Migrate from Basecamp to Microsoft Project

Basecamp Projects map one-to-one to Microsoft Project files (MPP) or Project Online projects. We preserve the project name, description, archived status, and membership list. If migrating to Project Online, the project becomes a Project site; if migrating to desktop, it becomes an MPP file. The customer's admin decides whether projects map to a single shared enterprise project or individual MPP files based on their license tier.

Basecamp To-do Lists map to Microsoft Project summary tasks. The summary task name is the To-do List name; its start date defaults to the earliest To-do due date within the list, and its finish date to the latest. We preserve the ordering of To-dos within the list via the WBS sequence. If Microsoft Project is used offline in MPP format, each To-do List becomes a row-2 summary row with child rows for the contained To-dos.

Basecamp To-dos map directly to Microsoft Project tasks. Task Name, Start date (from due date if set, otherwise project start), Finish date (from due date), and Completion status (percent complete = 100 if checked, 0 if not) migrate. Assignees from Basecamp map to the task's Resource Names field if a resource pool is provided; otherwise they migrate as a custom text field. Notes on the To-do migrate as Task Notes. Because Basecamp has no subtasks, every To-do lands as a leaf-level task.

Basecamp Schedule Events map to Microsoft Project tasks with the Start and Finish datetime preserved. All-day events from Basecamp map to task Start = event date and Finish = event date. If the schedule event has an assigned person, we add them as a resource on the task. Recurring schedule events in Basecamp create one task per occurrence unless the customer requests a summary task with a recurrence note.

Basecamp Message Board threads do not have a direct Microsoft Project equivalent. We attach the thread title and full body as a Project Note if the thread is project-level, or as a Task Note if the thread references a specific To-do List or To-do. Comment hierarchies are flattened into a single text block with author attribution and timestamp preserved inline. Thread structure is not reconstructable as separate tasks in Microsoft Project.

Basecamp Documents export as HTML content with embedded images. We convert the HTML to a PDF and attach it to the corresponding Project in Microsoft Project, or link it to a SharePoint document library if the destination uses Project Online with SharePoint integration. Image attachments within documents are extracted, re-hosted as separate files, and linked back to the document. The document author and creation timestamp are preserved in the file properties.

Hill Chart progress in Basecamp is a numeric value (0-100) per To-do representing the position on the hill curve. Microsoft Project has no equivalent native field. We map this to a custom Number field (Number1 by default, configurable) on the task record. The value transfers as-is. The hill curve visualization itself cannot be reproduced because it is Basecamp-proprietary. Customers reviewing this data in Microsoft Project see a numeric progress number, not the S-curve chart.

Files attached to To-dos, Messages, or Documents are downloaded from Basecamp via the API and re-attached to the corresponding task or project in Microsoft Project. We handle the file type, size, and naming convention. If migrating to Project Online with SharePoint, files land in the project SharePoint document library and are linked back to the task. If migrating to MPP desktop format, files are embedded or linked via OLE depending on file type and size.

Basecamp Comments on To-dos, Messages, and Documents are appended to the corresponding Task Note or Project Note as a timestamped, author-attributed block. We preserve the comment body, author display name, and timestamp. If multiple comments exist on one To-do, they are ordered chronologically within the Note field. Comments are not stored as separate tasks in Microsoft Project.

Basecamp users who are members of a project become Microsoft Project resources. We map by email address. If the destination Microsoft Project instance has an enterprise resource pool (Project Online or Project Server), we match users to existing resources by email. If no match exists, we create a resource record with the user's name and email. Guest collaborators who are not Basecamp-billed users are flagged separately for the customer's admin to assign as resources or leave unassigned based on whether they need task visibility in the destination.