this when you asked originally but, yes, it uses the Asana API to update/add records. Hopefully you found a solution that works for you.
Garrett here, a Group PM leading our Core Project Management suite. Being transparent, my teams don’t actually own this functionality, but you have found someone deeply passionate about customer feedback and will make sure this reaches the right audience. Even though this is my first update in this thread, I’ve independently presented this to leadership in a list of competitive gaps. I don’t have any timeline to share, but at least wanted to acknowledge you all! Any detail you’re willing to share about your use case would be very much appreciated 
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This is very straightforward. The Asana Import function must allow csv imports that update a projects existing tasks.
Right now, if you export a csv, update fields in excel, when you import the csv, it ADDS NEW TASKS, rather then UPDATE EXISTING TASKS. This, despite the fact that their is a Unique ID per task.
There has to be a work around if this truly can’t be addressed. You can’t even copy paste making the most basic of basic unavailable. Truly disappointing.
@Rob_D I empathize with your frustration here as I’ve been building a business case for this product gap on behalf of our product group. Can you help empower me further by sharing examples from your workflows of when you want to export a CSV and then import? I’ve started to build an evidence library here but would be grateful for any detail you’d be willing to share. I’d also love to learn more about what you mean by “You can’t even copy paste making the most basic of basic unavailable”. Thank you Rob!
Hi Garrett,
I’m happy to contribute to your evidence library. To illustrate the impact, I’ve outlined a fictional—but extremely standard—scenario that we encounter frequently. This represents a massive productivity leak for any enterprise-scale project.
Scenario 1: The CSV “Update” Loop (Metadata Enrichment)
The Use Case: Imagine I have a project with 100 existing tasks representing “New Store Openings.” Halfway through, the Finance team provides a spreadsheet with a unique Store ID Number for each location.
The Workflow: I export my Asana project to CSV, use a simple VLOOKUP in Excel to match the Store Name to the Store ID, and then attempt to import that CSV back into the same Asana project to populate a “Store ID” custom field.
The Failure: Instead of updating the 100 existing tasks with their respective IDs, Asana creates 100 duplicate tasks.
The Impact: Because the importer doesn’t recognize the Unique Task ID, I’m forced to either manually type 100 IDs one by one or deal with a project full of duplicates. In a project with 1,000+ tasks, this effectively “breaks” the tool’s utility.
Scenario 2: The “Copy-Paste” Gap (Grid Parity)
The Use Case: I have a list of 50 different Delivery Dates in an Excel column that I need to move into an Asana custom field column.
The Workflow: I highlight the 50 dates in Excel, hit Ctrl+C, click the top cell of the “Delivery Date” column in Asana’s List View, and hit Ctrl+V.
The Failure: Asana doesn’t map the 50 values to the 50 rows. It either creates 50 brand-new tasks or dumps all 50 dates into a single text block within one cell.
The Impact: Users expect “Grid Parity.” If a UI looks like a spreadsheet, it should behave like one. This lack of basic copy-paste functionality makes moving data between corporate tools an agonizingly manual process.
The Enterprise Constraint
I want to emphasize that for most corporate environments, third-party workarounds are not an option. Security and IT policies would prohibit the use of unvetted community apps or browser extensions to handle data. We need these “basics of basics” to be native to the platform.
I hope these examples help you quantify the “friction” these gaps cause for your Enterprise users.
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These use cases are spot on. The first is an example of a regular need I see. For example HubSpot enables this. As long as you have the correct record IDs in your import, HubSpot will update existing records, offering to overwrite existing values or not as an option.
= Nate
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