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Import, update, and export bulk work items with CSV files in Azure Boards

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Azure DevOps Server 2019

Export work items in bulk using CSV-formatted files. Although Excel can still be used for bulk imports and updates, the native export feature from Queries enables you to manage work items without relying on Excel. For more information, see Bulk add or modify work items with Excel.

Prerequisites

Permissions:

  • Export work items: Member of the Project Administrators group or View project-level information permission set to Allow.
  • Import work items: Member of the Project Administrators or Team Foundation Administrators security group.

Export list as a CSV file

From any query, you can export a list of work items as a comma-delimited list. Open the query, select the actions icon, and then select Export to CSV.

Note

Requires Azure DevOps Server 2019 Update 1 or later version.

Screenshot showing Export a query as CSV.

Import HTML fields

HTML fields, such as descriptions and acceptance criteria, include rich text formatting. To ensure this formatting is preserved, do the following tasks:

  1. Ensure your CSV file includes HTML tags within the relevant fields.
  2. Import the CSV file into Excel.

Excel might handle multi-line text fields differently, so it's important to check the formatting after import. Replace lines ending in CRLF by surrounding sentences with <p>... </p>.

For example, you can import the following work item, which includes three lines of text in the Description field.

Work Item Type,Title,Description
"Product Backlog Item","Hello World Web Site - 8","<p><strong>&nbsp;You can include bold text</strong></p><p><em>&nbsp;And italic text</em></p><p><u>&nbsp;Underline text</u></p>"

Convert multi-line fields to plaintext

To disable HTML in multi-line fields to ensure that they're plaintext, use the witadmin changefield command. For more information, see Manage Work Item Fields.

Example command:

witadmin changefield /collection:CollectionURL /n:FieldName /type:PlainText

Handle formatting inconsistencies

When you work with HTML fields across different Microsoft products, you might encounter formatting inconsistencies. Here are some tips to handle these issues:

  • Review the formatting after importing to ensure it meets your requirements.
  • Use appropriate HTML tags and structures to minimize discrepancies. You can add multiple tags separated by a semicolon. For more information, see Tasks you can and can't do with Excel.

For more information on managing HTML content and ensuring compatibility, see Provide help text, hyperlinks, or web content on a work item form.