Import or export a project as a CSV file in Todoist

Do you have a project from another app that you’re trying to import into Todoist? Or do you need to quickly export existing projects to reuse elsewhere? With Todoist, you can do it all!

Review the CSV file

If your project is saved as a CSV file, here's how to check if your CSV file follows the right format, and then import it in Todoist.

Quick tip

Download this template and modify it to ensure that you don’t encounter any issues when importing your tasks.

Column	Content	Description
TYPE	task, section, or note (these are case-sensitive and should be written in lowercase)	Use task to add a task. Use section to add a section. Use note if you’re adding a comment to the task in the row above.
CONTENT	name of the task, name of the section, or content of the note	Type the name of the task if you’re adding a task. (When creating a task, you can add labels by typing the @labelname as an addition to the name of the task.) Type the name of the section if you’re adding a section. Type the content of the note if you’re adding a comment.
DESCRIPTION	content of the task description	Type the content of the task description if you'd like to add a description.
PRIORITY	1, 2, 3, or 4	Type 1 to add p1 to the task (highest priority). Type 2 to add p2 to the task. Type 3 to add p3 to the task. Type 4 to add p4 to the task (lowest priority). Leaving this cell empty will automatically add p1 to the task.
INDENT	1, 2, 3 or 4	Use 1 and the task will not be indented (meaning the task is a parent task). Use 2 to indent the task to be a sub-task. Use 3 to indent the task to be a sub-sub-task. And so on. Leaving this cell empty will set the task to not be indented.
AUTHOR	username (ID)	Add the username + user ID in brackets of the person that created the task. For example, Evan (14781400). Leaving this cell empty will automatically add your name and ID.
RESPONSIBLE	username (ID)	Add the username + user ID in brackets of the person that you’d like to assign this task to. For example, Evan (14781400). Leaving this cell empty will not add an assignee to the task.
DATE	date and time or recurring date and time	Add a date and time if you want to schedule the task. You can also set a recurring date. If you leave this cell empty, no date will be assigned to the task.
DATE_LANG	Language code	Add the language code for the language of your Todoist app to set the date (if any). These are the official Todoist language codes: cs for Czech. da for Danish. de for German. en for English. es for Spanish. fi for Finnish. fr for French. it for Italian. ja for Japanese. ko for Korean. nb for Norwegian. nl for Dutch. pl for Polish. pt_BR for Brazilian Portuguese. ru for Russian. sv for Swedish. zh_CN for Simplified Chinese. zh_TW for Traditional Chinese.
TIMEZONE	Time zone	Add the time zone that’s set for your Todoist account. This is in Settings → General. For example, US/Eastern. Leaving this cell empty will have Todoist automatically detect your time zone.
DURATION	Number that represents the duration of a task	Add the estimated number of minutes it takes to work on a task. Leave this cell empty to not add a task duration.
DURATION UNIT	minute or None	Specify the unit of measurement for the task duration. If there's no task duration, None will appear in this cell.
meta	view_style=board	Import the template in board layout.
DEADLINE	date	Add a deadline to this cell. If you leave this cell empty, no deadline will be assigned to the task.
DEADLINE_LANG	Language code	Add the language code for the language of your Todoist app to set the date (if any). These are the official Todoist language codes: cs for Czech. da for Danish. de for German. en for English. es for Spanish. fi for Finnish. fr for French. it for Italian. ja for Japanese. ko for Korean. nb for Norwegian. nl for Dutch. pl for Polish. pt_BR for Brazilian Portuguese. ru for Russian. sv for Swedish. zh_CN for Simplified Chinese. zh_TW for Traditional Chinese.

Assign tasks in the CSV file

To assign tasks to someone as soon as you import the CSV file, you’ll need to fill the person’s name and user ID in the RESPONSIBLE column. Here’s how to find it:

Open the shared project.
Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
Select Export as CSV.
Open the CSV file.
Copy the username and user ID in the RESPONSIBLE cell of the assigned task’s row.

Import your CSV file

After checking that your CSV file follows the right format, here’s how to import it into Todoist:

Log in to Todoist at https://todoist.com.
Create a new project or open an existing project.
Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
Select Import as CSV.
Drag your CSV file to the upload window, or click Upload from your computer.

Todoist will import all the tasks and task attributes from the CSV file automatically into the project. If you're using a list, board, or Week view of the calendar layout, Todoist retains it in the new project.

Stef · Customer Experience Specialist

Upload your CSV file directly to the templates gallery, so it’s easy to recreate the same project and its tasks for next time.

Troubleshoot a CSV file import

If you’re having trouble with importing or exporting your CSV file, there may be issues with its format. Here’s what you can do to resolve them.

Wrong encoding format

For Todoist to import the CSV file correctly, it has to be encoded using UTF-8 formatting.

Open your CSV file in Microsoft Excel.
Click File in the top-left of your screen.
Select Save as...
Open the menu next to File format.
Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (.csv).
Click Save.

Open your CSV file in Numbers.
Click File in the top-left of your screen.
Select Export to...
Select CSV...
Click Advanced options.
Open the drop-down menu next to Text Encoding.
Select Unicode (UTF-8).
Click Next.
Click Save after choosing a name and location for your file.

Open your CSV file in Notepad.
Click File in the top-left of your screen.
Select Save as...
Select the following options:
- Open the Save as type menu. Select All Files.
- Open the Encoding menu. Select UTF-8.
- Rename your file using the .csv extension. For example, if you want to name your file "Work", save your file as Work.csv.
Click Save.

Jumbled text in a column

When opening your CSV file in Microsoft Excel, you may notice a large amount of text inside a single column. Here’s how to fix this:

Click column A to select the entire column.
Click the Data tab.
Click the Text to Columns option.
Select Delimited and click Next.
Check the Semicolon box and uncheck all other boxes.
Click Finish to confirm.

Missing tasks

After importing your CSV file, you may notice that some of your tasks are missing in the project. If a mistake was made in a cell, Todoist ignores the row and moves on to the next one.

Make sure to review the CSV format and double-check that every cell in the CSV file has the correct content. Content (for example: task, section and note) written in the TYPE column are case-sensitive and should be written in all lowercase.

Undo a CSV file import

If a CSV file was imported successfully to Todoist, there's no option to undo the process. As a workaround, bulk select and delete any task that was imported by mistake.

Export your project as a CSV file

Log in to Todoist at https://todoist.com.
Open an existing project.
Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
Select Export as CSV.

A CSV file of your project is created and saved automatically to your computer. This is an exact duplicate of the original project, which includes task dates, time, comments, files, and more.

Note

Project templates are available in English, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Turkish, Japanese, Portuguese, Czech, French, Korean and Russian. If you'll create a template using any other language, the template will be in English.

Limitations with CSV files

There are specific limitations to expect when importing or exporting a project as a CSV file. They won’t include:

Completed tasks

Completed tasks won’t be included when exporting a project as a CSV file. If you need these to be in the file, and you don’t need all task attributes, use the Export to Google Sheets extension. This CSV file excludes labels, deadlines, comments, attachments, and reminders, but it allows you to include your project's completed tasks.

Start date of a recurring date

When exporting a project, the start date of a recurring date won’t be saved in the CSV file. For example, if you have a task that will recur every year starting January 31 and you export the project as a CSV file with that task, the task's date will be changed to every year.

Get in touch

If you’re still having trouble with formatting, importing, or exporting a CSV file for Todoist, get in touch with us. We—Rikke, Marija, Dermot, and any of our other teammates—will take a look at your file and get this sorted out for you.