Create and work with a Gantt chart

Maximize the Gantt View when viewing or working on your project management tasks in a sheet or report.

When you switch your sheet or report to Gantt View, tasks will appear as bars in a timeline. You’ll see the duration, the start date, and the finish date of your project tasks. Apart from that, you’ll also be able to do the following:

• View dependencies and track the relationship between tasks.
• View your project's critical path.
• Display the % completion of your tasks.
• Use hierarchy to create summary rows for further organization of your projects.

Read on to learn how to add and use a Gantt chart.

Add a Gantt chart 

Before you add a Gantt chart

Make sure your sheet or report has at least two date columns. 

The columns you add must represent the start date and the end date of your tasks. A task bar’s length is based on the span of time between those dates. This is why at least two date columns are a requirement. 

If your sheet or report has less than two date columns, you won’t be able to switch to Gantt View. 

A sheet won't recognize date columns with a Column Formula applied as columns for a Gantt chart. If you need your dates to autofill rows, use the Cell Formula and Autofill features instead. Another option would be to set up column formulas. Then, use a report to display your Gantt view.

To add a Gantt chart

• To switch to Gantt View, in the toolbar, select Gantt View.

The chart will appear to the right of your columns. There will also be a divider that separates the grid columns and the Gantt chart. 

To widen the display of either section:

1. Hover your pointer over the divider. 
2. When you see the column resize pointer , drag the divider to the right or left.

Read the next section to learn how to edit your Gantt chart.

Edit your Gantt chart

1. In the upper right area of the sheet, select Edit Project Settings.
2. Edit the settings in each tab according to your project needs:
   • Dependency Settings
   • Timeline Display
   • Resource Management

Learn more about modifying project settings.

Adjust the timeline display

In the Project Settings dialog, you can modify the units of time you see in the Gantt chart. An easier way to do that is by using the Zoom In  and Zoom Out  buttons in the toolbar.

Organize your project tasks

You can use row hierarchies in Gantt charts to organize rows into sections or phases. 

When you use row hierarchies, child rows display as individual task bars in the Gantt chart based on their start and end dates. If you turn on dependencies on the sheet, parent rows reflect a summary of their child rows. The parent row values are calculated automatically in the following columns: 

• Duration
• Start and end dates 
• % Complete columns  

Note, however, that you won't be able to modify parent values. If dependencies are off, you can change the parent row information as needed. 

Other tips in editing your Gantt chart

• Configure a % Complete column in the Project Settings dialog. Any time you enter a value in this column, you’ll see it indicated in the task bar.
• Apply color to the task bars.