Create a Gantt chart in Excel

Even though Microsoft Office Excel 2007 does not provide a Gantt chart type, you can simulate a Gantt chart by customizing a stacked bar chart type so that it depicts tasks, task duration, and hierarchy.

An Excel Gantt chart typically uses days as the unit of time along the horizontal axis. If you want to use hours instead of days, see the link in the See Also section about how to create a Gantt chart that uses hours as the scale in Excel 2007.

What do you want to do?

Simulate a Gantt chart Save a chart as a template

Simulate a Gantt chart

The following procedure will help you create a Gantt chart with results that are similar to those shown in our example Gantt chart graphic. For this chart, we used the example worksheet data. You can copy this data to your worksheet, or you can use your own data, as long as you use the same column headers and worksheet structure.

1.

Copy the example worksheet data into a blank worksheet, or open the worksheet that contains the data that you want to plot into a Gantt chart. How to copy the example worksheet data

2. 3.

Create a blank workbook or worksheet. Select the example in the Help topic.
NOTE

Do not select the row or column headers.

Selecting an example from Help

4. 5.

Press CTRL+C. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.

A 1 2 3 Task 2 4 5 6 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5

NOTE

B Start 0 2 8 17 20

C Duration 2 6 9 3 5

Task Task 1

The values in columns B and C (Start and Duration) represent the number of days from the start date and

the number of days required to complete the task. 6. 7. 8. 9. Select the data that you want to plot in the Gantt chart (A1:C6 in our example worksheet data). On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click Bar. Under 2-D Bar, click Stacked Bar. Click the chart area of the chart. This displays the Chart Tools, adding the Design, Layout, and Format tabs. 10. On the Design tab, in the Chart Styles group, click the chart style that you want to use.

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For our Gantt chart, we used Style 27.

11. In the chart, click the first data series (Start), or select it from a list of chart elements (Format tab, Current Selection group, Chart Elements box). 12. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click Format Selection.

13. Click Fill, and then click No fill. 14. Click Close. 15. In the chart, click the legend, and then press DELETE. 16. Select the vertical (category) axis, or select it from a list of chart elements (Format tab, Current Selection group, Chart Elements box). 17. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click Format Selection. 18. Under Axis Options, select the Categories in reverse order check box, and then click Close. 19. If you want to use theme colors that are different from the default theme that is applied to your workbook, do the following: 1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

2.
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Under Built-in, click the theme that you want to use. For our Gantt chart, we used the Office theme.

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Save a chart as a template

If you want to create another chart like the one that you just created, you can save the chart as a template that you can use as the basis for other similar charts. 20. Click the chart that you want to save as a template. 21. On the Design tab, in the Type group, click Save as Template.

22. In the File name box, type a name for the template.
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Unless you specify a different folder, the template file (.crtx) will be saved in the Charts folder, and the

template becomes available under Templates in both the Insert Chart dialog box (Insert tab, Charts group, Dialog Box Launcher ) and the Change Chart Type dialog box (Design tab, Type group, Change Chart Type). For more information about how to apply a chart template, see Reuse a favorite chart by using a chart template. NOTE A chart template contains chart formatting and stores the colors that are in use when you save the chart as a template. When you use a chart template to create a chart in another workbook, the new chart uses the colors of the chart template not the colors of the document theme that is currently applied to the workbook. To use the document theme colors instead of the chart template colors, right-click the chart area, and then click Reset to Match Style on the shortcut menu.

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Create a Gantt chart in Excel

There are many ways to create a Gantt chart. For example, Microsoft Project, a task-planning program, makes it easy to track and chart project timelines with a built-in Gantt chart view. Another option is to use Excel. Excel does not contain a built-in Gantt chart format; however, you can create a Gantt chart in Excel by customizing the stacked bar chart type. This article shows you how to create a Gantt chart like the following example.

Step 1: Enter the sample data 1. Open a new worksheet in Excel and enter the following values in cells A1 through D6:

A 1 2 3 4 5 6
2. 3.

B Start Date 08/01/2000 10/15/2000 12/15/2000 02/06/01 05/06/01

C Completed 205 200 140 44 0

D Remaining 10 120 200 345 380

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5

NOTE

The values in columns C and D (Completed and Remaining) represent numbers of days.

Select cell B2 and format with the date format you want to use for the chart by clicking Cells on the Format menu, and then clicking theNumber tab. Click Date in the Category list, and select the format you want to use in the Type list. Step 2: Create a stacked bar chart

1. 2.

Select cells A1:D6 and click Chart Wizard. In step 1, click Bar under Chart Type, and then click the Stacked Barsub-type (you can see the name of each chart sub-type at the bottom of the dialog box).

3.

Click Next, Next, and then Finish.

Step 3: Make the chart look like a Gantt chart 1. Double-click the first series in the chart. This is the series for Start Date. If default colors are set in Excel 2002, this series is blue. 2. On the Patterns tab of the Format Data Series dialog box, click Nonefor Border and None for Area, and then click OK. 3. Double-click the category (x) axis, which in a bar chart is the vertical axis. (In a bar chart, the traditional x and y axes are reversed.) Click the Scale tab, and select the Categories in reverse order check box. 4. 5. Click the Font tab, click 8 under Size, and then click OK. Double-click the value (y) axis, which in a bar chart is the horizontal axis. After completing the last step, this axis should be located at the top of the chart plot area. Click the Scale tab and type the following values in the appropriate boxes: Minimum: 36739 Maximum: 37441 Major unit: 61 Minor unit: 1 These values are serial numbers that represent the dates to be used for the value (y) axis. The minimum value 36739 represents the date August 1, 2000. The maximum value 37441 represents the date July 4, 2002. The major unit of 61 represents about two months, while the minor unit represents one day. To see the serial number for a date, enter the date in a cell, and then format that cell with the General number format. 6. 7. 8. 9. Also on the Scale tab, select the Category (X) axis crosses at maximum value check box. Click the Alignment tab, and under Orientation, type 45 in theDegrees box. Click the Font tab, and under Font style, click Bold. Under Size, click8, and then click OK. Right-click the legend, and click Format Legend on the shortcut menu.

10. Click the Placement tab, and click Bottom. 11. Within the legend, click Start Date so that it is selected, and then press DELETE. After completing these steps, you should have a chart that looks similar to the example. You may need to resize the chart using the mouse to see all of the labels present in the chart. Additional formatting can be added as needed.