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Fix Blank Project Online Custom Fields in Project Center
Question details
The user needs to fix an issue where enterprise custom fields in Project Online show no data in Project Center, despite displaying correctly in the Project desktop application.
- Product
- Project Online / Project Desktop
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Viewing enterprise custom fields in Project Center after creating or updating them in the desktop client.
- Observed behavior
- The custom fields appear completely blank in Project Center instead of displaying the calculated or entered values seen in the desktop client.
Ensure you have the necessary permissions to open, save, and publish enterprise projects from the Project desktop client to your Project Web App (PWA) environment.
Force Recalculation and Republish from Project Desktop
Use the F9 key in the Project desktop client to force the recalculation of enterprise custom fields before saving and publishing the project back to Project Online.
When new enterprise custom fields are created, existing projects in Project Online do not automatically calculate and display these fields in Project Center until they are manually updated via the desktop client.
Launch the Project desktop application, connect to your Project Online environment, and open the specific enterprise project where the custom field is missing data.
Press the F9 key on your keyboard. This forces the application to recalculate all formulas and enterprise custom fields for the current project.
Go to the 'File' menu, click 'Save' to save your local changes, and then click 'Publish' to push the updated data and recalculated fields to Project Online.
Navigate back to Project Center in your web browser and refresh the page to confirm that the custom field now displays the correct values.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do custom fields show values in Project desktop but remain blank in Project Online?
Project Online relies on the published data from the desktop client. If a new enterprise custom field is created but the project is not recalculated and republished from the desktop app, the Project Center database won't have the updated values to display.
Will I need to press F9 every time I update the project?
No. Once the enterprise custom field is initially recalculated using F9 and published, the field will update automatically during normal project edits, provided you continue to save and publish your changes.
What if pressing F9 doesn't fix the blank field issue?
Ensure that the custom field formula is correct and doesn't contain calculation errors. Additionally, check if the field is mapped correctly in the Project Web App (PWA) settings and that your current Project Center view is configured to display that specific enterprise custom field.
Can I recalculate multiple projects at once in Project Online?
No, to properly calculate desktop-level custom fields for the first time, you must open each existing project individually in the Project desktop client, press F9, and publish them one by one.
