How to Migrate from Airtable to ClickUp Without Losing Data

Airtable works well when your projects are simple with tidy bases, organized tables, and manageable tasks.

But after a point, you notice views multiplying, fields getting messy, and automations clashing with each other.

As a last attempt, you may turn to external tools and integrations. Before you know it, your tool sprawl becomes unmanageable, and you’re part of the group of employees toggling between platforms more than 3,600 times a day. 

You can skip all this by just switching to ClickUp. 

In this guide, we’ll show you how to move your workflows from Airtable to ClickUp without losing any data, so your team, big or small, can stay productive and stress-free.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Why Teams Move from Airtable to ClickUp

Airtable is great when you’re just managing structured data, but as your team grows, you start needing more than rows and columns.

And that’s where the ClickUp vs Airtable difference becomes clear.

ClickUp is the world’s first converged AI workspace that combines project management, knowledge management, and chat—all powered by AI that helps you work faster and smarter.

Here’s what changes when teams connect Airtable to ClickUp:

• Organize work based on your workflow: Leverage Spaces for departments, Folders for initiatives, and Lists for actionable plans
• Tailor processes end-to-end: Use ClickUp Custom Fields to maintain structure while supporting real workflows across teams
• Switch between workflows instantly: Access ClickUp Views like Table, List, Calendar, Board, Timeline, Gantt, and Dashboard without leaving your workspace
• Manage execution and collaboration together: Work in a unified location with docs, tasks, comments, approvals, and shared assets
• Automate real processes: Set custom triggers and actions across your tasks, sprints, forms, and workload to eliminate repetitive work with its advanced automation tools

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Pre-Migration Checklist

Before you click that Export to CSV button to integrate Airtable with ClickUp, take a moment to set the foundation right. A little prep now saves a lot of cleanup and rework later. 

Here are the three checklist items before you move anything out of your Airtable database.

Identify workflows to migrate 

Start with the big picture: What work are you actually bringing over?

Most teams realize they’ve been housing old campaigns, paused experiments, and half-built bases that don’t need a new home in ClickUp.

Use this moment to:

• Check every base, table, and view you’re using today
• Mark which workflows are active, paused, or obsolete
• Decide what truly needs to migrate first
• Flag anything better archived or rebuilt from scratch in ClickUp

Clean Airtable data before export

Think of this as spring cleaning your workspace before moving to a bigger, smarter space. 🧽

Data that’s messy in Airtable will still be messy in ClickUp, except now it’s harder to fix after the import. Do these quick tune-ups:

• Standardize dropdowns, dates, names, and number formatting
• Remove duplicates, inactive records, and irrelevant history
• Convert linked records/rollups into plain values if needed
• Ensure primary fields are filled in

Set up your ClickUp Hierarchy

Now that you know what you’re migrating and it’s squeaky clean, give it a clear place to land. Unlike Airtable’s flat base structure, ClickUp’s Project Hierarchy gives you room to scale across departments.

Plan where each workflow fits after your Airtable and ClickUp integration process:

• Spaces for teams or major functions
• Folders for program categories
• Lists for specific workflows
• ClickUp Tasks/Subtasks for day-to-day execution
• ClickUp Custom Statuses and Custom Fields aligned to your new processes

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Step-by-Step: How to Migrate from Airtable to ClickUp

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to export from your Airtable account and set up your workspace in ClickUp. 🤩

Step #1: Export data from Airtable

Before importing your work into ClickUp, start by gathering the tables you want to migrate in Airtable. This could be:

• Base tables
• Linked records (they’ll export as text)
• Attachments (export links)
• Single/multi-select data
• Date fields
• Comments

❗ Note: The simplest export format is CSV for each table. Airtable also supports JSON exports, but CSV gives you the smoothest mapping experience in ClickUp.

Here’s how to export:

1. Open a table

2. Click View > Download CSV

3. Save each table separately

Now you’ve got your source data ready for the move.

Step #2: Prepare data for ClickUp

Before the upload, prepare your spreadsheet for import, especially if it has lots of linked data. 

Ensure that: 

• The file is saved as a supported format, such as .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .xml, .json, .tsv, .txt (or manually entered in the importer)
• Every row represents a task
• Include a Task Name column (ClickUp requires it)
• Column headings are unique
• Dates follow a standard format (like MM/DD/YYYY)
• Date and time entries are combined correctly if you want to import time values (e.g., 12/31/25 13:30 using 24-hour or 12-hour format like 12/31/25 03:30 am)
• Subtasks are in an organized record (one level supported during import)
• User emails for assignees are comma-separated and accurate 

❗ Note: ClickUp supports up to 10,000 rows per import batch. For files larger than that, break them into smaller groups.

Step #3: Import data into ClickUp

ClickUp Import makes it easy to bring your existing Airtable data into the platform, whether it’s stored in Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, TSV, or a TXT file. 

The newest version of the ClickUp Spreadsheet Importer supports more file types. It also lets you import into existing Lists, Folders, or Spaces and uses smart mapping (powered by AI and historical imports) to match your spreadsheet columns to the right ClickUp fields.

Follow these steps to move your spreadsheet into ClickUp smoothly:

Step #1: Open the Importer

1. Click your Workspace avatar > Settings
2. Go to Imports/Exports
3. The Select source of import page opens. In the Import from apps section, select Spreadsheet
4. Select the Space where your data should live

A new List named Spreadsheet Import is automatically created in the space you selected.

5. Drag and drop your spreadsheet, or upload it directly
6. Select your date format before continuing

Step #2: Map your Fields (Important)

Field mapping is the process of matching each column from your Airtable file to the right field in ClickUp when you import the data. Think of it like telling ClickUp: this column is the task name, this one should become a dropdown, or these emails are assignees.

The importer helps by auto-matching your columns to the most likely ClickUp fields. You’ll see two sides on the screen:

• Incoming Fields: Columns from Airtable (what you’re importing)
• ClickUp Fields: Where that data should go inside ClickUp (task fields or ClickUp Custom Fields)

What maps well from Airtable

❗ Note: Task name is required for every row, and statuses must exist in ClickUp before importing. Nested relationships and formulas from Airtable are not preserved. Additionally, Custom Fields can be created or mapped during import, but only supported types will work.

You need to: 

1. Review each match to confirm accuracy

2. Map Task Name since it’s the only required field

3. Select Add as new Custom Field if you need a field that isn’t in your Space yet

4. Invalid assignees (emails not in Workspace) can be:

• Kept as is
• Ignored
• Corrected before import

Step #3: Final review and fixes

You’ll see a preview of all tasks before confirming import. Use these tools:

• Search to find anything fast
• Filter Valid/Invalid rows to fix issues
  • Yellow = formatting fix needed
  • Red = invalid and won’t import
• Bulk actions like delete, download, or replace values
• Show/hide columns, sort, or filter to clean the dataset
• Click ‘Import into ClickUp’ to finalize

Then? Kick back and let the Airtable alternative handle the processing. Once finished, you’ll see your import listed in History, and all tasks will appear in the List you assigned.

Step #4: Rebuild views

If you’re moving to ClickUp just to recreate the exact spreadsheet you had in Airtable, you’re missing the whole point of the move. 😕

ClickUp Views give you the flexibility to visualize your database in ways that work for you. Here’s a table that compares how the views you used in Airtable translate into ClickUp. 

📌 Example: Say your content ops team just imported their editorial calendar from Airtable into ClickUp. You start in List View because it gives you that familiar spreadsheet-style layout to quickly confirm all your dates, categories, and assignments came through correctly.

Then, instead of leaving your workflow stuck in a table, you add a Calendar View, allowing writers and editors to instantly see publishing timelines and reschedule posts by simply dragging them to a new date.

To actually manage production, you switch to a Board View where content moves through stages like Draft > Review > Approved > Published with a quick drag-and-drop.

🚀 ClickUp Advantage: Missing your trusty rows and columns? The ClickUp Table View gives you that familiar spreadsheet you love from Airtable, but built directly into your workflows, so every row becomes an actionable task.

Step #5: Recreate automations and integrations

Airtable automations work for simple database events, but they stay inside the record and don’t really understand your process or content.

ClickUp Automations, on the other hand, are directly connected to your Tasks, Docs, Views, comments, sprints, and form submissions. 

To recreate automations in ClickUp, start by listing your current Airtable automations. Common Airtable triggers and their ClickUp equivalents:

• When a record is created ➡️ When a task is created in a List/Folder/Space
• When a record matches conditions (filters) ➡️ When conditions on multiple fields are met using ClickUp’s conditional automation process
• Send an email/notification ➡️ Send an email, post to a ClickUp Chat/Channel, or trigger a comment/mention on a Task

Once your basic ‘Airtable-equivalent’ automations are in place, layer in ClickUp Brain, the platform’s AI-powered assistant, to handle the thinking work you used to do manually.

Here’s one workflow automation example for you:

⚙️ Trigger: Status changes to ‘Ready for Review’

⚙️ Actions:

• Use ClickUp Brain to summarize the task (including comments, attachments, and linked docs) into a ‘Review Summary’ comment
• Auto-assign to the reviewer and set due date for +2 days

⚙️ Result: Your reviewer opens the task and instantly sees a clean, AI-generated summary instead of scrolling through history

And it doesn’t stop inside ClickUp. Integration Automations let you automate repetitive tasks across your favorite tools. For example:

• Update the Task status when a GitHub PR is merged
• Create ClickUp Tasks from new Google Calendar events
• Auto-send emails when blockers are removed

⭐️ Bonus: Beyond single-step AI actions, ClickUp AI Agents help you create always-on, intelligent workflows that actively manage work for your team.

Use Prebuilt Agents to handle common scenarios like watching meeting docs for action items. And when you need something tailored to your unique process, Custom Agents let you define your own rules and responses.

Step #6: Recreate Forms

If you use Airtable forms to collect submissions, you can recreate that setup with ClickUp Forms, but with more intelligence built in. 

Here’s a quick guide: 

1. Head to the Forms Hub or create a Form directly from a List, and your submissions will automatically convert into Tasks or Subtasks

2. Match your current Airtable structure using Custom Fields like dropdowns, dates, phone numbers, URLs, and more

3. Brand the form to your needs with a custom layout, theme, colors, and confirmation pages

4. Once live, share your form via a public link, embed it on your site, and review results through Tasks, Dashboards, or even ClickUp Brain

Step #7: Configure permissions and sharing

Once your data is live, lock down who sees what. ClickUp offers multiple layers of access:

• Workspace roles: Admin, Member, Guest
• Permissions across Spaces, Folders, Lists, and individual tasks: Full visibility or restricted
• Folder / List sharing: Internal or external
• Private tasks: For eyes-only workflows
• Protected fields: Limit who edits statuses, fields, and workflows

If you previously shared Airtable bases publicly, ClickUp offers alternatives:

• Public Share links
• Read-only dashboards
• Guest access on specific Lists

🚀 ClickUp Advantage: Make ClickUp BrainGPT your post-migration assistant. Once your CVs or sync workflows bring data into ClickUp, the AI-powered tool helps you clean, structure, and optimize it faster. 

You can leverage: 

• Enterprise Search to scan all your apps, imported tasks, docs, and Lists to trace and verify where Airtable fields ended up
• ClickUp Talk-to-Text lets you talk through how your Airtable views used to operate. BrainGPT converts your explanation into actionable suggestions for statuses, dependencies, or hierarchy refinements
• Contextual workspace AI that analyzes titles, descriptions, and assignees to spot duplicates, inconsistencies, or messy structure created during the import

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

What to Do After the Migration

Your Airtable data landing in ClickUp is only the first win. Now it’s about turning that imported information into organized, actionable workflows your team can rely on every day.

Here’s what you should do next. 👇

Build Dashboards for reporting

Use ClickUp Dashboards to get a high-level view of all your work. You can create your Dashboards using prebuilt templates or customize them by adding cards that track key metrics such as task completion, workload, timelines, and priorities.

It allows you to embed charts, add notes, and even export or share Dashboards (PDF or within ClickUp) to keep everyone aligned.

Create saved views for different teams

With your data in ClickUp, you can now replace everyone’s favorite Airtable ‘grid views’ with tailored ClickUp Views and saved filters.

For example, Customer Success might use a filtered Table View showing enterprise accounts grouped by CSM. Engineering could work from a Kanban-style Board View grouped by status, and Marketing gets a Calendar View focused on campaign dates.

Once a view feels right, save the active filters and sorting so people can return to that exact setup in one click. You can save filters privately or as Workspace filters, allowing multiple teams to share the same view without constantly reconfiguring it.

Use ClickUp AI to summarize imported content

Imported Airtable data often brings over long descriptions, bloated comment threads, and legacy notes. Use ClickUp Brain on tasks to quickly summarize descriptions and activity so new owners can understand context without reading the whole history.​

It can: 

• Summarize task descriptions and comment threads to quickly understand what matters without reading every detail
• Auto-generate action items from large docs or long-form text imported from Airtable
• Simplify dense content into easy-to-read updates that your team can act on
• Translate incoming data into 10+ supported languages for global collaboration
• Generate checklists to convert legacy notes into tasks and subtasks
• Refine text in comments, Chat, or Docs using/Slash commands 

If you migrate data or rich text into ClickUp Docs, use Ask AI to generate clean content and clarify confusing sections, or even pull out action items into fresh tasks. 

See how ClickUp Brain turns long updates into quick summaries. 👇

Set required fields, workflow stages, and data rules

A spreadsheet software lets you get away with half-filled rows, but ClickUp is where you tighten things up. Review your key Lists and decide which Custom Fields must be filled before work can move forward, such as Owner, Client, Estimate, or Priority.

Then, optimize your workflow with Custom Statuses so they reflect a real lifecycle instead of a vague To Do/Doing/Done.

To maintain data quality and enforce workflows, define required fields (e.g., due date, assignee, priority). This ensures key information is always captured when tasks are created or updated.

Here’s what John Strang, Marketing Operations, Vida Health, had to say about using ClickUp after Airtable: 

Document new processes inside ClickUp Docs

Finally, capture your new setup as living internal documentation.

Use ClickUp Docs to:

• Outline naming conventions, field definitions, and workflow rules
• Store SOPs and team guidelines so everyone’s on the same page
• Maintain a unified source of truth for onboarding new team members

Link these Docs directly to relevant Tasks or projects, making it simple for team members to access contextual instructions or project briefs. Use ClickUp Comments and @mention for real-time collaborations and keep documentation updated.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Airtable vs ClickUp: What Changes After Migrating?

When you move from Airtable to ClickUp, you’re essentially shifting from a data-first tool to a work-management-first platform. 

Here’s a clear side‑by‑side view of what actually changes when you pick the task management software.

🎥 Bonus: Here’s our roundup of the best project management apps.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Tips for a Smooth Migration

As you move from Airtable to ClickUp, a few thoughtful practices can keep things clean and save you a ton of headaches later.

Use these tips like a checklist. ☑️

• Audit data realistically: Review each table/field for usefulness, keeping only what’s actively used. If a field is blank or filled in less than ~ 60 % of records, consider dropping or archiving it
• Map relationships and dependencies: Document linked records, lookups, rollups, and automations to make it easier to rebuild logic after import
• Standardize naming and formats: Ensure consistent naming (e.g., ‘Client Name’ everywhere, not ‘Client’ in one place and ‘Name of Client’ elsewhere). Align date formats, dropdown values, and checkbox data as well 
• Run a small test import first: Upload 20-50 rows into a sandbox List, verify that names, dates, statuses, and assignees map correctly, especially Custom Fields and checkboxes
• Validate immediately after import: Use ClickUp’s import history and the manage imports tab to catch any errors (e.g., invalid dates, missing required fields) and fix them before proceeding
• Archive legacy data separately: If you have old records you don’t actively use, store them in read-only docs or a separate archive Space. That keeps your active workspace lean and performant

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Common Migration Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Here’s how to dodge common errors when moving to ClickUp.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Templates for Migrating Airtable to ClickUp 

Make your migration smoother with prebuilt project management templates that provide a consistent structure for transitioning Airtable workflows to ClickUp.

1. ClickUp CRM Template

Get free template

The ClickUp CRM Template gives you a ready-made sales workspace, structured for real pipeline execution. Instead of multiple Airtable views per table, you can instantly switch between List, Board, Calendar, or Dashboard views to see accounts by stage, owner, timeline, or upcoming actions.

And with customizable Custom Fields like deal size, probability, and next-touch dates, you get deal forecasting that updates as your reps update their tasks.

2. ClickUp Content Calendar Template

Get free template

The ClickUp Content Calendar Template brings tables, assets, and comments together into one living, interactive content hub. Drag and drop publish dates, shift priorities, and instantly see how campaigns stack up so your strategy stays aligned.

With Custom Statuses built for real editorial pipelines (Draft > Editing > Scheduled > Published) and Fields like Channel, Category, Publication Link, and Assets, reporting becomes automatic.

3. ClickUp Product Roadmaps Template

Get free template

The ClickUp Product Roadmap Template is an evolving strategic model where every initiative comes packaged with confidence scores, effort estimates, projected impact, quarter alignment, and release readiness. It uses 15 Custom Fields built for product prioritization frameworks like RICE.

Compared to basic Airtable templates, here, work progresses through 10 clear lifecycle Custom Statuses like Scoping > In Development > In QA Review > Released, so status meetings turn into status confirmations. Stakeholders can visualize the same priorities with different lenses using Quarterly Roadmap, Initiatives Board, and Impact Effort Whiteboard views.

4. ClickUp Inventory Management Template

Get free template

Airtable makes cataloging easy, but when inventory changes daily, you need live control. The ClickUp Inventory Management Template turns static records into a system that tracks supply, predicts demand, and triggers action, without building complex formulas.

Use the template to update quantities in real time, trigger threshold-based alerts the moment stock hits reorder level, and factor in supplier lead times to avoid delays impacting operations. Searching becomes smarter, too. Create reusable Filters to locate items by Seasonality, Sales priority, Category, Clearance status, and Department ownership.

5. ClickUp Project Tracker Template

Get free template

The ClickUp Project Tracker Template brings planning, execution, and progress monitoring together so you always know what’s on track and what needs attention right now. RAG health indicators let you instantly flag risks and take action to keep work moving. 

Built-in time tracking helps you compare effort against expectations. With Resource visibility, leaders can reassign or rebalance work on the spot to avoid overload and delays. And if you run repeatable projects? Simply duplicate the tracker as a baseline and you get consistent delivery every time.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Turn Your Data into Work That Moves

Airtable makes database building easy, but when teams need project execution, cross-functional visibility, and automation at scale, it falls short. 

If you’ve decided to migrate from Airtable to ClickUp, you’re giving every workflow owner accountability and automation. With ClickUp’s project hierarchy, flexible Views, robust Automations, and prebuilt templates, you can recreate your workflows, streamline collaboration, and add intelligence with AI features like ClickUp Brain and Autopilot Agents.

Sign up for ClickUp for free today! ✅

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

Sign Up Contact Sales