There is no Smartsheet connector, importer or sync in Kavanah. The route is the one most tools use: export a sheet, save it as CSV, and import it into a new project, where Kavanah reads columns by their names. It moves the heart of a task list, each row's task, owner, status and date, and leaves the spreadsheet parts of Smartsheet behind. Start by deciding which sheets should move at all.
1. Pick the Sheets That Should Move
Sort your sheets into two piles. Task lists, where each row is a piece of work with an owner, a status and a due date, move well. Sheets that run on formulas, cell links and cross-sheet references, or that feed reports and dashboards, are spreadsheets doing spreadsheet work, and Kavanah has no formulas. Keep those in Smartsheet or move them to another spreadsheet, and move the task lists.
2. What Smartsheet's Export Leaves Behind
Smartsheet exports to Excel, Google Sheets, PDF, and, for sheets with a Gantt chart, Microsoft Project XML. Its help article says groupings, summary rows and attachments are excluded, and formulas are not preserved in Excel or Google Sheets exports because the formula syntax differs. Comments land on a separate tab in an Excel export. Dropdown, contact list, checkbox and symbol columns export as text, checkboxes as True or False, and a Gantt chart exported to Excel brings only its task list. Owners, admins and editors can export.
3. Match the Columns Kavanah Reads
Open the Excel file and save the sheet as CSV. Kavanah reads headings such as Task Name for the title, Assigned To or Owner for the assignee, Status, Due Date, Priority, Description and Tags, keeping only the first tag. Check the header row and rename any column that is spelled differently. A row with no task name is skipped. Each import takes up to 1,000 rows, so split bigger sheets. Imported into a new project, each status becomes a board column and assignees are matched to members by name or email, so invite your team first.
4. Rebuild Hierarchy and Predecessors
Kavanah's import does not read Smartsheet's row hierarchy, predecessors, formulas or attachments. Every row with a task name becomes its own task, so indented parent rows arrive as ordinary tasks beside their children. After the import, turn each parent row into a parent task with sub-tasks, and set the predecessors that matter as dependencies (blocked by / blocks). Recreate the custom fields your reports filter on, and rebuild Smartsheet automations as Kavanah automations.
5. Run the Import, Keep the Original
Send the CSV to the task import API with a project name, from a script or the kvn command line, or for a small file attach it in chat and ask the agent to import it. Read the import report, invite anyone whose name matched no member, and reassign. Keep the original sheet: attachments and formulas stay there, and Smartsheet's help article suggests a sheet backup rather than an export if you need the attachments. Run one planning cycle in Kavanah before you reduce Smartsheet seats.
A Smartsheet migration goes well when you move the task lists and leave the spreadsheets. For the full comparison of Kavanah, Smartsheet, monday work management and Asana, see our Smartsheet alternative page.
