What Asana exports leave out: comments, history and attachments

Which Asana export formats exist, and what does each carry?#

Asana exports come in a few shapes, and the shape decides what survives. A project CSV is a spreadsheet: one row per task, with columns for fields such as name, assignee, dates, section and description. A spreadsheet has no natural place for a thread of comments or a sequence of status changes, so those are the first things to look for when you open the file.

Richer routes exist for admins and developers. Asana super admins on Enterprise+ and legacy Enterprise tiers can request a full organization export as JSON, either text only or text plus attachments. The organization export API is limited to Service Accounts of an Enterprise+ organization, and the download link it returns may be valid for only an hour, so decide in advance who downloads the file and where it lands.

Why comment threads carry most of the value#

Asana comment threads carry the reasoning that a task list leaves out. In a consulting firm, the task says 'Draft current-state process map'; the comments show the client pushing back on scope, the engagement manager agreeing to drop a site visit and the partner approving a revised deliverable.

That thread is what a managing partner reaches for when a client disputes what was agreed, when a new manager inherits a stalled engagement or when the firm builds a playbook from past work. Losing it in a migration means keeping the what and discarding the why.

Comments also hold the most sensitive material in a workspace: client names, opinions about staff, pricing remarks and pasted emails. Note which projects carry client-confidential threads before any files start moving.

What happens to activity history in an export?#

Activity history in Asana is the trail of system events on each task: who reassigned it, when the due date moved, when it was marked complete and which section it was dragged into. A flat export records only the final state, so a task that slipped repeatedly looks identical to one delivered on schedule.

That final-state problem matters for operations reviews. Resource planning, utilization debates and post-engagement reviews depend on how work actually moved, not where it ended. If activity matters to you, confirm that your chosen route captures activity events, not just task fields.

History can also disappear before any export runs. Asana keeps deleted tasks, messages and projects in the Deleted view for 30 days, after which they cannot be recovered. On Enterprise+, or Enterprise with the Compliance add-on, admins can set a retention policy for inactive data anywhere from 6 months to 10 years, and data deleted by the policy can be undeleted only within 30 days.

How attachments travel, or fail to#

Attachments in Asana are either files uploaded to Asana or links to files that live in Google Drive, SharePoint, Dropbox or Box. The two behave differently: an uploaded file can travel with an organization export that includes attachments, while a linked file stays in its home system under its own permissions.

For a professional services firm, the linked files are often the deliverables themselves: decks, models and interview notes. An archive that keeps the Asana link but loses access to the shared drive is an archive of dead pointers.

• 1List which projects rely on uploaded files and which rely on cloud-drive links.
• 2For linked files, confirm the drive folders will outlive both the Asana subscription and any departing staff accounts that own them.
• 3Choose text plus attachments when requesting an organization export if uploaded files matter.
• 4Open a sample of exported attachments to confirm they are complete files, not placeholders.
• 5Record client-owned deliverables separately so they can be excluded from any later reuse.

A one-project test before you archive everything#

A one-project test is the fastest way to learn what your exports actually contain. Pick a closed project with long comment threads, reassigned tasks and uploaded files, then run every route you can reach against it.

• 1Export the project as CSV and note which columns appear.
• 2Run the richest route your plan allows: organization JSON, the API or a backup tool.
• 3Open three busy tasks in Asana and compare their comments, activity and attachments with each export.
• 4Write down each gap: missing comments, missing reassignments, links without files.
• 5Decide, project family by project family, which route closes the gaps.

Illustrative: a consulting firm closing its Asana workspace#

Illustrative: a fictional operations consulting firm is moving project delivery into a professional services automation tool and plans to cancel Asana. The operations director's first plan is to export every project as CSV and save the files to the shared drive.

The one-project test changes the plan. The CSV holds task names and dates, but the review comments where partners signed off on client deliverables are missing, and the engagement files are links into a drive owned by a partner who has since left. The firm's plan includes the organization export, so a super admin requests JSON with attachments, and IT moves the departed partner's folders to a firm-owned account.

The result is an archive the firm can search: structured JSON, uploaded files, linked deliverables in a firm-owned drive and a short index that flags client-confidential engagements. When the managing partner later asks whether any project records could be licensed, the index already separates firm know-how from client property.

Checks before you downgrade or cancel#

A downgrade or cancellation changes which export routes you have, so run the richest export first. Asana's help center says data is not deleted when an organization downgrades, but access to paid features is lost, and cancellation is governed by the Subscriber Terms or a separately signed subscription agreement.

How SourceX treats Asana history#

SourceX treats an Asana archive as project records whose value sits in the comments and activity, not the task list. In the Supply step of the SourceX five-step transaction, the fit check asks only for metadata: which project families exist, how many years they cover, which export route was used and what it missed. No files are shared at that stage.

If a package proceeds, the Rights step separates firm-owned working records from client deliverables and confidential engagements, and Preparation removes client names and personal details from comment threads. The SourceX Evidence Packet then records provenance, including the export route and its known gaps, alongside licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization.