Smartsheet Control Center: Make Global Updates to your projects

As your project progresses, you may need additional information to keep the project running smoothly. For example, you might want to add an At Risk column, so users can flag tasks that they may miss a deadline. 

Global Update types

Before you create and run Global Updates, familiarize yourself with the available Global Update types and their capabilities. Global Updates offers the following options:

• Add New Column: Insert a new column in your template and push it out to all existing projects.
• Modify Existing Column: Modify the column definition of an existing column and update existing data.
• Add Profile Data: Add new Profile Data from the intake sheet into the template and summary sheets.
• Find/Replace: Add or update text/formulas in a specific cell or cell range across all projects.
• Update Reports: Update reports in all projects to match the template.
• Update Dashboards: Update dashboards in all projects to match the template.

Global Updates don't apply to title widgets that link to Smartsheet items. To implement this change, you need to edit the individual dashboard.

Create a new Global Update

1. Log into Control Center, or select it from the App Launcher in Smartsheet.
2. Open the menu and then select the program you want to update.
   
3. In the top left corner, select Manage Program. 
4. Select Global Updates > New Update.
5. Select the type of update you want to perform. 

When you select an update, the plus sign on the tile changes to a checkmark.

6. Select Next and enter your update details.
7. In the bottom right corner, select Create & Run.

Test and validate your changes

Testing is required. 

Select Create & Run to test and validate the proposed update against active projects and sheets. 

The test creates a temporary copy of a project, ensuring you don’t apply changes until you’re certain you want them.

1. On the Test Global Update page, select a project and then select Apply Test at the bottom of the page.
   
   When the test copy is ready, the Status column on the Test Global Update page changes from New to Success.

Hover over the Success message to see an update summary.

2. Select Open Test to review the test sheet, report, or dashboard and confirm the test updates. 

To edit the update, select Close to close the test, make your changes, and run the test again.

Select Close to return to the Update Summary page to test the update on additional projects. Select Test Update, and select the project to test. Do this as many times as you like until you're confident about your changes.

3. Once you’ve confirmed your update works as desired, close the test and return to the Test Global Update page.
4. Select Confirm to go to the Update Summary page.

Confirm the results and apply the update

You have one last chance to review and confirm the proposed changes and select where you want updates applied.

1. Review the Update Summary page and verify your updates.
2. Select Apply Update.
3. On the Apply Update page, select the projects you want to update.

If you want to update your templates, check Apply update to the base project template(s). 

4. Select Apply. You get a notice telling you the changes are permanent. Select Yes to complete the update.

Global Updates remain on the Global Updates page. You can run them whenever you want. Select the update and run it as above.  

Edit an existing Global Update

To update an existing Global Update: 

1. Log into Control Center, or select it from the App Launcher in Smartsheet.
2. Open the menu and then select the program you want to update.
3. In the top left corner, select Manage Program.
4. Select Global Updates > New Update.
5. Locate the Global Update you want to change, hover over the three-dot icon (to the left of the update name), and select Edit.
6. Make your changes, then select Update & Run to test and validate your changes as explained above.

For answers to common questions related to Global Updates and Smartsheet Control Center generally, see Smartsheet Control Center FAQ.