How to Import Subitems in Monday.com (2026 Step-by-Step Guide)

Why Monday.com Can't Import Subitems Natively

Monday.com has a built-in CSV import feature, but it only supports creating top-level items in a board. If you try to import a file that includes subitems — tasks under projects, line items under orders, contacts under clients — monday.com simply ignores the hierarchy and either fails or creates everything at the parent level.

This is a well-known limitation that affects teams trying to:

• Migrate data from another project management tool (Asana, Jira, Trello) that has a task/subtask structure
• Import from a spreadsheet that has a parent/child hierarchy
• Re-import a monday.com board export that includes subitems
• Bulk-create a project template with predefined subitems under each parent item

The workaround teams resort to — creating subitems manually one by one — is time-consuming and error-prone. That's exactly why we built Monday.com Inspector.

The Solution: Monday.com Inspector

Monday.com Inspector is a free, open-source Chrome extension that adds an inline panel to every monday.com board page. Its Import tab handles what monday.com can't: creating subitems under the correct parent items in bulk, from a CSV or Excel file.

Key capabilities for subitem import:

• Flat CSV import: Map a "parent" column (by item name or ID) and a "subitem name" column — the tool finds or creates each parent and adds subitems beneath it.
• Monday.com export re-import: Upload a monday.com XLSX board export directly. Groups, parent items, and subitems are all preserved automatically.
• Full column support: Import status, people, date, timeline, dropdown, checkbox, text, numbers, link, phone, email, and rating columns — for both parent items and subitems.
• Live progress tracking: Real-time progress bar with percentage, ETA, rows/sec rate, and per-row status (success / error / pending).
• No row limits: Import thousands of subitems in one operation. Rate limit handling and automatic retry built in.

How to Import Subitems in Monday.com: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Prepare your CSV file

Your CSV file needs at minimum three columns:

1. Parent Item — the name (or ID) of the parent item the subitem belongs to
2. Subitem Name — the name of each subitem
3. Any other subitem columns you want to populate (status, assignee, date, etc.)

Here's an example of a valid flat CSV format for subitem import:

Parent Item,Subitem Name,Status,Assignee,Due Date
"Website Redesign","Write homepage copy","Working on it","Alex Johnson","2026-04-15"
"Website Redesign","Design mockups","Done","Jordan Smith","2026-04-10"
"Website Redesign","Developer handoff","Not started","","2026-04-20"
"Mobile App v2","Fix login bug","In Progress","Taylor Brown","2026-04-12"
"Mobile App v2","Update UI components","Not started","Alex Johnson","2026-04-18"

Step 2: Install Monday.com Inspector

If you haven't already, install the extension from the Chrome Web Store:

After installing, you'll be prompted to enter your monday.com API token. You can find this in monday.com → Profile (avatar) → Admin → API. The token is stored locally in your browser and never sent anywhere except the monday.com API.

Step 3: Open your monday.com board and the Inspector panel

Navigate to the monday.com board where you want to import subitems. Click the Monday.com Inspector icon in your Chrome toolbar (or press the extension shortcut). In the popup, click Open Inspector Panel. The panel slides in on the right side of your board.

Step 4: Upload your file and map columns

In the Inspector panel, click the Import tab. You'll see a drag-and-drop upload area. Drop your CSV or Excel file onto it, or click to browse.

Once the file is uploaded, the tool will display the Column Mapping interface:

• For flat CSV files: Select which column identifies the parent item and which column is the subitem name. Then map remaining columns to board columns.
• For monday.com board exports (XLSX): The format is auto-detected. Parent items and subitems are identified automatically. You just confirm/adjust the column mappings.

The tool auto-matches columns with the same name. For columns that don't auto-match, use the dropdown to select the correct board column.

Step 5: Start the import and track live progress

Click Start Import. You'll see a live progress view with:

• A percentage progress bar that updates in real time
• Counts of succeeded, failed, and remaining rows
• An estimated time remaining (ETA) based on current processing rate
• A rows/sec rate indicator
• A scrollable row-by-row list showing the status of each item (✓ success, spinner in progress, ✕ error)

If any rows fail, the error message is displayed next to each row so you can identify and fix the issue. You can re-run the import for just the failed rows after fixing the data.

Supported Column Types for Subitem Import

Monday.com Inspector supports all writable subitem column types. Here's how to format your CSV data for each type:

Read-only column types (formula, mirror, auto-number, dependency, board_relation, creation_log, last_updated) are automatically excluded from the mapping interface — you don't need to worry about them.

Tips for a Successful Import

• Use exact status label names. Status column values must match the label names in your monday.com board exactly (case-insensitive). Check your board's status column settings to see the available labels.
• For people columns, use the person's full name as it appears in monday.com. The tool matches by name automatically. If a name doesn't match, the person column will be left empty for that row.
• For timeline columns, the format is YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD. If your spreadsheet has separate start date and end date columns, combine them into one column with this format.
• Test with a small batch first. Before importing 1,000 rows, test with 10–20 rows to make sure column mappings and data formats are correct.
• Importing from a monday.com export? Just upload the XLSX file directly — no reformatting needed. The tool auto-detects the monday.com export structure.
• Parent items must exist or be imported together. If you're using flat CSV import and the parent items don't exist on the board yet, use the "Create parent items" option to create them during the same import.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

Looking for more monday.com import and automation resources? These guides cover related topics: