Migrate from Project Online
in 5 steps
Onplana includes a built-in migration wizard that imports your projects, tasks, dependencies, resources, and costs. Most migrations complete in under a day.
Project Online Migration: The Complete Guide
Timeline, the five real migration paths, pre-migration checklist, step-by-step process, cost analysis, common pitfalls, and post-migration validation. Vendor- neutral comparisons throughout.
Bring In the Project Online Data You Exported
Format by format: what each export carries, how to validate it, how it imports into Onplana, and what to do if you exported nothing.
New here? Start with why teams switch from Microsoft Project to Onplana. Already evaluating dedicated replacements? See Onplana vs OnePlan. Just need to open a .mpp file? Use Onplana Schedule, our free Windows and Mac app.
Looking at the full 2026 picture? Onplana's Microsoft retirements 2026 hub maps every Microsoft sunset that hits PMOs this year, with deadlines, impacts, and the migration path for each.
Buy through Microsoft? The Onplana Migration Tool is on Microsoft Marketplace (starts free), so you can add it on your existing Microsoft billing.
Watch the import happen
A real Microsoft Project file imported into Onplana, tasks, dependencies, resources, and costs preserved.
Export from Project Online
Two export methods are supported. Choose the one that fits your setup.
Native .mpp upload
Upload your .mpp files directly from Microsoft Project. Onplana's parser reads the binary format server-side, no XML conversion step needed. Works with Microsoft Project 2007–2024 (.mpp).
Project XML export
Open each project in Microsoft Project and use File → Save As → XML Format (*.xml). Upload the resulting file to Onplana's migration wizard. Works with Microsoft Project 2007–2024 (MSPDI XML).
Upload to the migration wizard
Navigate to the Migration Wizard in Onplana and upload your file.
File upload
Drag and drop your project file. We support .mpp (Microsoft Project binary), .xml (MSPDI), .mpx, .xer (Primavera P6), ProjectLibre .pod and GanttProject .gan files (for teams who already left Microsoft Project for a free tool), and Excel / CSV spreadsheets, up to 50 MB. Onplana parses the file server-side and extracts tasks, dependencies, resources and costs. Imported into a new project, a .mpp or Project XML file's baseline comes across as a baseline in Onplana. The file's working calendar does not: the project uses your organization's working calendar. A spreadsheet WBS keeps its hierarchy: outline levels, dotted WBS codes, parent columns and indentation are all understood.
Finance data preserved
Cost columns travel with the schedule. Planned Cost, Fixed Cost, Baseline Cost, and project Currency Code (e.g. EUR, GBP, USD) are all captured automatically. The total planned-cost rollup auto-populates Project.budget on import with source IMPORTED_MPP, so earned-value reports work out of the box. When 80% or more of tasks carry cost, the EVM engine uses your imported values directly, no rate-card setup needed first.
Map fields
The field mapper shows you every column from your source and lets you map it to an Onplana field, custom field, or skip it.
Auto-mapping
Standard fields (Task Name, Start, Finish, Duration, Work, Resources) are mapped automatically. The importer recognizes all standard Microsoft Project field names.
Custom fields
Enterprise Custom Fields (ECFs) from Project Online are mapped to Onplana Custom Fields. You can create new custom field definitions on the fly during mapping.
Preview and validate
Review a side-by-side comparison of source data vs imported data before committing. Fix any mapping errors.
Task preview
See every imported task with its status, priority, assignee, and dates. Spot and correct outliers before importing.
Dependency check
Onplana detects circular dependencies and orphaned successor links, common in large Microsoft Project plans, and flags them for review.
Go live
Commit the import, invite your team, and run Onplana in parallel with Project Online until you're confident.
Invite team
Send invite links directly from Onplana. New members join with the right org role and project membership pre-assigned.
Parallel running
Keep Project Online active while your team settles in, most teams run parallel for 2–4 weeks before fully cutting over.
Want to follow along inside the product? The docs have a step-by-step import guide covering .mpp upload, XML, XER and spreadsheets.
What gets migrated
Onplana supports all standard Microsoft Project fields out of the box.
✅ Fully supported
- Projects (name, dates, budget)
- Tasks + subtasks (all standard fields)
- Task dependencies (FS, SS, FF, SF + lag)
- Resources / assignees
- Milestones
- Baselines (baseline 0, into a new project)
- Enterprise Custom Fields (ECFs)
- Work breakdown structure (WBS)
⚠️ Partial / manual
- SharePoint document libraries
- Resource rate cards (re-enter in Onplana)
- Views and filters (recreate in app)
- Timephased data (aggregated)
- Risk registers (export separately)
- Issues lists (export separately)
❌ Not migrated
- Email alerts/reminders (recreate)
- Power BI reports (rebuild in Reports tab)
- Custom ribbons / macros
- VBA automation scripts
- Working calendars (the project uses your organization's)
Five controls that keep this reversible
A migration is only as risky as the point of no return. Every step below is designed so you can stop, check, and turn back before that point arrives.
Check the plan before you touch anything
The Schedule Health Check reads an exported .mpp or Project XML file and reports what it carries: logic, constraints, baselines and the gaps. It writes nothing and needs no account, so it is safe to run before any decision.
Check a schedule freeYour source files stay untouched
Imports read your .mpp and XML exports. The originals are never modified, so the files you archived remain your fallback copy.
Preview an importPreview every mapping before it commits
Field mapping is shown and editable before anything is written, including how custom fields and lookup tables land on the other side.
Read the field-by-field guideRun both systems in parallel
Keep Project Online and Onplana side by side until the team trusts the new one. The usual gotcha is status divergence, and it is manageable when you plan for it.
Plan the parallel periodWrite the rollback plan first
Decide the go or no-go criteria and the way back before cutover week, not during it. A written plan keeps reversing course cheap.
Structure the rollbackValidate before you decommission
Check the migrated data field by field while the old tenant is still alive. Decommissioning is the only genuinely irreversible step.
Run the validation passPressure-test the migration with your own data
Three free tools, no signup or credit card. Run them against your real Project Online tenant or .mpp files before you commit.
Pre-migration inventory
Discover every project, custom field, view, automation, and Power Platform integration before migration day.
Run inventory checklistPreview your import
Upload a real .mpp file. See exactly what would land in Onplana, task fidelity, dependencies, costs, custom fields.
Preview a .mpp importEstimate full migration cost
Three-year breakdown across licenses, parallel running, training, integrations, and cleanup. Calibrated to your seat count.
Calculate costPatterns from early migration teams
Common observations from PMOs running the migration playbook in 2026. Specific customer quotes are added as they're cleared, we don't put words in mouths.
"The field mapper handled 90% of our enterprise custom fields automatically. The 10% that needed manual mapping took an afternoon."
Mid-sized enterprise PMO migrating 12 active programs
"The dependency cycle detector caught three pre-existing circular references in our largest schedule before we imported. Saved us debugging that in production."
Construction PMO with 4,500-task master plan
"Running parallel for four weeks gave the executive team confidence. By week three the AI risk detection was flagging issues we used to find in monthly review."
IT services org with 25-project portfolio
Recommended migration timeline
Allow at least 3 months for a safe migration with validation and team onboarding.
Evaluate & plan
- Sign up for free
- Import 1–2 pilot projects
- Review field mappings
- Get stakeholder sign-off
Migrate & validate
- Import all projects
- Validate data accuracy
- Configure teams + roles
- Set up automations
Run parallel
- Train your team
- Run both systems side-by-side
- Resolve edge cases
- Freeze Project Online changes
Full cutover
- Switch all workflows to Onplana
- Archive Project Online data
- Cancel Project Online license
- Enjoy a modern platform
A file per contractor, one project
Programmes rarely arrive as one file. A construction schedule comes in as a plan per contractor, a plan for equipment, a plan for the fit-out, each maintained by someone else and each exported separately. Import the first one as usual, then import each of the others into that same project rather than a new one.
Every task is tagged with the file it came from, so you can still tell one contractor's branch from another after they are side by side. That is the point of merging them: dependencies you could not draw while the plans lived apart, and the contradictions that only show up once they do. An equipment delivery that lands after the activity that installs it. The same crane booked twice. Procurement lead time that quietly eats every day of float.
Importing is additive today, so a revised file from the same contractor is appended rather than matched against the version you already have. Matching a re-import to the branch it came from is a separate piece of work.
How to combine several schedule filesMigration FAQ
Deep-dive guides
Long-form playbooks for every step of the migration, from cost modelling and pre-migration inventory to the new Microsoft 365 surfaces (Planner, Project for the Web, To Do).
90-Day Project Online Migration Plan
Six-phase, 12-week plan for PMOs with weekly checklists and gate exit criteria.
Read guide35-Item Pre-Migration Checklist
The inventory admins routinely miss before shortlisting destinations.
Read guideMigration Cost Breakdown
Full 3-year cost across six categories, license, labor, parallel op, training, integrations, cleanup.
Read guideStep-by-Step Migration Guide
Inventory, export, mapping, pilot, validation, cutover. 12-week template.
Read guideWhy Most Migrations Fail
The 5 mistakes PMOs make and how to avoid each one before kickoff.
Read guide9 .mpp Compatibility Checks
Pre-migration audit nobody runs, surfaces fields that won't map cleanly.
Read guideCFO-Proof Business Case
How to frame migration spend so finance approves on the first review.
Read guideMigrate Microsoft Planner
One-click import + optional live sync via Microsoft Graph webhooks.
Read guideImport Project for the Web Premium
Dataverse-backed importer that brings dependencies + effort + resources across.
Read guideMicrosoft To Do Bi-Directional Sync
Per-user mirror of assigned tasks to phone, watch, and Outlook.
Read guideProject Online vs the New Planner
What changed across Microsoft's consolidated PM line.
Read guideMicrosoft Project Alternatives 2026
Full market roundup, Onplana, Monday, Asana, Smartsheet, Jira, Wrike.
Read guideThe Rollback Plan
Structure the cutover so reversing course stays cheap until you have go-live confidence.
Read guideThe date has passed
Project Online has retired. What can still be recovered?
The service is gone and the reporting feed with it, so anything that reads Project Online live no longer works. What you exported beforehand is unaffected and still imports in full. If you exported nothing, the practical question is what your organisation kept elsewhere.
What stopped
- The Project Online service itself, and the Project Web App site your PMO signs in to.
- The OData reporting feeds, which is what Power BI dashboards built against Project Online read.
- Onplana's Estate Assessment and its live OData import, because both read that same feed.
What is unaffected
- Every .mpp and MSPDI XML file you exported, forever. Our file import reads the bytes and never contacts Microsoft.
- Microsoft Project desktop, which is a separate product and is not part of this retirement.
- Project Server Subscription Edition, Planner and To Do, also outside the scope of it.
- Anything already imported into Onplana, which stopped depending on Project Online the moment it landed.
- The Power BI and Excel reports themselves, if you re-point them. Onplana serves a read-only OData feed under the same ProjectData entity and column names, on every plan, so a report is re-pointed rather than rebuilt. Columns Project Online had and Onplana does not are the mapping work that is left.
If you did not export in time
Check for exports taken by someone else before the date, and for .mpp files sitting on project managers' machines, which is where most organisations turn out to have more than they expected. Any of those import in full. Where a project exists only as a Power BI extract or a spreadsheet, our Excel and CSV import will take the task list, though the dependency structure will not be in that data to recover.
Which PMO are you?
The retirement is the event. The practice is what moves.
Project Online retired on September 30, 2026. The .MPP and XML files you exported still import with dependencies, custom fields and costs, including baseline cost, and the practice you are rebuilding is the same one: demand intake, stage gates, resource capacity, baselines, earned value, and the audit trail behind them.
- Aerospace & defense
- Government & public sector
- Banking, financial services & insurance
- Energy & utilities
- Pharma & med-tech
- Healthcare & telecom IT
Does your PMO bill time?
Microsoft’s answer for you is Project Operations, at $135 a user a month.
If your Project Online estate exists because somebody invoices the hours in it, Planner Premium is not where you are being sent; Dynamics 365 Project Operations is, and that is a Dynamics implementation rather than a migration. Onplana runs the schedule, the timesheets and the rate cards on every plan, and Onplana Services adds the clients, the pipeline, the quotes and the margin at $24 per seat.
Start your migration today
Create a free account, open the migration wizard, and import your first project in minutes. No credit card required.
No Microsoft account needed, choose "Continue as guest".