Use Excel 2013 to create a new Project Online report

You can use Microsoft Excel 2013 to connect to your Project Online data and create reports. Once the reports are created and saved to Project Online, you can view them in Excel Web App.

 Important    Before following the steps in this article, it is important that you grant reporting access in Project Online first. This is a one-time setup step that will allow your reports to refresh properly in Excel Web App.

This article walks you through creating a data connection between Excel 2013 and your Project Online data, to show a list of your projects using a PivotTable report. You can do much more than this with Excel 2013 and an OData connection to your Project Online data, but since you’re just getting started, we’ve kept this example simple and straightforward.

The following steps are covered in this article:

Step 1: Create a connection to your Project Online data in Excel 2013

The first step is to create a connection in Excel 2013 that points to your Project Online data.

To create a connection to your Project Online data in Excel 2013:

  1. Open a new, blank workbook in Excel 2013.
  2. On the Data tab, in the Get External Data group, click From Other Sources > From OData Data Feed.
  3. Under 1. Location of the data feed, in the Link or File box, type the URL for your Project Web App instance, followed by: /_api/ProjectData/

For example, if you access Project Web App at https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/pwa, then you should enter https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/pwa/_api/ProjectData/ in the Link or File box.

  1. Log in using your Microsoft Office 365 credentials.
  2. On the Data Connection Wizard dialog box, select the check box next to Projects, and then click Next.
  3. On the Save Data Connection File and Finish step, click Finish.
  4. On the Import Data dialog box, select PivotTable Report, and then click OK.

That’s it! Now you are connected to your Project Online data.

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Step 2: Choose data to include in your report

Next, you need to choose which portions of the Projects data you want to include in the report, and then design the report itself. In this very simple example, you will choose two data points: project names, and the names of the project owners.

To build a simple PivotTable report:

  1. On the PivotTable Fields pane on the right side of the Excel 2013 window, select the check boxes next to ProjectName and ProjectOwnerName.
  2. Use the options on the Analyze and Design tabs, under PivotTable Tools on the ribbon, to customize your PivotTable report.

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Step 3: Save your report to Project Online

Once your report is built, the last step is to save it to Project Online, so that you can easily bring it up later using Excel Web App.

To save a PivotTable report to Project Online:

  1. In Excel 2013, click File.
  2. Click Save, then click Microsoft, and then click Browse.
  3. In the bar at the top, where your current location is listed, right-click the URL, and then click Edit address.
  4. Type the URL for your Project Web App site in the location box, and then press Enter.

For example, type https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/pwa, and then press Enter.

  1. Scroll down in the list and double-click Business Intelligence Center, under Sites and Workspaces.
  2. Double-click the Sample Reports library.
  3. Double-click the English (United States) folder.
  4. Type a name for your new report in the File name box, and then click Save.

After saving the report to your Project Online Business Intelligence Center, close the report in Excel 2013. Now you can navigate to it in your browser and open it using Project Online.

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Step 4: Open your report in Project Online

Once your report is saved to Project Online, you can navigate to the Business Intelligence Center and then open your report using Excel Web App. This enables you to view your report, with the most recent project data, from anywhere with access to Project Online.

To open your report in Excel Web App:

  1. In Project Web App, click Reports on the Quick Launch.
  2. In the Business Intelligence Center, click Site Contents on the Quick Launch.
  3. Under Lists, Libraries, and other Apps, click Sample Reports.
  4. Click English (United States).
  5. Click the name of your report to open it in Excel Web App.

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Applies to:
Project Web App for Project Online