Moving an Excel Project Tracker to Airtable: Kanban Views, Calendar and the Sync Catch

What the experiment actually did​

Writer Tony Phillips exported his Excel project tracker as a CSV and imported it into a new Airtable workspace. He expected "a nicer-looking spreadsheet". By his account he got something closer to a system builder that happens to start with spreadsheet data.

Everything below about the 500-task test is his firsthand report. It isn't a benchmark, and your results will depend on how clean your own data is.

The import: Airtable guesses your field types​

Before finishing the import, Phillips says Airtable showed a preview and suggested a field type for each column. After he accepted the suggestions:

• The Due Date column became a date field.
• The Name and Status columns became single-select fields.
• Status values such as Pending, In Progress, Complete and Needs Review appeared as color-coded pills.

Airtable's help documentation supports the general pattern. Its import flow includes an "Adjust your import" step where you can choose which fields to include. You can also turn automatic field-type selection and the first-row-as-headers option on or off. That is the right moment to check what the importer inferred.

Import routes and limits​

There are two routes, and they have different limits.

• Direct Excel import. Airtable's Excel import can create a new table in a new base; you create the base, then choose Microsoft Excel. The native import limit is 5MB for Excel files and 100MB for CSVs. Every sheet in the workbook is imported as its own table.
• CSV route. This is what Phillips used. Airtable also offers a separate CSV import extension, which adds records to an existing table or merges them into existing ones. Its documented limits are 25,000 rows and 5MB. The article doesn't say which tool he used, so don't treat those extension limits as the limits of his import. A 500-row tracker is well inside either.

If you want to keep a multi-sheet workbook structure, the direct Excel import is the more natural fit. If you want a plain flat table, a CSV works.

The silent-blank trap​

Airtable's documentation warns that an import can finish without an error and still leave cells empty. This mostly applies when you import into an existing table. Examples include:

• A date the field can't read.
• A select value that doesn't match an existing option, when the "create missing select options" setting is off.

The extension doesn't list skipped values in its summary. Airtable's advice is to compare a few imported records against your source file before you treat the import as complete. That is good practice for any migration, and doubly so for a tracker people will trust.

One table, many views​

The central point of the piece is that Airtable's views are windows onto one table, not copies of it. Airtable's documentation describes views as ways to look at and organize the underlying data in a table. The default is a grid, with form, calendar, gallery and Kanban views as alternatives. A table can have several of each.

Kanban​

Phillips created a Kanban view and chose Status for the columns. Airtable's Kanban documentation says stacks come from a single-select, collaborator or linked-record field. Linked-record fields work only when multiple links are switched off. Lookup, rollup, count and most formula fields can't be used.

So the setup he describes is a supported pattern. It does depend on Status being a single-select field, which is why the import's field-type step matters.

He then dragged TASK-0001 from Pending to In Progress. The column counts updated, and the Grid view showed the new status without any manual sync. That is the demonstration that the board and the grid read the same record. The specific labels and the drag test are his observations.

Calendar​

He also built a Calendar view driven by the Due Date field. He swapped the default task-ID labels for assignee names and descriptions, and noted that you can choose which date field drives the calendar when a tracker has more than one. He reports that clicking an entry opened the record for editing. Airtable's documentation confirms that calendar views exist, but it doesn't cover those specific label controls. Treat them as his observations.

The catch: it's a copy, not a connection​

This is the most practical part of the piece. A CSV import creates a separate Airtable copy of your data. Phillips reports that changes in Airtable didn't reach the Excel workbook, and workbook edits didn't reach Airtable.

Airtable's own documentation makes a similar point for Google Sheets. After a one-time import, changes in either place don't flow to the other. That is about Google Sheets, not Excel, so don't read it as an Excel-specific policy. But it shows how Airtable treats one-time imports in general.

Airtable does have a sync feature. It moves records between Airtable bases, not from an Excel workbook, and it requires a paid plan (Team and above). On a free plan, the documented options are copy and paste or CSV import. Neither carries over field-type configuration, so you have to set the field types yourself.

If you do need to keep updating from a spreadsheet, there is a documented way to update existing Airtable records from a CSV. A community answer on Airtable's forum describes it. The CSV import extension can merge rows into an existing table by matching on a chosen field. Airtable says that field should ideally hold a unique value such as an ID or an email address. Matching is case-sensitive, though leading and trailing spaces are ignored.

A task ID like TASK-0001 is a natural merge key, but that is my suggestion rather than something Phillips did.

Excel versus Airtable: different jobs​

Phillips is clear that he isn't declaring a winner. He still reaches for Excel for formulas, PivotTables, Power Query, reporting and analysis. Airtable, in his view, leans toward organizing information and working with it through views, forms, interfaces and automations. That's his opinion, not an objective ranking, and the sources here don't establish any performance, pricing or productivity advantage for either tool.

For Windows and Microsoft 365 users, the practical lesson is about workflow design:

• If your tracker is mostly calculation and reporting, Excel is probably still the right home.
• If it's mostly people moving tasks through stages and checking deadlines, a board and a calendar over the same records may suit it better.
• Many teams will end up with both, so decide which one is the source of truth.

A short checklist before you try it​

1. Clean the sheet first: a single header row, consistent status spellings, and consistent date formats.
2. Choose direct Excel import or CSV, and check the size limits (5MB for Excel files).
3. In the import preview, check that the types are right: dates as dates, and statuses as single-select.
4. After importing, compare a handful of records against the original to catch blank cells.
5. Create a Kanban view stacked by Status and a Calendar view on your date field.
6. Decide how updates will flow. If the workbook stays live, plan a repeat CSV merge on a unique ID, or accept that the two copies will drift.

Bottom line​

The story is a personal account, not a product launch. Its value is a clear picture of what happens when a classic Excel tracker meets a table-and-views tool. The Kanban and calendar views come from the same underlying records. The import saves effort but needs checking. And the copy-not-connection limit is the thing most likely to catch people out.