Upload excel file into Teams Planner App

Question

Hello,

I need to determine how I can upload an excel file into my Teams Planner App. I followed the Automate use steps, but it states that the file is too big. Help.

Answer 1

Hi @CABRINI SCOTT,

According to your concern, maybe you have mistakenly used the wrong connector, so your file exceeds the storage limitation and returns a "file too bid" error:

• If your flow correctly uses Excel Online (Business) which is the normal choice for work/school Microsoft 365, the maximum Excel file size supported is 25 MB.
• If your flow accidentally uses Excel Online (OneDrive) instead, that connector is for personal Microsoft accounts and has a much smaller max file size as 5MB only.

Therefore, please ensure you select the correct connector based on your account type and your Excel file does not exceed its storage limitation. Moreover, I personally suggest following the steps in this article which provides a very detailed guidance on how to import an Excel file into Planner How to import tasks from Excel into Planner | The Training Lady

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I hope this information will help. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.    

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Answer 2

Planner itself does not import tasks directly from an Excel file, and the error about the file being too big comes from the upload limits of the service or connector being used (for example, Power Automate or the underlying SharePoint/Teams file storage).

To work around this:

1. Reduce the Excel file size so it can be uploaded/processed:
   • Remove unnecessary sheets, images, and formatting.
   • Split the workbook into multiple smaller files (for example, by date range or project segment) and import each part separately.
   • Follow the guidance to reduce the workbook's file size and then retry the import/flow.
2. If the issue is viewing or handling the file in Teams/SharePoint:
   • If the workbook exceeds the file size limit for the Microsoft 365 subscription, it cannot be viewed in the browser. Download it and open it in the desktop Excel app instead, then reduce/split it and re-upload.
3. If using Power Automate to create Planner tasks from Excel:
   • Point the flow at a smaller Excel file (after splitting or reducing it).
   • Run the flow multiple times, once per smaller file, until all rows are imported as tasks.

Planner has no built-in “upload Excel to Planner” feature; all imports rely on Excel files that must stay within the size limits of the connected services (Teams/SharePoint/OneDrive/Power Automate). Reducing or splitting the workbook is required when the “file too big” error appears.

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References:

• File size limits for workbooks in SharePoint