You don’t need Microsoft Project to create a Gantt chart for your project. If you’re just starting out with project managementThe 5 Best Project Management Tips for BeginnersThe 5 Best Project Management Tips for BeginnersIf you are taking on a project manager role for the first time, here are just five project management tips to help you get started.Read More and do not have access to such software, you might just use Microsoft ExcelThe Best Productivity Templates for Microsoft Excel to Get Things DoneThe Best Productivity Templates for Microsoft Excel to Get Things DoneIf you want to use Microsoft Excel for planning, task management, and expense tracking, you best start with templates. We have compiled several templates that will keep your life, business, and office on track.Read More or PowerPoint for tracking. If that sounds like you, then a Gantt chart template may be just what you need.
Free Gantt Chart Template for Powerpoint. A Gantt Chart is a (production) control tool used for scheduling projects, events or personal milestones or goals. It is helpful when monitoring a project’s progress as it illustrates the start and finish dates of the elements (tasks) of a project, and the current completion levels of each. Download Gantt Chart PowerPoint template. It is considered one of the best project management tools. A Gantt chart is a kind of bar diagram, invented by Henry Gantt in the 1910s, that outlines a company or project schedule. Gantt charts outline the beginning and completion dates of the elementary components of a project.
We’ve compiled a selection of 10 Gantt chart templates for Excel and PowerPoint that can help you get your project off to a great start.
1. Detailed Gantt Project Planner (Microsoft Office)
Microsoft Office has a terrific template that you can download from the website or access by searching templates from within ExcelHow to Quickly Create a Custom Excel Template to Save TimeHow to Quickly Create a Custom Excel Template to Save TimeExcel templates are universally useful — they can help you keep your finances in order, manage a project, and organize your life. We show you how to create your own custom template.Read More (File > New > Search for online templates).
When you change the activity values, you will see the bar chart to the right automatically update. You can also adjust the period you want to highlight by entering a number or choosing one from the drop-down box at the top.
This template offers a nice color contrast for easy reading and is great for detailed project management.
2. Multiple Option Gantt Chart (TeamGantt)
If you are not quite sure which entries you want to manually enter to adjust your Gantt chart, check out this option from TeamGantt. The workbook has three tabs including a complete manual chart, manual end date chart, and manual duration chart. This gives you the flexibility of choosing which to use for your specific project.
The key at the bottom of each Gantt chart tab shows you which cells are calculated and which are manual to make it even simpler to use.
3. WBS Gantt Chart (Vertex42)
If you have a work breakdown structureHow to Organize Any Project with a Work Breakdown StructureHow to Organize Any Project with a Work Breakdown StructureA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Every complex project consists of multiple components. The Work Breakdown Structure can help you identify all the steps and put them into sequence.Read More for your project, this template from Vertex42 might be the one you want. You can pop in your WBS number per task for an easy transfer from a written to visual project management format.
The template has a slider at the top to view various periods quickly and a small help section at the bottom for assistance with data entry and settings.
If you like this template, you can take a look at what the Pro Version offers by clicking that tab in the workbook.
4. Extensive Gantt Chart (Template Lab)
Similar to the template from Vertex42, this one from Template Lab works well with an existing WBS. It has spots for numbering, tasks and four levels of subtasks as well as a resource assignment field. You can include your duration, actual duration, completion percentage, projected and actual end dates, and then values for assigned, complete, and remaining.
The bar chart is very easy to read with a good contrast of colors. Fields update automatically with your entries making this template a terrific overall Gantt chart for detailed projects. Template Lab offers a variety of other Gantt chart options for you to check out when you visit their page, but this one is called Gantt Chart Template 08.
5. Subtask PowerPoint Gantt Chart (Template.net)
If you want to use PowerPoint for your Gantt chart, the selection can be limited. But, this template from Template.net gives you a great option. You can include timeline sections, subtasks, dates, and milestones by week.
The appearance of the template makes it super easy to read while at the same time being useful. Also, take a peek at the second slide that gives you details on the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in for automatic chart updates.
6. Timeline PowerPoint Gantt Chart (Office Timeline)
Office Timeline offers another nice template for PowerPoint. Different than the one from Template.net, this one does not call out tasks and subtasks. It allows you to concentrate on and highlight duration with a timeline from start to finish. Although, you can still pop in the task names with a color-coded bar as well.
If you want to stick with a PowerPoint Gantt chart template, but begin with a cleaner, uncluttered appearance, this is likely the template you want.
7. Baseline and Budget Gantt Chart (GanttExcel.com)
When the project you are managing requires you to also include baseline and budget costs, GanttExcel.com’s template is for you. Fill in your tasks and subtasks, add your durations, and see the template update your timeline and dates automatically.
This template uses macros to enable your entries5 Resources for Excel Macros to Automate Your Spreadsheets5 Resources for Excel Macros to Automate Your SpreadsheetsSearching for Excel macros? Here are five sites that have got what you're looking for.Read More. Just keep in mind that you must enable those after downloading the template. Then, double-click on cells to enter a complete amount of data including the costs per task, resources, and budget numbers.
8. Hourly Gantt Chart (Office Timeline)
Do you need to bring your project down to an hourly management plan? Also for PowerPoint, this template from Office Timeline lets you do just that. A complete day displays on the timeline and you can adjust the tasks and accompanying times down to the minute for each.
While this might be too much micro-management for some, it is a necessity for others. It depends on your project and preference. So, if an hourly Gantt chart suits your needs and PowerPoint fits your skills, this is an excellent template.
9. Basic Gantt Chart (FormXLS.com)
For a very basic Gantt chart with manual entries, you can get a quick glance at your timelineHow to Make Your Project a Success with Excel TemplatesHow to Make Your Project a Success with Excel TemplatesExcel templates are an essential tool in the portfolio of an effective project manager. Even in the smallest project, templates can make your life easier and save significant time. We have compiled a selection.Read More with this template from FormXLS.com.
You just enter your tasks and then adjust the timeline bars manually. Each period is separated into quarter and then month. This provides a fast way to see completions per task.
More detailed Gantt chart templates provide dates and durations. However, if you just want a simple view of when items will are planned and when they are complete, this is a good Excel template to try.
10. Presentation PowerPoint Gantt Chart (FormXLS.com)
Do you want to present your Gantt chart using PowerPoint in a clean and clear way? This one from FormXLS.com works well for displaying basic projects. All entries are manual including the bar chart, so just remember that before you begin.
For uncomplicated presentations of your project planThe Best Free PowerPoint Templates for Your Project PresentationThe Best Free PowerPoint Templates for Your Project PresentationHow you present your project is at least as important as what you present because what your audience will remember is how you made them feel. Wow them with professional PowerPoint templates for project management.Read More using PowerPoint, this template provides a decent and attractive option.
What Gantt Chart Tips Can You Share?
We showed you a variety of Gantt chart templates to choose from. Now we’re curious to learn how you use your template.
If you are an avid Gantt chart user, you likely have helpful tips to assist others14 Tips to Save Time in Microsoft Excel14 Tips to Save Time in Microsoft ExcelIf Microsoft Excel has consumed a lot of your time in the past, let us show you how to get some of it back. These simple tips are easy to remember.Read More who are not as familiar with the project management tool. If you’re looking for more options, take a look at these nifty tools for to create project timelines.
If you have tricks, suggestions, or general usage tips that you would like to share, please leave us a comment below!
Image Credit: leungchopan/Depositphotos
Explore more about: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Office Templates, Project Management, Task Management, Time Management.
Hey Sandy,
let me contribute to this listwith a new Gantt chart diagram button integrated in PowerPoint that I have built for everybody.
[https://mauriziolacava.com/my-addin]
When you click the button you are led through a 2 step process in which you'll setup the tasks, then you'll plan the milestones and by clicking ok the Gantt will automatically be displayed as a set of PowerPoint shapes on your slide. You can of course edit the shapes as normal shapes.
Also, you can click and edit the Gantt to add more milestones, tasks or change th display period.
I'd love you to try this out and let me know what you think.
Thank you,
MaurizioI'm looking for an Excel template that shows the Task names in the Gannt view. Does anyone have any suggestions? I found a solution on sheets4work.com but I've not seen it implemented on any templates.
Hi George, Gantt Excel has this feature where you can include the task name within the Gantt bars itself. You can also show other fields like end dates, resources, costs etc...
You can download the template at ganttexcel.com
I want to know (if possible) how to export a Gantt Chart from MS Project 2010 to an image or similar to insert in PowerPoint.
I've searched over the internet and I found articles about exporting to excel, or this one about exporting TimeLines from MS Project as images, but this is not working as I have Gantt Chart.
Any help?
Thanks
7 Answers
The easiest way is to use the native Windows Ctrl-PrtScn button combination. This creates a bitmap image of the current Window in the clipboard.
You then switch to PowerPoint and paste the image in.
Of course, this leaves you with the MS Project interface in the image as well. So you then need to trim the image in Powerpoint. Alternatively, you can go to full-screen in Project before doing Ctrl-PrtScn.
If that is too many steps for you. I would recommend using a screen capture tool. If you are a Microsoft Office user, see if you have access to Microsoft OneNote which includes a quick screen-grab shortcut. Windows 7 also has the Snipping Tool which might be helpful.
UPDATE
There is also (or at least there used to be - I can't check whether it is still there in 2010 at the moment) a snapshot button in Project itself which captures an image of the current chart without Project's interface. The button looks like a camera.
Another possible alternative is to print to PDF. This would then let you either insert direct to PowerPoint or open and copy a selected part of the image. Though this isn't at all easier than doing a screen capture!
Finally, you can, of course, simply include an MS Project plan as an object in PowerPoint though this tends to make the PowerPoint files rather large and unwieldy.
Update 2
Thanks go to @Shivaranjan for the information that, in Project 2010 the camera button is now replaced as 'Copy Picture' as shown in the screenshots in the following links.
First click the copy picture button
and then choose how to export it
In MS Project 2010 (without the 'classic' view):
- Select which rows you would like to include in your capture.
- Select the
Task
tab. - Click on the down arrow next to
Copy
. - Select
Copy Picture
.
A little Copy Picture
dialog will then appear and you can choose how you want to export your image.If you use the defaults (just hit OK
), it will copy an image to your clipboard for pasting into another tool such as PowerPoint.
On windows 7, Click start(windows icon botton left handside of the screen), type snipp and press enter. This should activate the snipping tool so you can capture the desire area of the screen you like, then save it as jpg or png format, or copy and paste into powrpoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint has a screen-grabbing tool, so you don't even need to save it as an image to add it to your presentation:
- Open the 'Insert' tab in the ribbon in PowerPoint
- Click 'Screenshot'
- Either choose the MS project window and crop the image afterwards, orclick Screen clipping and select the Gantt chart.
You can also print the entire project as a PDF and export the PDF into a JPEG file.
Better late than never, I suppose, but here's my .02$ that I've found.
The screenshot works if all of your lines fit on the screen. If you're trying to display a detailed or moderately sized project plan this quickly becomes cumbersome, but you do have other options such as the 'copy image' option (below)
If you use the 'Copy image' and you have a lot of lines (more than 100-ish), the image is larger than 22' long and starts to blur for whatever reason. Project gives you the option of keeping the full size, rescaling to 22', or cropping to 22'. I usually either keep the full size or rescale while locking the aspect ratio (height:width). By the time you hit 300 lines, it is nearly unreadable regardless of the option, so this option goes out the window as well. In these cases I've done a couple other options:
If you use MS OneNote 2013 or later (maybe 2010?), you can print the file directly to OneNote (change your page layout in print options to fit by 1 page wide by X pages long), then copy the images (multiple pages, unfortunately) from OneNote to wherever you're trying to go
You can print/export to PDF and embed the document
You can download a Gantt chart template for Excel and paste your data in (may require some field mapping/aligning, but it's an option)
There are some third party Gantt chart illustrators that allow you (usually for a fee) to import your WBS into a table and it will spit out a reasonably good gantt chart.
Hope this helps - I was hoping for a more elegant solution, so if someone knows a macro or other export solution please let me know.
You could try the GanttMagic app for Windows 10, which can read your MS Project schedule and create a high-level view (no links, though) directly in PowerPoint. You can then edit the resulting slides to use your corporate theme if you want to. Worth a try. Find it in the Microsoft Store (free to use for a week).