Microsoft Project Migration Template for .mpp Files
Move your Microsoft Project schedules with a plan, not a prayer. This template sequences a 30-day move of your .mpp and Project XML files into Onplana: inventory and stakeholder sign-off, collecting and cleaning the files, staging import, reconciliation and pilot UAT, then the production import. It ships with a pre-logged risk about legacy custom-field mapping, so the most common surprise is already on your radar.
Moving SharePoint sites, Microsoft 365 mailboxes, a file server or other data, rather than project schedules? Use the data migration cutover plan.
No credit card. Opens as a real project on the Free plan.
The spreadsheet is a 10-task plan with phases, durations and milestones, ready for Excel or Google Sheets. It carries no dates, so set your own start, or paste it into the Gantt chart generator to have the schedule built for you. Want to compare the plans side by side first? Every one of them is on the project plan template page, with the rows shown before you download.
The Microsoft Project file (.xml) is the same plan with its dates worked out: every task is scheduled from Monday 4 January 2027. Open it in Microsoft Project, or open it free in Onplana Schedule, the desktop app that edits Project files without Microsoft Project.
What’s inside
The full Microsoft Project migration plan is below, all 10 tasks across Audit, Data Prep, Import, Validation, and Cutover, each with its description, duration, and priority. Open the template and every date is scheduled from today, ready to compress or extend around your go-live window.
10
Scheduled tasks
5
Phases
2
Milestones
~4
Weeks end to end
How to run the move with this plan
A Microsoft Project migration rarely goes wrong at the import itself, the tooling reads .mpp, .mpx, Project XML, XER, Excel and CSV cleanly. It goes wrong at the two edges: an incomplete inventory going in, and an unreconciled result coming out. This plan front-loads both. The Audit phase counts every project, task, resource, and enterprise custom field before anything moves, and the Validation phase forces a reconciliation and pilot UAT gate between the staging import and the production cutover, so you catch a broken field mapping in staging instead of in front of your PMO on cutover day.
The one CRITICAL task is the production import, and everything before it exists to de-risk it. The staging-ready milestone at day 15 is your checkpoint: if the reconciliation counts do not tie out, task counts, planned hours, assignees, dependencies, you fix the mapping and re-import before promoting, not after. The plan ships with a pre-logged risk about legacy custom fields, because formula-based and enterprise-resource fields are the single most common surprise in a Project migration and they can need manual recreation. Surfacing that on day one is what keeps the 30-day timeline honest.
This plan is built to move a portfolio in a controlled month rather than a panicked weekend. Small portfolios finish faster; large PMOs usually run the Validation phase longer and that is the right place to spend the extra days. The five phases hold either way, Audit, Data Prep, Import, Validation, Cutover, with a hard staging gate in the middle so nothing reaches production unchecked.
The plan, phase by phase
Audit2 tasks
Inventory source projects + custom fields
Count of projects, tasks, resources, enterprise custom fields.
Identify stakeholders + sign-off owners
Program sponsor, PMO lead, per-portfolio project managers.
Data Prep3 tasks
Collect the exported .mpp and Project XML files
One file per project, from wherever they were saved. Stash them in a secure shared folder.
Clean + normalize source data
Drop canceled projects, fix orphaned tasks, deduplicate resources.
Map custom fields to Onplana equivalents
Field-by-field mapping doc, sign-off from PMO before import.
Import1 task
Run staging import + smoke test
Import into staging org. Spot-check 10% of projects.
Validation2 tasks
Reconcile staging vs source (counts + totals)
Task counts, planned hours, assignees, dependencies.
UAT with 3 pilot project managers
Each PM walks through their portfolio. Log + fix issues.
Cutover2 tasks
Run production import
Full import into prod. Freeze source edits for the window.
Decommission read-only access to MS Project
Flip source system to read-only, notify users, update SSO.
Milestones
Staging-ready and production-cutover land on the timeline as diamonds on the Gantt chart, the two checkpoints that gate the migration, nothing reaches production until staging ties out.
Staging ready
Day 15 of the plan
Production cutover
Day 28 of the plan
Frequently asked
Does this template import my actual .mpp files?
The template is the cutover plan itself, the tasks, phases, and milestones that take you from inventory to production import. The importing happens inside Onplana, which reads .mpp and Project XML natively, preserving tasks, dependencies, milestones, custom fields, and costs. The plan tells you when to run each import and what to check afterwards.
How long does a Microsoft Project migration take?
This plan schedules a 30-day cutover: about a week of audit and data prep, a staging import in week 2, reconciliation and pilot UAT in week 3, and the production cutover in week 4, with staging-ready and production-cutover milestones built in. Small portfolios finish faster; large PMOs often run the validation phase longer. Either way, the structure stays the same.
What about enterprise custom fields and resources?
The plan dedicates a task to field-by-field custom-field mapping with PMO sign-off, and it ships with a pre-logged risk: legacy MS Project custom fields that use formulas or enterprise resource types may not map cleanly and can need manual recreation. Surfacing that risk on day one is exactly what keeps a cutover on schedule.
Why is there a staging import before production?
Because a migration you cannot verify is a migration you cannot trust. The staging import lands your data in a non-production org where you reconcile counts and totals against the source and run UAT with three pilot project managers, each walking their own portfolio. The staging-ready milestone at day 15 is the gate: only once staging ties out do you run the production import. It is the difference between finding a field-mapping gap on your schedule and finding it on cutover day.
Is this the right template for a SharePoint, Microsoft 365 or server migration?
No. This plan moves project schedules: .mpp and Project XML files, with their custom fields and resources, out of Microsoft Project and into Onplana. For moving an estate, such as SharePoint sites, Microsoft 365 (Office 365) mailboxes, file shares or servers, use the Data Migration Cutover template, which runs the move in waves with delta syncs behind a gated pilot.
Start with the plan already built
Open the Migration from MS Project template free and your phases, tasks, and milestones are scheduled before the kickoff meeting. No credit card, no time limit.