How to: Work Offline in Microsoft Project

  • Article

You can work on work items in Microsoft Project offline, and then reconnect to Team Foundation Server to publish your changes.

Note

When you are working offline, Microsoft Project will not warn you if you enter values that are not supported. For example, in the MSF for Agile Software Development process, when a bug is active, it can only move to the resolved state. When you are working offline, Microsoft Project enables you to set an active bug to closed. This will cause a validation error when you publish your changes.

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must be a member of the Contributors group or have the View work items in this node and Edit work items in this node permissions set to Allow. For more information, see Team Foundation Server Permissions.

To work on a project plan offline

  1. Create or open the project plan that you want to work on offline.

    For more information, see How to: Create a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project File from a Work Item Query.

  2. Refresh the project plan to make sure that you have the latest information.

    For more information, see How to: Publish or Refresh Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project.

  3. Disconnect your computer from the network, or copy the project plan file to another computer that is not connected to Team Foundation Server.

    Note

    You might receive an error message that states that a connection with Team Foundation Server could not be established. Ignore this message.

  4. Change the project plan, as needed.

    For information about reconnecting the project plan, see the procedure "To reconnect a project plan after working offline."

To reconnect a project plan after working offline

  1. Reconnect your computer to the network, or copy the project plan file back to a computer that is connected to the Team Foundation Server.

    For more information, see How to: Connect to Team Foundation Server.

  2. Publish the project plan.

    For more information, see How to: Publish or Refresh Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project.

  3. If there are any data validation errors or conflicts, resolve them.

    For more information, see How to: Resolve Data Conflicts in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project File from a Work Item Query

How to: Connect to Team Foundation Server

How to: Publish or Refresh Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project

How to: Resolve Data Conflicts in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project