Can you copy / export workflows, conditional formatting and saved filters to other worksheet

We stated using Smartsheet back in November and I have a few active Smartsheet for projects and more we use it the more I find things I want to do across all sheets. If I add a workflow, conditional formation or saved filters to a sheet is there a way to export them and import them into another sheet? I know I can use a sheet as template for a new sheet but these are nice features I want to add to existing sheets. Right now I have been adding them manually.

Answers

  • Vicky Athersmith
    Vicky Athersmith ✭✭✭✭

    I have the exact same challenge Sean. We have introduced some new automated workflows that we want to use across nearly 30 existing sheets without having to manually recreate. I will share anything I find out and maybe we can come up with an answer/ solution between us ;-)

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @Sean Corcoran

    As a possible workaround, you could maybe use the Smartsheet API (untested).

    Is that an option?

    I hope that helps!

    Be safe and have a fantastic week!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • I am also looking today to copy filter's across sheets. I understand that If I copy (Save as New) an existing sheet, the filter's may copy over; however, I wish to copy the filters to other sheets already created.

  • According to the API docs....

    "Multistep workflows are not returned via the API. Instead, you'll see an error 400 - 1266: This rule is not accessible through the API. Only single-action notifications, approval requests, or update requests qualify."

    So, using the API to do anything with workflows is going to be kind of challenging because people are going to have more than single-step workflows. If you're going to invest the time to use the API, you need the API to handle everything, or it may not be worth the effort. However, if 95% of your workflows are single-step, go for it and do the 5% manually. That's better than doing 100% manually.

  • We'd appreciate the ability to save automation workflows and/or conditional formatting, and then apply them to new sheets. I'm working with a suite of a dozen sheets to refine ways of working, and we're constantly updating/iterating how they're set up. Once we get this group of sheets and users functioning we'll expand out to a few dozen sheets. These sheets will need to evolve over time, so even if we do a great job trialing one layout we know we'll want to make changes eventually.

    It would be fantastic if I could save custom workflow automations so that they could be applied to new or existing sheets. Better still if we could take that a step further to let us share them to a community, either within our own org or in this broader community of users. I'm not looking forward to the time to re-jig a shift to an automation for 30+ sheets.

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @melissa.g.mendez

    I hope you're well and safe!

    Great idea! That would be a great addition to Smartsheet features.

    Please submit this as a Product Feedback or Idea (If it hasn't been added already) when you have a moment.

    I hope that helps!

    Have a fantastic week & Happy New Year!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support the Community by marking it Insightful/Vote Up, Awesome, or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

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