How to Create a Project in Asana (2026 Guide)
To create a project in Asana, click the + button, choose New project, decide between a blank project or a template, name it, pick a default layout, and assign it to a team. Here’s the full walkthrough for 2026, including the layout options and the free-plan limits worth knowing before you start.
1. Start a New Project
There are two quick ways in:
- Click the orange + button in the top bar (the Create menu) and choose Project.
- Or hover over Projects in the left sidebar and click the + that appears.
Asana then asks how you want to start:
- Blank project builds an empty project you structure yourself.
- Use a template starts from a prebuilt layout (marketing campaign, product launch, editorial calendar, and dozens more), with sections and sample tasks already in place.
- Import spreadsheet turns a CSV into tasks if you’re migrating from a sheet.
Pick Blank project if your workflow is unusual, or a template if it matches a common pattern. You can always build your own reusable template later.
2. Name the Project
Give it a name that reads clearly in the sidebar and in search. Specific beats clever:
- Good: Q3 Website Redesign, 2026 Hiring Pipeline, Content Calendar - Blog
- Vague: Stuff, New Project, Tasks
You can rename a project any time by double-clicking its name at the top of the project, or from the project’s Customize menu.
3. Choose a Default Layout
Asana projects support four core layouts, and you can switch between them from the view tabs at the top of any project at any time. The “default” you pick here is just what opens first.
| Layout | Best for |
|---|---|
| List | Task lists with sections, custom fields, and quick inline edits |
| Board | Kanban-style workflows where tasks move through columns (To Do, In Progress, Done) |
| Timeline | Gantt-style scheduling that shows task durations and dependencies |
| Calendar | Deadline-driven work where you want to see tasks on dates |
A few notes for 2026:
- List and Board are available on every plan, including the free Personal tier.
- Timeline and Calendar views are available across plans, though some advanced timeline features (like the Gantt-style dependencies and critical path) are richer on paid plans.
- Switching layouts doesn’t change your data. The same tasks just render differently, so you can manage in List and present in Timeline.
See the deep dives on Board view and Calendar view for how each one works in practice.
4. Assign the Project to a Team
In the new-project dialog, choose a team from the dropdown. The team controls who can discover the project and where it lives in the sidebar.
- If you’re on the free Personal plan, you have one workspace and a limited number of collaborators, so team structure is simpler.
- On paid plans you can have multiple teams (Marketing, Engineering, Ops) and place each project under the right one.
If you don’t want anyone else to see the work yet, you can keep the project private (next step) even while it sits under a team.
5. Set Privacy
Asana projects have two main privacy states:
- Public to your team: anyone on the assigned team can find, open, and join the project. This is the default for collaborative work.
- Private to members: only people you explicitly invite can see the project. Use this for sensitive work like hiring, performance, or finance.
Set this in the project-creation dialog, or change it later from the Share button in the top-right.
6. Invite Members
Once the project exists:
- Click Share in the top-right corner of the project.
- Type teammates’ names or email addresses.
- Asana adds them as project members, so they get notified of project-level activity and the project shows in their sidebar.
- Click Copy project link if you’d rather drop the link into Slack or email.
Project membership is different from being a task collaborator or a task assignee. Members see the whole project; collaborators follow specific tasks.
Free Plan Limits to Know
Before you spin up dozens of projects, the free Personal plan caps collaborators per workspace and limits some advanced features (reporting dashboards, custom fields at scale, the most advanced Timeline tools). Full details are in Asana free plan limits. Layouts themselves (List, Board, Timeline, Calendar) are available, so the free plan is plenty for getting a project off the ground.
Quick Reference
| Step | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New project | + button or sidebar + | Blank, template, or import |
| Name | Top of project | Specific and searchable |
| Layout | View tabs | List / Board / Timeline / Calendar, switchable |
| Team | New-project dialog | Controls discovery |
| Privacy | Share menu | Public to team or private |
| Members | Share button | Project-wide access |
Let Carly Set Up the Repetitive Projects
Spinning up a project is fast; keeping it fed with tasks from email, meetings, and other tools is the slog. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps including Asana and handles that follow-through on triggers, turning emails into Asana tasks, creating and assigning tasks after meetings, and setting up recurring work so a new project doesn’t start empty. Carly plans start at $35/month.
More on Asana: How to create a template in Asana · How to use Board view in Asana · How to use Calendar view in Asana · Asana integration
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
