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When you enable task dependencies in your project timeline, Smartsheet offers you three ways to visually track key dependencies:
- Critical path shows you which tasks affect the project completion date
- Summary path shows you which subtasks affect the completion date of a particular summary (parent) row
- Driving path shows you which predecessor tasks affect the start date of a particular task
You can easily share each of your paths with colleagues and managers to keep them apprised of your project’s status.
Track the critical path in a sheet
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As task dates or predecessor relationships change, the sheet’s critical path can be impacted. Smartsheet automatically updates and highlights the tasks on the current critical path.
Only paid users who are sheet Owners or Admins can enable dependencies in Project Settings to display the critical path. Anyone with Editor or higher-level permissions can display or hide the critical path.
What is the critical path?
The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks (from start to finish) that must be completed on time to stay on schedule and avoid project delays. It's determined using task start dates, end dates, duration, and dependencies.
All tasks and milestones that comprise a project's critical path are highlighted in red in the Gantt view.
Set up a sheet to display the critical path
To use a critical path, your sheet must be in Gantt view.
- Enable dependencies on the sheet by right-clicking any column header and selecting Edit Project Settings.
- You can also go to the settings toolbar button at the top right corner of the Gantt view.
- Add tasks to your sheet, and ensure each has a start date, end date, duration, and predecessors.
- To activate the critical path, select the icon in the upper-right corner of the sheet.
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Tips and troubleshooting
- The critical path appears on child rows. To undo collapsed rows quickly, right-click on the primary column and select Expand All.
- You can apply a filter on your sheet to display tasks only in the critical path.
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Refine the critical path with the summary path
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To use the summary path switch to Gantt View and activate dependencies.
Use the summary path to identify the subtasks impacting the end date of their summary (parent) task.
The summary path is a variant of the critical path. It provides a more detailed critical path for a parent task and its subtasks, rather than showing the critical path for the entire sheet.
The summary path considers all child tasks within its hierarchy.
Show or hide the summary path
To show or hide the summary path in Gantt View:
- Right-click a parent task.
- Select Show Summary Path or Hide Summary Path.
Once the summary path appears, the orange outlines highlight the tasks in the hierarchy impacting the end date of your parent task.
Highlight the driving path of a subtask
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Before using the driving path, switch your sheet to Gantt View and activate dependencies.
The driving path is based on predecessor relationships. You can enable it to identify the tasks that affect the selected task’s start date.
Show or hide the driving path
To show or hide the driving path in the Gantt chart:
- Right-click a subtask.
- Select Show Driving Path or Hide Driving Path.
When the driving path appears, the tasks outlined in navy blue are the ones impacting the selected row’s start date.