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Import & Export

Importing Projects

Import Project modal with the drop zone for CSV/XML/MPP files

Milestone can import project data from external tools:

  1. Click Import in the project panel header
  2. Drag-and-drop or browse to select a file:
  3. CSV — Comma-separated values with columns for project name, phases, dates
  4. XML — Microsoft Project XML format (.xml)
  5. MPP/MPT/MPX — Microsoft Project native format (requires Java on the server)
  6. Milestone parses the file and shows a preview
  7. Click Import Project to create the project with all phases and subphases

After import, a summary shows the created project, phase count, and subphase count.

Supported Formats

Format Extension Requirements Notes
CSV .csv None Simple comma-separated values with project name, phase names, start/end dates
XML .xml None Microsoft Project XML format — preserves full hierarchy and metadata
MPP .mpp Java (JRE 11+) Microsoft Project native binary format — richest data preservation
MPT .mpt Java (JRE 11+) Microsoft Project template format
MPX .mpx Java (JRE 11+) Older Microsoft Project exchange format

Note

MPP/MPT/MPX file import requires Java to be installed on the server (included in the Docker image). CSV and XML imports work without Java.

What Gets Imported

  • Project name and metadata (start date, end date)
  • Phase hierarchy — top-level tasks become phases, nested tasks become subphases (unlimited nesting depth preserved)
  • Dates — start and end dates for all phases and subphases
  • Task names — preserved as phase/subphase names

Staff assignments, resource allocations, and custom fields from the source file are not imported — these are configured within Milestone after import.

Troubleshooting Import Issues

Problem Solution
MPP import fails with "Java not found" Java (JRE 11+) must be installed on the server. The Docker image includes it, but local development may not.
Phases appear flat (no nesting) The source file may not have task hierarchy. Check the WBS structure in Microsoft Project before exporting.
Dates look wrong Ensure the source file uses date formats that can be parsed (ISO 8601 or standard regional formats).
Large file takes too long Very large project files (hundreds of tasks) may take several seconds to parse. Be patient during the preview step.

Exporting Projects

To export a project:

  1. Open the project edit modal (click Edit or right-click then Edit)
  2. At the bottom of the modal, two export buttons are available:
  3. CSV Export — Compatible with Microsoft Project and spreadsheet tools
  4. XML Export — Microsoft Project XML format

The exported file includes the project hierarchy (phases, subphases), dates, assignments, and custom column values.

Site Excel Export

The Site Excel Export is a complete snapshot of everything that lives under one site — projects, users, equipment, skills, vacations, assignments, custom columns, bank holidays, and company events — bundled into a single multi-sheet .xlsx file. It is the canonical "everything for this site" backup format, useful for archiving, audit, or migration.

How to Export

  1. Open the Manage Sites modal from the sidebar admin section.
  2. Locate the site you want to export.
  3. Click the download icon (↓) next to the edit/pencil icon. Hover tooltip: "Export site data as Excel".
  4. The browser downloads site_<name>_<YYYY-MM-DD>.xlsx. Large sites may take several seconds to generate — the icon shows a spinner while the export is being built server-side.

Manage Sites modal — the download icon next to each site triggers the Excel export

What's in the File

Each kind of data lives on its own sheet, so the file opens cleanly in Excel, LibreOffice, or any spreadsheet tool:

Sheet Contents
Site Site metadata: name, city, country, region code, active flag
Projects All projects on the site with their phases and subphases (full hierarchy, dates, project manager, customer, completion %)
Users Users assigned to this site (name, email, role, job title, active flag)
Equipment Equipment items at the site, with type and active status
Skills Skills defined on the instance (name, color, description)
User skills User → Skill associations
Vacations All vacation entries for users on this site, including recurring patterns
Project assignments Staff assigned at the project level
Phase assignments Staff assigned at the phase level (with allocation %)
Subphase assignments Staff assigned at the subphase level
Equipment assignments Equipment booked against projects/phases/subphases
Custom columns Custom column definitions for this site (name, type, scope, options)
Custom column values Custom column values for every project/phase/subphase
Bank holidays Public and custom holidays on the site (with year)
Company events Company events configured for the site

Note

The Site Excel Export is restricted to Admins and Superusers. Superusers can only export sites they belong to — Admins can export any site.

Tip

Use this export before doing destructive operations (e.g. deleting a site, large bulk edits). The file is small enough to keep alongside regular database backups and is human-readable without needing to restore.