Import from Microsoft Project

Export your MS Project plan as CSV or XML and bring it into LoopGantt.

Microsoft Project stores plans in .mpp binary files, but it can export to CSV, Excel, and XML — all formats that can be converted to LoopGantt. This guide covers the two most practical paths: CSV export (simple) and XML export (full fidelity).

Option A — CSV export (quickest)

Step 1 — Export from MS Project

Open your project in Microsoft Project.
Go to File → Export → Save Project as File → Text (Tab Delimited).
In the Export Wizard, choose Task data and select these fields:Name, Duration, Start, Finish, % Complete, Predecessors, Notes, Priority, Outline Level.
Save as .txt (rename to .csv after saving).

Step 2 — Map MS Project columns

MS Project field	LoopGantt field	Notes
Name	Name	No change
Duration	Duration (Days)	Strip "days" suffix; round to integer
% Complete	Progress (%)	No change (0–100)
Predecessors	Dependencies	See conversion note below
Notes	Description	No change
Priority	Priority	500=medium, 1000=high, 0=low
Outline Level	Phase / task	Level 1 = phase; Level 2+ = task

Converting MS Project predecessor notation

MS Project uses row numbers for predecessors (e.g., 3FS means row 3, Finish-to-Start). You need to replace these with task names:

3FS → Task Name from Row 3 (FS)
5SS+2d → Task Name from Row 5 (SS+2)
7FF-1d → Task Name from Row 7 (FF-1)

For large projects, use the AI conversion method below to handle this automatically.

Option B — XML export (full fidelity)

XML export preserves dependency types, lag times, calendar exceptions, and outline structure. It's more complex to parse manually but ideal for AI-assisted conversion.

Step 1 — Export XML from MS Project

Go to File → Save As → Microsoft Project XML Format (*.xml).
Save the file.

Step 2 — Convert XML with AI

MS Project XML is verbose but well-structured. Paste it into an AI with the following prompt:

Convert this Microsoft Project XML export into a LoopGantt project plan JSON.

Rules:
- Tasks with OutlineLevel = 1 become phases (isPhase: true, durationDays: 0)
- Tasks with OutlineLevel >= 2 become regular tasks (isPhase: false)
- Summary tasks (IsSummary = true) always become phases
- Milestones (Milestone = 1 or Duration = 0) → isMilestone: true, durationDays: 0
- Dependency types: 0=FF, 1=FS, 2=SF, 3=SS (map to LoopGantt: FF, FS, SF, SS)
- LinkLag is in tenths of a duration unit (default: days). Divide by 10 to get lag days. If the file uses minutes as the duration unit, divide by 4800 instead
- % Complete → progress field (0–100)
- Priority: 500→medium, 1000→high, 0→low, 100→critical
- Strip phases from the dependencies array (phases cannot have dependencies)

Return only valid LoopGantt JSON. No markdown, no explanation.

[PASTE YOUR MS PROJECT XML HERE]

Step 3 — Import into LoopGantt

Save the converted output as my-project.json.
In LoopGantt, click Import → Import from JSON.
Select your file and click Import.

Large projects: MS Project files can have hundreds of tasks. If the AI times out or truncates the output, split your project into phases and convert one phase at a time, then merge the JSON arrays manually.

What doesn't transfer

Some MS Project features have no equivalent in LoopGantt:

Resource assignments (LoopGantt doesn't have resource management yet)
Cost tracking and budgets
Multiple calendars per task
Recurring tasks

Was this article helpful?