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How to Find the Project Online Task Notes Field for OData Reports

Chanuka Geekiyanage Oct 9, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user is trying to locate and extract the Project Online task Notes field for reporting purposes in Power BI or Excel using the PWA OData connection.

Where Is the Project Online Task Notes Field Stored for OData Reporting?

Product: Microsoft Project Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Building reports in Power BI or Excel using the Project Web App (PWA) OData data feed.
Observed behavior: The task Notes field is visible within the Project user interface but is entirely missing and inaccessible when queried via the PWA OData API.

Before you start

Verify that you have administrator or report-builder access to your Project Web App (PWA) environment, as you will need permissions to configure enterprise custom fields or modify API queries.

Solution 1Recommended

Use an Enterprise Custom Field for OData Reporting

Since the native Notes field is intentionally excluded from the OData feed by Microsoft, creating a custom text field is the most reliable and officially supported workaround for reporting.

The native Notes field supports rich text and large data volumes, which can cause performance issues in reporting tools. Mapping your required notes to a plain text custom field ensures the data flows smoothly into Power BI and Excel via OData.

Navigate to PWA Settings

Create a Custom Field

Under the Enterprise Data section, click on 'Enterprise Custom Fields and Lookup Tables'. Click 'New Field' to create a new task-level field.

Configure Field Properties

Name the field something identifiable like 'Reporting Notes', set the Entity to 'Task', and the Type to 'Text'. Ensure it is configured to allow multiple lines of text if necessary, then save the field.

Update Reporting Workflows

Instruct your project managers to input critical reporting notes into this new custom field instead of the default Notes section. Refresh your OData feed in Power BI or Excel to pull the new custom field.

Use an Enterprise Custom Field for OData Reporting

Best Practice: Using a plain text custom field not only makes the data accessible in OData but also prevents rich HTML formatting issues when rendering reports in Power BI.

Solution 2

Query the Tasks CSOM API Endpoint

If you absolutely must extract existing data from the native Notes field programmatically, you can query the Client-Side Object Model (CSOM) API instead of the OData feed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Project Online OData API exclude the Notes field?

Microsoft Project Online OData feeds are optimized for performance and structured tabular reporting. Complex, multi-line, or rich-text fields like Notes and Predecessors are intentionally excluded from the OData schema to prevent performance degradation and formatting issues during data refreshes.

Can I get rich text formatting from the Notes field to display correctly in Power BI?

Even if you retrieve the Notes field using the CSOM API, the data is often returned containing raw HTML tags. You will need to use Power Query functions or custom DAX formulas to strip the HTML tags and render the text cleanly in Power BI.

Will Microsoft add the Notes field to the PWA OData feed in the future?

Currently, Microsoft has not announced plans to expose the native Notes field through the PWA OData connection. Users are advised to adopt the Enterprise Custom Field workaround for any data that must be included in automated reporting.

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