Export Project Tasks to Outlook

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:37:07 -0600

I gotten this question more than once, so I thought I’d take the time to post it here. The question is a simple one, and I can’t believe Microsoft hasn’t integrated Project and Outlook more tightly than this. At any rate, the question is:

“Can you export the tasks from Project to Outlook?”

Here’s the answer: yes. Not easily, not elegantly, but yes, it’s possible.

One option is to set up your project tasks in Outlook first, and then import them into a new Project. Here's what to do:

Tools | Import | Tasks from Outlook

The other choice is the other way around, to send Project tasks back to Outlook, which is what most people want to do . Unfortunately, it's not as simple. Follow these steps:

1. File | Save As | then choose 'Text (tab delimited)' as the file format.
2. You will now walk through the .csv 'Map' wizard.
You can create a new map if you'd like, but you can probably get away with choosing an 'existing map' and then choose the "Default Task Information" map from the list of preconfigured data mappings.
3. Now choose the type of data to export. You'll choose Tasks, and make sure the Tab is selected from the drop down as the delimiter.

Then, from Outlook, do this:

1. File | Import and Export...
2. Choose 'Import from another Program
3. Choose the Comma Separated Values file type, then Browse for the file you just saved.
4. Now, choose the Tasks folder as the destination.
5. At the Finish dialogue box, make sure the item is checked, and then drag and drop your fields from the Project side (the newly created file) to the Outlook side. As a reference point, you'll always drop the Task Name to the Subject field. Click Finish.

As I said: not easy, not elegant, but it works.

manage your projects, not the application. on task. on target. on time.

Export Project Tasks to Outlook