Multiple ways to integrate Asana and Notion, 2023 guide

Intro

For those who don’t know: Notion is a freemium productivity and note-taking web application developed by Notion Labs Inc. It offers a range of organizational tools such as note-taking, knowledge base, to-do lists, and more. In short, it has some similarities to Asana, and it is sometimes used in combination with Asana.

For users of both apps, integrating Asana and Notion opens up a whole new world of ways to collaborate. Integration features include link previews, importing data, synchronized databases and advanced workflow.

Remark: it is important to note that as a third-party developer, Notion is solely responsible for this integration. Asana does not warrant or endorse its functionality.

Use Cases

1. Creating Notion Pages from Asana Actions:

On the Asana side, rules allow users to trigger Notion pages to be created based on specific events, such as: tasks added, approved, assigned, moved to section, or set to completion.

2. Overview of Asana Links in Notion:

From the Notion side, users can view Asana links within their Notion workspace. When you paste an Asana link in a Notion doc for the first time, you’ll see a button that says “Connect to Asana”.

Users will be redirected to authenticate their Asana account, and once authenticated, the content of the Asana link will appear directly in the Notion document.

Subsequent Asana links can be pasted in for seamless display and access from within the Notion workspace. The connection between Asana and Notion can be managed from the “Settings & Members” menu under “My Connected Apps” in Notion.

3. Integration of Asana Project Information into Notion Tables:

Notion allows users to integrate Asana project information, specifically the task list, into Notion spreadsheets. Users can copy the link to an Asana project or task and paste it into Notion using the “Paste as Database” option.

image3

An empty database with a predefined list of properties will be generated, which can be viewed in a table format within Notion. All Asana properties are automatically added to the Notion table, including task details such as descriptions and fields. However, it’s important to note that comments are not included in this integration.

Table View

Timeline View

Syncs are continuous but only go one direction, meaning that data changes will need to happen on the original platform in order for updates to appear in Notion.

4. Import from Asana to Notion

Importing from Asana allows you to move your organization’s teams, projects, and tasks in Asana into Notion. Any member on any plan tier can take advantage of the Asana importer.

This is different from the synced database use case that we talked about in #3. Importing is preferable if you plan on primarily using Notion in your work. :warning: The data will be duplicated into Notion, but not synchronized.

To import from Asana, follow these steps:

  • Click Import at the bottom of the Notion sidebar and select Asana.
  • Sign into Asana and select an Asana workspace.
  • Select which Asana team you’d like to import and which Notion teamspace you’d like to import to.
  • Select which projects and tasks you’d like to import.

All project and task fields (like due date, assignee, attachments, etc) will be migrated over. The importer will not pull over anything that lives within the project (like project briefs or a project summary document).

  • Asana → Notion:
  • Projects → Projects
  • Tasks → Tasks
  • Teams → Teamspaces
  • Organization/Workspace → Workspace

Prerequisites

Users need an active account for both Asana and Notion. Additionally, Asana Premium+ is required to access integrations.

Known Limits

Some users have reported issues with accessing Asana tasks and projects via the “Import” search tool in Notion. Also, it seems that the sync may be buggy, particularly for projects with a large number of tasks.

FAQs

How long does it take for the Asana Importer tool to import a large number of tasks?
Import times may range from a few minutes to several hours depending on the size of the import. You will receive an email notification once the import is complete.

Is there a limit to the number of tasks that can be imported at once?
There are no hard limits on the number of tasks that can be imported, but it is recommended limiting imports to 20K tasks per teamspace.

Do updates I make in my Asana account automatically get updated in Notion?
When you do database sync, yes. However, it’s a No, when you use the import feature.

Conclusion

The integration between Notion and Asana offers users a powerful toolset to enhance collaboration and stay organized if you’re a user of both apps.

By using this integration, you will be able to create Notion pages from Asana tasks, gain an overview of Asana links within Notion, and integrate Asana project information into Notion tables (dynamically with sync, or only once with import).


Official resources

  1. Asana App page: Notion + Asana • Asana
  2. Notion App page : Asana Integrations | Connect Your Apps with Notion
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Thanks Arthur for sharing!

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Nice, thorough job, @Arthur_BEGOU; thanks!!

Larry

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thanks for sharing! I also explored this integration, but for me it does not really make sense as I’m using Asana as the work-tool and Notion as documentation tool. What would be really great is to have a project page in Notion (I have one) where I could sync project brief and project status updates from Asana, but from what I can read exactly this is not possible, correct?

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Hi @Oliver_Schallehn, and thanks for your feedback.

Indeed, project brief and project status updates are not synchronized in the current scope of the integration (at least I haven’t found it).

Btw, that is quite weird, because both Asana and Notion mention it on their integration pages:

:man_shrugging:

2 Likes

Big fan of the “Imported Project Asana+Notion” board, would love to see something added to allow for Portfolios to be visualized in Notion in that way.

Any idea if portfolios are to be added to this implementation? (I know it’s a business feature so wasn’t sure).

ok, so I’ve never used notion but know lots of people that do. why? what does it do?

@Claire_Oatway
#InMyOpinion

If you compare it to Asana, Notion would be more note-taking oriented.
In Notion, the capabilities of text formatting (what would be the Asana task Description) are more advanced. For example, some companies are creating their wikis and documentation in Notion.

For the rest: the tasks, the projects, the collaboration and the work management features… Asana is more advanced and more user-friendly.

For some companies, it makes sense to use both, and that’s where the integration could be useful.

Hope that helps :wink:

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Thanks - great examples :0)

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Hi @Arthur_BEGOU
Thank you for your advice regarding the use of Notion and Asana. I will take it into consideration.

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Hi @Arthur_BEGOU and thanks for sharing!

I will definitely have a better look at this integration and your advice. I already have a client who uses Notion and right now we just update our projects’ status separately on Asana and Notion :grimacing::exploding_head:

Need to change that!

Best,
Elina

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A team manages some dates in Notion. I want to link that to a Milestone ticket in Asana and keep the date in sync when the dates in Notion are updated. Is it possible?

Hi @vishwar

Unfortunately, the moment, the integration only goes from Asana to Notion.

I merged your post to the recent guide I wrote.

As a workaround to your request, third party tools like zappier or Unito might do the job.

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I am trying to “Paste as database” to Notion, copying the Asana project and pasting the link into Notion as described. However, I am only getting the Link Preview options. The integration of each app into the other has been set up correctly as far as I’m aware. Any ideas?

Hi @Matt_Clark
No idea, sorry.
I would contact Notion, as they own this integration : Help, Support, and Documentation for Notion

1 Like