Useful Tip on How to Copy Microsoft Project Tables Between Projects
Microsoft Project’s settings are automatically set to copy any new tables to the global template. However, although the global template makes these tables available to all projects, it is very easy for your global template to become cluttered with old data which you rarely use. Instead, you can turn off the Microsoft default setting and copy a table manually.
Sometimes, tables that schedulers have spent time creating are complex. For example, an Earned Value Management (EVM) analysis table which may be required in another project. So how do we do this without cluttering the global template? How do you create and save these complex tables and copy them between projects? Let’s take a closer look.
First, we need to update Microsoft Projects’ default settings. By selecting File, Project Options and Advanced we can uncheck ‘Automatically add new view, tables, filters, and groups to the global.’ See the diagram below.
Now our global template will remain uncluttered and we can manually copy our Microsoft Project tables between projects.
In our ‘Pier Pilings v6.mpp’ project above, we need to save the EVM table in our schedule to use in another project called ‘ MANUFACTURE-2.mpp, project’
By selecting the View tab, in the data ribbon, we can select ‘Tables’. From the drop-down box we use ‘Save Fields as a New Table’ and we create a new name for the table, ‘Table EVM’ and Ok it, as above.
When we return to our ‘Pier Pilings v6.mpp’ project our ‘Table EVM’ has been saved and is ready to be copied to our new ‘ MANUFACTURE-2.mpp’ project.
We open our ‘ MANUFACTURE-2.mpp, project’ click on ‘More Tables’ and select ‘Organizer’,
By clicking on the ‘Tables’ tab and selecting ‘Tables available in’ our ‘Pier Pilings v6.mpp’ project we can see our ‘Table EVM’. By highlighting our ‘Table EVM’ we can copy it into our ‘ MANUFACTURE-2.mpp’ project, as above.
When we open our ‘MANUFACTURE-2.mpp’ project, under ‘More Tables’ we can see our ‘Table EVM.’
By highlighting ‘Table EVM’ and clicking apply our table appears in our ‘MANUFACTURE-2.mpp’ project as shown above.
Summary
By turning off Microsoft’s automatic setting to copy tables globally, schedulers can copy tables manually which they have created between projects. By doing this, the global template area will remain uncluttered. By creating complex tables which can be used and copied between projects, schedulers can customize tables to suit their individual needs. It is also possible for schedulers to copy filters and reports between projects.