15 min read

Migrating from Quip to Coda

A step-by-step guide for a smooth migration from Quip to Coda.

Bringing your team’s work from Quip into Coda should feel like moving into a space with a bit more room to think. Your documents, spreadsheets, comments, and @mentions come along for the ride. After they land in Coda, they’re ready to plug into stronger tables, automations, and Packs that help your team work faster and stay in sync. This guide walks you through the move from Quip to Coda, step by step. It highlights what's different in Coda, helps you focus on the few things that need your attention, and makes it clear what to do next, so you're never left guessing, even on your first import. Along the way, you'll avoid surprises and set up a clean foundation your team can build on. The goal is simple: a migration that feels organized, predictable, and quite possibly a bit satisfying.

What's covered

Preparation steps
Step-by-step import instructions
Import considerations

What you'll use

Quip Personal Access Token
Coda’s Quip Importer

Prefer to see the import in action? Start with the video walkthrough. When you’re ready, the step-by-step guide below covers everything in detail.

Before you import

Before you run your first import, take a moment and get oriented. This section helps you understand how Coda organizes content, confirm access and setup, and make a few small decisions that can prevent surprises later. A little preparation here goes a long way once your content lands in Coda.

Understand how Coda organizes your information

Quip and Coda both organize information, but the building blocks differ in meaningful ways.

In Quip:

The top-level container is a folder
Folders contain files (documents, spreadsheets)
Each file stands alone and behaves independently

In Coda:

The top-level container is a doc
Docs contain pages
Pages can contain subpages, and those subpages can contain deeper nested pages
Related content can live together in a single doc instead of across many separate files

Why this matters for your import

When you import a Quip folder into Coda, everything comes together in a single Coda doc. Each file becomes a page, and any nested folders become subpages. Nothing gets lost along the way. In other words, your structure stays intact, only the name changes. The upside is you now have much more flexibility to organize related content, keep work connected, and build workflows that live comfortably in one place instead of across scattered files.

Tip: Import related files together

If your Quip workspace has collections of files that naturally belong together, like project docs, planning materials, or meeting notes, import them as a folder. They’ll arrive together in Coda as a unified set of pages within a single doc, ready to use and easy to navigate.

Make sure you have the proper access

Before you start, confirm you have the proper access in both Quip and Coda. A quick check here prevents authentication issues later.

Quip Access: You can open the workspace or folders you’re importing (not as a Guest).
Coda Access: You’re a Doc Maker or Editor in your Coda workspace.
Quip Admin Configuration: Personal Access Tokens are enabled in the Quip Admin console.

If Personal Access Tokens are not enabled in your Quip Admin console, the import will fail during authentication. Please get in touch with your Quip admin to enable this feature before you start. Personal Access Tokens are sensitive credentials. Generate them only when needed, avoid sharing them, and revoke them in Quip after the import is complete.

Review your Quip content

A quick review of your workspace in Quip helps ensure that only the content you truly need moves over, and everything arrives organized and ready to use in Coda.

Decide what to keep:

Keep content your team still uses
Archive anything outdated
Note any documents with live apps
Flag large spreadsheets (around 50K rows) or folders with deep nesting

Then, tidy up your data:

Combine duplicate docs or spreadsheets
Clear out old or resolved comments
Spot-check internal links
Double-check permissions

Tip: Save a backup

Create a backup export from Quip (Settings → Export) before making structural changes to your workspace.

Document your current workflows

Take a moment to map out how your team actually works today. This makes it easy to rebuild important systems in Coda, and often, it’s the moment many teams discover opportunities to simplify or improve their processes. Consider noting:

Tools your Quip docs connect to, like Slack, Salesforce, or Jira
Documents that rely on live apps
Complex formulas, references, or calculated columns to recreate
“Power users” who rely heavily on specific workflows
Reminders, triggers, or automations your team uses

If you’ve completed these steps, you’ve earned a win and put your import on solid footing.

What content imports

The good news: everything you care about in Quip comes with you. Your content is imported in full, so you can pick up where you left off and make any refinements once it's in Coda. During import, Coda brings over:

Your document and folder structure as pages and subpages
Spreadsheets and tables with all data preserved as grids
Comments, along with author and timestamps
@Mentions and internal links between documents

In most cases, this means your content lands exactly where you expect it, already connected and ready to use.

User mapping

Coda also takes care of mapping people for you. During the import, users are matched to Coda accounts based on email addresses, so ownership, comments, @mentions, and person references stay intact. If a Quip user already exists in your Coda workspace with the same email address, Coda automatically links the imported content to that user. If a Quip user doesn't exist in Coda yet, Coda creates a placeholder using their email address. This keeps comments, mentions, and person fields intact even before the user joins. Once you invite that person to your workspace, Coda automatically replaces the placeholder with the real user and updates all references.

What doesn’t import

Before jumping in, here’s the scoop: a few Quip features don’t import one-to-one, and some styling will get a fresh look in Coda. None of these blocks your migration, and most of them take a moment to adjust. Why call it out now? Because knowing what won’t come over one-to-one makes the whole process more seamless. You’ll spend less time wondering “Is this supposed to look different?” and more time getting your workspace up the way your team works best. Here’s a rundown of what doesn’t transfer one-to-one and what to expect.

FILE columns in Project Trackers

Most column types in Quip’s Project Tracker import to matching column types in Coda. FILE columns are the exception. Quip’s API includes references to the files but not the file data itself. After your import, you can re-upload the missing files directly into Coda or convert the FILE column to a Link column that points to files stored in a cloud service.

Most live apps (beyond Project Tracker)

Aside from Quip's Project Tracker, live apps like Calendar, Kanban, Polls, Jirda, Progress Bars, and Salesforce embeds don't export the underlying data Coda needs to recreate them. What you'll see in Coda:

A clear callout appears where each live app was located
Your surrounding content stays fully intact

How teams usually rebuild these experiences:

Use Coda packs like Google Calendars, Jira, Salesforce, or Slack
Create Boards, Calendars, or Timeline views from tables
Replace polls with simple voting tables or buttons

Quip-specific integrations

Slack alerts, Jira mentions, Salesforce embed, and other Quip-native integrations don’t transfer. These integrations run through Quip’s internal integration layer and are not in the export data. To bring these workflows to Coda, you can:

Recreate them using Coda A utomations + Packs
Rebuild the logic directly in your doc using Coda’s powerful formula language
Or use this as an opportunity to streamline how the workflow works

Version history & personal notification settings

Version history, notification preferences, and other user-specific settings in Quip do not migrate. If you want to keep any earlier versions of your Quip doc, export them before you begin importing. In Coda, you'll have new ways to manage this going forward. Coda tracks changes, lets you review version history at the doc and page level, and gives each team member control over their own notifications. It's about starting fresh with tools that are designed for how your team works today.

You're not on your own

All of these items are expected and well-understood differences. After your import, Coda adds an Import Fixes page to your doc that points you directly to any items that need attention and explains how to address them. You won't have to spend time hunting. They'll be clearly called out and easy to work through.

Final checks before import

You're almost ready to start the import. A few considerations can help your import run smoothly and make your new Coda Docs easier to work with from the start.

Think about performance

For the best experience, import each Quip folder into its own Coda doc. If a folder contains more than 500 files, consider splitting it into smaller sets.

Confirm your doc's time zone

Confirm your Coda doc is set to the correct time zone. Coda uses the doc’s time zone to interpret date and time values. If the time zone doesn’t match what your team used in Quip, some dates or timestamps may look shifted once your content lands in Coda. You can review or update the time zone from the doc settings menu in Coda at any time before running the import.

Set expectations for time

Import time depends on the amount of content you’re importing. Smaller imports may finish in a few minutes, while larger ones can take much longer. Once started, the import can run in the background.

Tip: Start with a pilot import

If this is your first time importing from Quip, start with a pilot import before bringing over your entire workspace. Select a single document or a small, representative folder, then run the import. It lets you see how your content maps to Coda, review any follow-up items, and confirm that the structure looks as you expect.

Run the import

Alright, let’s do this. The steps below walk you through connecting Quip, selecting what to migrate, and kicking off the import in Coda.

1. Access the Quip importer

Open your Coda workspace and start a new doc.
Use the Insert tab on the upper right and search for “Quip.”
Select “Quip” and choose Import from Quip.
Select Connect Account.

2. Connect with Quip

If you’ve connected Quip before, choose your existing account. Otherwise, select +Add New Account.
Select the link to Get an access token from Quip, and you’ll be directed to Quip’s site.
If prompted, sign in to your Quip account.
On Quip’s site, select Get personal access token to generate your token.
Copy the token that appears.
Return to your Coda doc and paste the token into the API token field.
Select Continue to move forward with the import.

Tip: If you can't connect to Quip

If you see an error about Personal Access Tokens, it likely means this setting isn’t enabled in your Quip admin console. Contact your Quip admin to enable Personal Access Tokens before continuing. If you receive a message like “Your credentials to Quip have expired or are invalid,” try generating a new token. If the problem continues after tokens are enabled, contact Coda support for additional help.

3. Choose your import method

You have two ways to choose what to bring over from Quip. You can browse your folders to import an entire workspace, or paste a direct link to import a specific document or folder. Pick the option that best fits how you organize your content; both lead to the same import experience.

4. Select content to import

With your import method selected, you can now choose the content you’d like to bring into Coda.

If you chose “Browse Folders”:

You’ll see a list of accessible Quip folders.
You can select a folder you want to import.
Everything inside that folder, documents, spreadsheets, and any nested folders, will be included in the import.
Select Next to continue.

If you chose “Paste Link”:

Copy the URL from your Quip browser address bar.
Paste the URL into the text field.
Make sure the link is from the same Quip workspace that you authenticated with.
Select Next to continue.

5. Review import summary

Next, you’ll see a summary of what will be brought into Coda, including:

Documents
Spreadsheets
Folders

Select Confirm when you’re ready.

6. Monitor import progress

Coda will process your import in the background. You’ll see a progress indicator that updates as each part of your content is brought into the doc. You can continue working in other Coda tabs during this time, and you will receive an email once your import is complete.

Tip: Why the import might pause or feel slow

The import might pause or feel slow, and it is completely normal. Coda:

Respects Quip API rate limits
Automatically retries if needed
Breaks large documents into smaller parts to keep things stable

These are standard behaviors that help ensure your import completes successfully.

7. Your import is complete

Once the import finishes, you’ll see a confirmation message letting you know everything has been brought into Coda. From here, you can open the imported doc and start exploring your content. Imports don’t modify your Quip workspace. If you ever need to retry, you can delete the imported Coda doc and run the import again without affecting your original content.

Review your imported content

Now is a great time to get familiar with how everything looks in Coda and review anything that may need attention. Two pages are added automatically to help guide you:

Read Me: Import next steps provides a short orientation and highlights what to review first.

Import Fixes lists any items that may need follow-up, such as live apps, FILE columns, or items that didn’t transfer one-to-one.

Quick validation checklist

Skim the pages to make sure they match what you selected in Quip.
Look at the left sidebar to confirm that folders became nested pages as expected.
Open a few tables and spot-check that the data looks right.
Spot check comments appear where you expect them.
Glance at @mentions to confirm they link to the right people or placeholders.
Visit the Import Fixes page to see any suggested next steps.

Import considerations and limitations

Most of these considerations will also appear on your Import Fixes page, so you’ll always know where to start.

How grids and tables work in Coda

Coda doesn’t use traditional spreadsheets. Instead, it gives you two flexible building blocks, grids and tables, that together cover everything you may have done with spreadsheets in Quip, and more. During import, Quip spreadsheets and tables are converted into Coda as grids. This preserves your data exactly as it appears in Quip, but it does not include the full functionality of Coda tables.

Grids

Grids are designed for quickly displaying structured data. They’re helpful when you want to view rows and columns without a full database. Grids do not include features like column-level formulas, relationships, automations, or advanced formulas, making them a lightweight and fast way to display imported data.

Tables

Tables are the more powerful counterpart to grids. They function as relational databases and unlock Coda’s advanced capabilities, including column-level formulas, linked relationships, multiple views (such as Board, Calendar, and Timeline), automations, and Pack integrations.

If you want to sort, filter, create views, use formulas, build relationships, or work with Packs and automations, you can quickly convert a grid into a table.

How to convert a grid to a table

Hover over the grid.
Select the Kebab menu (three dots).
Choose Convert to table.

Converting to a table is recommended for anything used as a tracker, project planner, checklist, or structured dataset.

Project Tracker imports as a full table

Quip’s Project Tracker imports as a full table without requiring conversion. Column structure and types are preserved, and the table is ready to use immediately. You can create views, add formulas, build automations, and connect Packs as soon as the import finishes. FILE columns may require follow-up, since Quip does not export underlying file data. Any follow-up items related to Project Tracker appear on the Import Fixes page.

Formulas may not translate one-to-one

Values will come through correctly, but it might not behave exactly as it did in Quip. This is because:

Quip uses cell-based formulas.
Coda uses object- and column-based formulas.

Coda’s formula language is more flexible, so it is often a good moment to simplify or refine your calculations.

Migrating a large or complex workspace? Our team can help plan and run a migration at scale. Reach out to your Coda account team to get started.

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