{"id":18,"date":"2026-05-21T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisegrid.co\/blog\/smartsheet-export-what-you-lose\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T16:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:23:23","slug":"smartsheet-export-what-you-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisegrid.co\/blog\/smartsheet-export-what-you-lose\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartsheet Export: What You Actually Lose"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Kramer<\/a>, founder of Wisegrid. Last updated June 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re leaving Smartsheet and you don\u2019t want to lose half your sheet on the way out, the answer is a lossless direct import<\/strong> \u2014 Wisegrid<\/a> reads Smartsheet through its own API and keeps your formulas, attachments, and hierarchy. The thing most people reach for instead \u2014 File \u2192 Export \u2192 Excel<\/strong> \u2014 feels safe but isn\u2019t lossless, and the gap between \u201cI exported my sheet\u201d and \u201cI have my sheet\u201d is where migrations quietly go wrong.<\/p>\n

The short version: a Smartsheet export gives you your data as it looked at that moment<\/strong>, not your sheet as a working system. Formulas come out as frozen numbers. Attachments don\u2019t come at all. Your dropdowns, RYG balls, and assignee columns flatten into plain text. Your Gantt chart becomes a list. One thing it does<\/em> keep \u2014 and that most guides get wrong \u2014 is your comments.<\/p>\n

This article walks the full inventory, sourced from Smartsheet\u2019s own export documentation, and uses it as the proof: every loss below is exactly what importing directly into Wisegrid is built to avoid \u2014 so \u201cexport to a dead Excel file\u201d isn\u2019t your only way out.<\/p>\n

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Key takeaways<\/strong> \u2013 Formulas don\u2019t survive export.<\/strong> You get the computed values, not the formulas \u2014 so the sheet stops recalculating. \u2013 Attachments, groupings, and summary rows are excluded<\/strong> from the export entirely. \u2013 Special column types flatten to text:<\/strong> dropdowns, contact\/assignee lists, checkboxes, and symbol (RYG) columns all export as plain text. \u2013 Gantt charts export as a flat task list<\/strong> \u2014 the timeline structure is gone. \u2013 Comments DO export<\/strong> \u2014 to separate tabs in the Excel\/Google Sheets file. Don\u2019t believe guides that claim otherwise; it\u2019s a common, repeated error. \u2013 A direct import avoids the loss.<\/strong> Wisegrid\u2019s importer carries over formulas (translated), attachments, hierarchy, and cross-sheet references \u2014 not a flattened snapshot. (It does not<\/em> migrate comments \u2014 see the honest note below.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n