5 ways to automate ClickUp with Zapier

As a task tracker and to-do app, ClickUp is a nifty tool that helps even the most absent-minded individual organize their to-dos into one central dashboard. Whether you use it for your own standalone tasks or to keep your whole team organized, it's a lifesaver for managing projects. 

But what happens if you need to import information (like project briefs or task requests) into ClickUp from your other apps? Sure, you can copy and paste information manually—but that's time-consuming and error-prone. 

Instead, you can use Zapier to create automated workflows (called Zaps) to streamline the whole process. From receiving automatic notifications to sharing tasks with your team, here's how automation can help.

Table of contents

• Create ClickUp tasks from other apps

• Send notifications for tasks

• Add tasks to other to-do or task apps

• Attach files from other apps to ClickUp

• Use webhooks with ClickUp

Create ClickUp tasks from other apps

There's no need to manually add tasks to ClickUp from all your other apps if you're using ClickUp to track your own work or as your team's project management software. Use Zaps—Zapier's automated workflows—to easily create tasks from your forms, calendar, email, chat app, or spreadsheets.

Automating the creation of tasks from these apps helps ensure you don't miss important tasks, no matter how many different channels you're using for a project.

From forms

You don't want to miss any of the information or important follow-ups you get through your form-builder apps. You might use forms to engage with leads, gather client information, or get communications from within your own company. Automation adds every new form response directly to your task list.

From calendar events

Do you need to follow up on new invitees for a calendar event, prep for upcoming meetings, or simply track your schedule in your project management app? Use these automated workflows to add all the important information from your calendar directly to your to-do list.

From email or a chat app

A lot of our most urgent tasks come from our email or chat apps. Use automation to instantly add any important communications to your task list. You can set a Zap so that emails are added as tasks when you star them in your email app. You can also simply add new inbound emails or Slack messages in specific channels to your task list automatically.

From a spreadsheet or database app

We often use spreadsheets to track or log the progress of a project. Automate your spreadsheets so that you have new tasks created every time one of your project spreadsheets is updated. You can also use a Zap to add follow-up tasks to your list when your colleagues or clients add new rows to a spreadsheet or records to a database.

Send notifications for tasks

You often need to keep collaborators informed of project progress or let them know when you've set, changed, or completed a specific task. By automatically sending a notification when you change the status of a task in ClickUp, you can easily keep teammates in the loop without any extra effort. Keep projects on track across teams or easily pass the baton to the the next person with one of these Zaps:

Add tasks to other to-do or task apps

If you need to automatically add ClickUp tasks to other to-do lists or task apps, you can do that too. These Zaps are helpful for keeping different task lists reliably in sync.

These workflows will be especially helpful if you're working with teams, clients, or individuals that use a different task management app. Automatically adding your new tasks to their list keeps everyone on the same page without having to fight over tools. 

Freelancers can also use these workflows to consolidate their client's tasks in their own list.  But they're also perfect for anyone who wants to share tasks between a work list and their personal task tracker. 

Attach files from other apps to ClickUp

When it comes to seeing a project through to the finish line, you and your team depend on a lot of resources. From briefs to project plans and meeting notes to design files, having all the necessary documents organized and accessible in ClickUp is key to success. 

The only problem? Those resources aren't always easy to find. One team member might share a file in a Slack thread, for example, or your design team might drop files in Google Drive or Dropbox. To avoid constantly switching apps in search of what you need, automation can fill in the gaps. 

Use these Zaps to automatically add new files from the rest of your tech stack straight to the relevant tasks in ClickUp: 

Use webhooks with ClickUp

If you need even more flexibility with your ClickUp workflows, a webhook may do the trick. 

Creating a Zap that uses webhooks will help you connect to apps that Zapier doesn't currently integrate with. It also makes it possible for you to connect your ClickUp account to any proprietary software you or your clients are using. With webhooks, your automation possibilities are endless.

Manage your projects more thoroughly with automation

The biggest thing you need from your productivity apps is thoroughness. You need to know that you aren't missing a single task or failing to follow up on any important pieces of your project. Automation makes your ClickUp account infinitely more useful by ensuring you and the people you're working with always have the information you need.

This article was originally published in September 2020 by Krystina Martinez, with previous updates by Wren Noble. It was most recently updated in July 2024 by Elena Alston.