Asana Google Sheets Integration – Tutorial and Alternatives

Sometimes, you need a spreadsheet view of your projects. 

But Asana doesn’t allow you to show your project data in a spreadsheet format. So, if you want to work some of your well-honed spreadsheet magic on your projects, you have three options:

1. Exporting the Asana project into Excel/CSV file
2. Using an integrated tool with a spreadsheet view like Visor
3. Setting up the Asana Google Sheets connector

Option two (using Visor’s spreadsheet view) is the overall best option. It has a two-way Asana integration, so you can also push updates into Asana. The other options only allow you to export from Asana. 

Visor also gives you many more capabilities to interrogate, report on, and update your data. It’s a much cleaner and more stable experience too, because it was designed to work through integrations with tools like Asana.

If, however, you are just interested in creating some charts and graphs, or running some calculations, then options one or three should work for you. The most bare bones option (option one) is to export your Asana project data into a CSV. Not what I would recommend.  

If you’re most interested in connecting Asana to Google Sheets (option three) then you’re in the right place. There’s a step by step guide below, and some key things you should know about the integration that might help you avoid common errors and hurdles. 

How To Integrate Asana and Google Sheets – Step by Step

1. First, open your Google Workspace and go to Google Sheets
2. Create a new blank spreadsheet

3. Click on “Extensions” in the main menu, then “Add-ons” then click “Get add-ons”

4. The Google Workspace Marketplace will then pop-up. Search for “Asana” and select the first result, which is just named Asana, and avoid the third party varieties.

5. Next, you need to go into Asana and navigate to your portfolio or project. You will need the Asana Advanced plan ($30.49 per user per month). If you want a better, free alternative to this, try using Visor to create your Asana-connected spreadsheet.
6. Click on the dropdown next to the portfolio/project name. Click Export and select the Google Sheets option. 

7. A window will then pop up, with a link and some instructions. Copy the link and navigate back to your Google Sheet. 
8. In your Google Sheet, open the Extensions dropdown, click on Asana, and then click Sync with Asana and paste your link.  
9. The Live Source Data tab will now stay in sync with changes made in your Asana project. 

Problems With Asana Google Sheets Integration

It’s Expensive

The Asana’s Google Sheets integration is only available to users on their Advanced or Enterprise pricing plans. 

If you’re already on one of these plans then there’s no extra cost. If you’re on Asana’s Starter plan or Free plan you’ll need to upgrade to their Advanced plan, which costs $24.99 per user per month if billed annually, and $30.49 per user per month if billed monthly.

Let’s say you have ten users and want the Google Sheets integration, but you’re on the Asana Starter plan. You’ll have to increase your monthly payments from $130 to $305. That’s an extra $2100 a year, just to integrate with Google Sheets.

Of course, there’s plenty of other benefits to upgrading to an Asana Advanced plan, but if you needed those you would’ve upgraded already, right?

If you’re looking for a free or less expensive way to get your Asana projects into a spreadsheet, you can export as a CSV to Excel or Sheets (which has some problems too), or use an app like Visor. You can connect Visor to Asana using our two-way integration for free, use the spreadsheet view to make bulk changes, custom reports, and much more.

Here’s a spreadsheet view in Visor, using data from multiple Asana projects (connected using a two-way integration):

The Integration Is Only One-Way

If you just want to have a spreadsheet that keeps up-to-date with your Asana data then you can accomplish this with the Google Sheets integration.

The Google Sheets integration can’t push data back into Asana though. This means if you were hoping to use a spreadsheet format to make any changes to tasks or projects, or create new tasks, you’re going to be stuck.

You could use a third party integration app like Zapier. Or you could use Visor and connect directly. Visor’s two-way integration with Asana means you can use it to speed up admin, make bulk changes to multiple tasks, realign schedules, re-assign collections of tasks, and more.

You can also invite others into Visor to view your Asana projects (either as Gantt charts, dashboards, timelines, or in other formats) without needing Asana licenses. 

The Data Can be Fragile and Easy to Break

Once your Asana/Google Sheets integration is set up, you’ll have three tabs in your Google Sheets document; Overview, Asana Project Data, and Live Source Data.

The Live Source Data tab is locked; you can’t tamper with it or add filters. This means if you want to create custom reports, you need to add a new tab and then add a cell reference formula to pull the data from the corresponding cell in the Live Source Data tab.

Adding this formula isn’t going to stretch your mental muscles, but stopping these formulas from being removed or changed and broken within cells might have you pulling your hair out.

You could lock down the whole sheet, but that makes collaboration difficult. You could use Macros to lock individual cells, but now you are getting more complex and cumbersome. 

This can all make using Google Sheets to slice and analyze your Asana data fragile and clunky.   

Your Tasks and Subtasks Don’t Stay Nested

Unfortunately the Asana to Google Sheets Integration doesn’t maintain the nesting of subtasks with tasks. Instead each task and subtask is on a separate row in your exported CSV. This means you will have to take the time and effort to manually re-nest them. 

You can do this by right clicking on the child task rows, then clicking More Row Actions and then clicking Group Rows. Grouping rows is not quite the same as nesting though. Grouped rows may look like nested rows but they don’t have the same relational richness. The child rows are just grouped together, rather than having a hierarchical relationship with the parent task. 

You’re Limited to 500 Rows of Data

The good news is that the integration used to max out at 250 rows of data. The bad news is that it’s now limited to 500. That might sound like a lot, but when you consider that each task and subtask occupies a row, and you may be doing analysis at a portfolio level, that 500 row limit gets eaten up a lot quicker than you first thought. 

Why You Should Use Visor Instead of Google Sheets

If you want to use spreadsheet functionality to view, organize, analyze, and update your Asana project data, Visor is a much better option—and it’s free. 

Yes, Google Sheets itself is also free, but to use the Asana connector for Google Sheets, you will need to pay for Asana’s Advanced plan, which costs $30.49 per user per month ($24.99 per user per month if billed annually).

Visor is free to use. There’s no additional cost for the Asana two-way integration, so you can get started right away and create an Asana connected spreadsheet.

Share Project Status Updates in Formats Stakeholder Adore

Visor is not just a spreadsheet app. It has a range of exquisite views, including Gantt charts, dashboards, and Timelines. These all stay in sync with each other and your data in Asana, and are easy to share with whoever you want to.

A timeline view in Visor, filtered for high-priority tasks for a C-Suite stakeholder:

You can add custom formatting to make information stand out, or use color coding to visually communicate things like completion status or priority. Add custom fields and filters to create tailored views, lock down any fields you want to protect, and then share via email, or a link, with no extra seats or licenses required.  

Combine Data From Multiple Asana Projects

If you want to combine multiple Asana projects using Google Sheets you’ll need to go through the painful process of exporting each project and patching them together. You’ll also need to add a field manually to identify projects and sections.

With Visor you can easily export multiple projects into the same spreadsheet, Gantt chart, timeline, Kanban board, and dashboard. 

There’s a three step wizard to guide you through the process so you can pick which projects you want to import, filter by task status, and select which fields you want to import. 

A field to identify the project is created automatically, and all your data stays nested and organized so you don’t have to manually put it back together. 

This also means you can create ‘portfolio’ level Gantt charts, project boards, and dashboards, of your Asana data, without having to dig into your pockets for the Asana Advanced Plan (which is around $30 per user per month).

Here’s a spreadsheet view in Visor, which uses real-time data from multiple Asana projects, giving me a ‘portfolio’ level view of my projects:

And here’s a Gantt chart in Visor, using the same data from multiple Asana projects:

Combine Data From Multiple Apps

Visor has two-way interactions with other apps too. This means you can bring together data from apps like Asana, Salesforce, and Jira in one place. All the data from each app stays in sync so you can collaborate together without worrying about compromising your single source of truth. 

Here’s a quarterly roadmap I created in Visor, using synchronized data from our Asana and Jira projects:

Speed Up Admin

Using Visor you can make bulk updates to Asana projects, by copying and pasting the same way you would make bulk changes in a spreadsheet. You can then sync these changes back to Asana using Visor’s two-way integration. This can save you hours of Asana project admin every week. 

Asana and Google Sheets – An Imperfect Partnership

Having read my dive into how the Asana and Google Sheets integration works, how to set it up, and the limitations it has, you should be well placed to decide whether you want to use it or an alternative like Visor. 

Visor has a wide range of other functionality that you would find useful if you manage projects, and particularly if you need to report up to stakeholders, or collaborate with other teams. It’s a great way to visualize and hone your projects and plans without compromising your single source of truth.

I would recommend you read my article exporting Asana data to an Excel/CSV file if you’re considering that as an option. It’s certainly straightforward to do, but has many limitations that could cause you a lot of trouble. Get the 
We’ve also written a blog covering the top alternatives to Google Sheets, which might be useful for you if you’re trying to find a project management tool that gives you in-built spreadsheet functionality when you need it. If you want a better way to view, change, and update Asana data in a smart-spreadsheet format then you should try Visor for free.

James Taylor

James Taylor

Senior Digital Marketing Manager

James Taylor is Visor's Senior Digital Marketing Manager. Originally from the UK, he has 8+ years experience writing about all things software and technology, project management and organizational processes. When he's not working you'll find him hiking a hill, attempting to cook ambitious recipes, or gorging on hours of history podcasts and documentaries.