Gantt Excel – Quick Start Guide

A step-by-step guide to help you get started with Gantt Excel.

HERE ARE THE STEPS TO CREATE GANTT CHARTS IN EXCEL USING GANTT EXCEL
1. OPEN THE GANTT CHART TEMPLATE
Click on the Enable Macros & Enable Editing button. Note that there is no installation. It’s just a simple excel template and it
opens just like any other excel file.

The Gantt tab in the excel ribbon will instantly load.

2. CREATE A NEW GANTT CHART

Click on the Add New Gantt Chart button to bring up the Project Details window.
 Enter the Project Name, Worksheet Name, Project Lead and the Estimated/ Baseline Budget for the Project.

Click the OK button when done. A new Gantt Chart is automatically created for you.

3. ADD TASKS
Gantt charts don’t give useful information unless they include all of the tasks/ milestones needed for a project to be
completed.
So, to start, list all of the activities as tasks. There are three ways to add tasks in Gantt Chart Excel
Method 1: Type directly in the excel grid. If you type a task where is says “Type here to add a new task“, it will automatically
create a new task with default start and end dates and the timeline will instantly update.

Method 2: Click the Add Task button on the Gantt tab

The task details form will open up where you can enter all the task details including task resource, estimated, baseline, actual
– start and end dates. You can also keep track of costs including estimated, baseline and actual costs, therefore making it an
excellent budget and costs planner.
Task notes can also be captured to include a short description to your task to clarify its purpose or scope and to provide
additional info to everyone involved.
Click the OK button when you are done. The newly added task will show up in the excel grid with all the details.

Go ahead and add a few tasks like in the example below and set the start and finish dates.

Importantly, note that the Work Break Structure (WBS) is automatically calculated and set for you.
4. SET PARENT AND CHILD TASKS
If a task is relatively large and requires several users with different skills to manage, break the task into subtasks and create
parent-child relationships.

To set parent-child relationships, select a task that you want to convert to a child task and click on the Make Child button.

Shortcut – Alt + Right arrow key

To create a parent task from a child task click on the Make Parent button.

Shortcut – Alt + Left arrow key

As a result, when you group child tasks together under a parent values such as dates, costs etc. aggregate and roll up to the
parent task.

This is how the tasks look when I set a few tasks as child tasks.

5. ADD MILESTONES
Milestones help your team stay on track and to more accurately determine whether or not your project is on schedule.
To Add a Milestone click on the Add Milestone button in the Gantt tab.

This will bring up the Add Milestone details window. Enter the milestone details and click the OK button when done.
 To illustrate, see the example below. The milestone and a diamond shaped symbol shows up in the timeline.

GANTT CHART EXCEL SETTINGS

Equally important, is to set up the Gantt chart correctly. Let’s look at all the settings screens and go through them one by one.
Click on the Settings icon in Gantt tab.

Display Settings
By default the Display tab opens up first. Here you can set all the different timeline bar and milestone colors.
You can also choose to show additional timeline bars for baseline, actual dates and the overdue bar for all overdue tasks.

If you want to see more of the timeline then you can increase the “No of weeks to display in timeline” setting.

Lastly, one of the most sought out features is to show text within the Gantt Bars. You can check the Enable Text Display option
and select any text from any column to show within the Gantt bars.
This is how it looks when the Show Text in Gantt Bars is enabled. We think it is one of the finest features of Gantt Chart Excel.

Calendar Settings
The calendar tab is where you can select Workdays. You can also select the way the week numbers are calculated by either
using Excel’s week calculation or use the ISO week calculation.
Other Settings
Switch over to the Others tab to set Currency symbol and Date format.
Additionally you can define how Percentage complete is calculated for the tasks. You can use the Manual or Automatic mode for
entry and use Simple or Weighted calculation for the Parent task roll up calculation.
Columns Settings
Finally, we have the columns tab where you can hide or unhide existing columns. In like manner, you can also insert your own
custom columns or delete them if required.
GANTT CHART EXCEL – THE SMART WAY TO PLAN
In Conclusion, the beauty of Gantt Chart Excel is we have six calendar views to choose from
namely Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly and Yearly View.

From here you can easily customize the Gantt chart by changing timeline colors, and adding various details like percent complete,
costs etc…  As shown below, with some tweaks you can create a timeline that’s sure to impress.
https://ganttxl.com/documentation/gantt-excel-quick-start-guide/
Installation & Activation
Installation
The best thing about Gantt Excel is there is NO installation. Its just another macro enabled excel file that opens if you have Excel
2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016 on your Windows PC/ notebook or Excel 2016 on your Mac (depending on the version you purchase).

All you have to do is download, save the file on to your desktop or my documents folder and then open the file and Enable Macros.

Activating License Key
When you buy Gantt Excel Pro, Ultimate or Mac Ultimate, a license key is sent to you via email. This key is also available on
the Downloads page when you log in to Gantt Excel.

Assuming you have downloaded the Pro or Ultimate or Mac Ultimate version of the Excel file…

1.
1. Open the file and click on Enable Macros.
2. Click the Activate License button in the Gantt Tab.

3. Enter your full name, email address and license code and click the Activate button.

4. You will see a success message. Please note that you will need to activate the file only once. Once activated, the
license code is stored within the file.

5. Save the file. You can choose to keep this as your master file and make copies of it when you want to start a new
project.
 Note – Always save the file using the Save option in excel. Do not use the Save As option and just in case you do then
please always save it with the extension .xlsm

Upgrade from Free Version file.

If you are upgrading from the free version file you click on the Upgrade button on the Gantt tab and the same license activation
popup will show up.
Please enter the details, activate and save the file. The data that you entered in the free version will stay and you can continue to
build up your project plan.

Notes:
This is a one-time thing. You won’t have to keep adding a license every time you open the file.

1. Do not share the license code with anyone. The license key is linked to your account only. However, you may share the file
with your colleagues to collaborate. They won’t need the license key to update the file.
2. If you lose your license code you can log in to Gantt Excel and visit the Downloads page to retrieve it.

Enable Macros
Gantt Excel is macro enabled excel file. It contains code that takes care of the automation so that you can easily create Gantt
charts.
If macros are not enabled the automation will not work.

Here are the steps to enable macros.

Assuming you have downloaded our Gantt Chart Excel Template and saved it to your to your desktop or my documents folder…

1. Open the File. A small prompt will show up with the message – Macros have been disabled (like in the image below).
2. Click on the Enable Content/ Enable Macros button

Note – You may also see another prompt that reads Enable Editing. You will also have to click on the “Enable Editing” button to
proceed.

Projects
Create A Project/ Gantt Chart
Click on the Add Gantt Chart button on the Gantt Tab.

This will open the Project Details window.

Project Name – Enter the Project Name

Eg. Onboard Ingest Process

Sheet Name – Enter the name of the excel worksheet that needs to be created. Don’t use special characters and spaces
Eg. OnboardIngest
Project Lead – Enter the name of the Project Manager

I care about costs – Check this box when your project needs to be tracked with costs. If you don’t care about costs uncheck the
box and Gantt Excel will disable all cost fields throughout the template.
Tip – You can change this option later as well if you change your mind.

Estimated Budget – Approximation of the total cost for the project

Baseline Budget – The original estimated budget should be entered here and this should not ideally be changed. While the
estimated budget may change over time the baseline budget should not be changed. This gives management a fair idea as to what
the original estimation was and helps them compare this with the Estimated Budget and the Actual costs of the project.

Click the OK button when you have entered all the information. As soon as you click the OK button a new excel worksheet with
a Gantt chart timeline is magically created for you.

A task is also added by default to give you a jump-start.

Edit Project Details
Double-click the Project Name in the Gantt Chart or click the Edit Project Details button and this will open up the Project
Information popup. Make changes and click the Ok button.

Project Costs
Our Gantt chart excel template allows users to track costs and expenditures for projects and tasks.
To best track costs, you should first create a budget by creating and entering cost values for budget resources that
are assigned to the project.

While creating a new Gantt chart worksheet you will be able to enter the budget costs associated with the project.
When the OK button is clicked the newly created Gantt chart will show the project info along with the cost information
on the left top corner of the sheet.

Note:

1. To edit the project information at any time just double-click the project name and the same project details form
will open up.
2. The actual cost in the budget line is automatically calculated by summing up all the actual costs of the tasks.
Task Costs
Tasks are associated with three cost fields that can be used for planning and to track actual.

Estimated Cost – The sum of planned costs of all expenses estimated for the task

Baseline Cost – When the ‘Copy from Estimated’ button is clicked the Estimated cost entered is saved into the
Baseline.
While the estimated cost may change often, the baseline cost should not be changed ideally. It gives the
stakeholders a fair idea as
to how much the task was originally supposed to cost.

Actual Cost – The actual cost of the task should be entered after the task is completed.

Viewing cost data in the grid

To view the Cost columns in the grid you can un-hide the columns by clicking on the Settings icon in the Gantt
tab and then un-hiding the required cost columns in the columns tab.
Tasks are also associated with Resource Cost. You can set resource cost by clicking on Add in the task form popup
(see screenshot below) or by clicking on the Resources button in the Gantt tab.

Resource Cost is an auto-calculated field and is calculated based on Resource Cost per day * Duration of the task in
days.
To view the Resource Cost column you can un-hide the column by clicking on the Settings icon in the Gantt tab and
then un-hiding the column in the columns tab.

Project Dashboard
The project dashboard provides a high-level summary of the project costs. By monitoring cost variances regularly,
you can take steps to make sure that your project stays close to its budget.
This first screenshot tells us that the project is 31% complete and the project budget was set to $1,00,000 and that
$6,000 has already been spent on it.
This second screenshot tells us that the sum of all tasks – baseline costs was set to $97,500 and that the
estimated costs was probably revised from the originally set 97,500 to 1,12,500. It also tells us that $6000 has
already been spent.

 
 This third screenshot summarizes the high-level tasks of the project by estimated costs.

Documentation
 Installation & Activation

 Enable Macros

 Projects

o Project Costs
 Tasks

o Work Break Structure – WBS

o Parent & Child Task Relationships

o Task Dependencies

 Timeline

o Customizing the Gantt Chart Timeline Colors

 Keyboard Shortcuts for Gantt Excel

Tasks
Tasks are the basic unit of action in Gantt Excel. You can create tasks, assign them to yourself or others, set costs and dates for
tracking and add notes for context.
Create a Task
1. To create a task, simply type  in the last row that contains the text “Type here to add a new task”
This is fastest way to create a new task. As soon as you hit enter a new task is created and WBS automatically updates.
2. You can also double click the text “Type here to add a new task” to open the task in a form.

3. The third method is to use the buttons in the Gantt tab. You can also add a task in between tasks by selecting ‘Add Task at
Selection’ or ‘Add Task below Selection’ from the Gantt Tab
 1. Add Task at Selection will insert a task at the current selection and the new task will inherit the WBS number at the location it
is added. The existing task will be pushed down and it will inherit the next WBS number.
2. Add Task below Selection will insert a new task below the task that is currently selected and the new task will inherit the next
WBS number

Tip: Shortcut key to add a task is Alt G-A and then you can use the arrow keys to select the options.

Edit A Task
There are multiple ways to edit a task.

1. You can edit the task fields in the spreadsheet itself. This option is the easiest.
2. You can also double click the Task name in the Gantt Chart and this will open the Task Details popup
3. Or click on any row that contains a task and click the Edit button.

This will bring up the task detail form.

Task Name – is the name of the task

Resource – Can we used for Task Owners or resources like equipment etc…

% Completed – Actual percentage completed for the task should be entered here.

Estimated Dates: Estimated dates are planned dates for when a scheduled task is planned to start or end
  Estimated Start Date – The estimated date when the task should be started
 Estimated End Date – Task Due date – The date by when the task should be completed
 Estimated Duration – The difference between the estimated dates

Baseline Dates: Baseline dates are essentially a snapshot of the estimated dates when a task is created. While the estimated dates
may change often, the baseline dates should not be ideally changed. It gives the stakeholders a fair idea as to when the task was
originally supposed to start or end. These dates are useful for management.
Add the Baseline Start field to a task sheet when you want to compare baseline start dates to scheduled or actual start dates for
tasks.

 Baseline Start Date – A snapshot of the Estimated Start Date

 Baseline End Date – A snapshot of the Estimated Start Date
 Baseline Duration – The difference between the baseline dates

Actual Dates: Actual dates are the actual dates when the task was started and completed. They should be regularly updated to
reflect task current status.

 Actual Start Date – The actual date when the task was started
 Actual End Date – The actual date when the task was completed
 Actual Duration – (calculated automatically) – The actual numbers of days taken to complete the task.

Tip: 

1. Dates can be easily added by typing dd/mm or mm/dd and the template automatically displays the correct date. Eg. Typing
5/12 in the United States automatically converts it to 12th May, 2015 or typing 12/5 in the UK converts to 12th May, 2015
2. The duration is automatically calculated if you enter the start date and end date and the end date is automatically calculated
if
Estimated Cost – Cost estimated for the task
Baseline Cost – When the ‘Copy from Estimated’ button is clicked the Estimated cost is saved into the Baseline.
While the estimated cost may change often, the baseline cost should not be changed ideally. It gives the stakeholders a fair idea as
to how much the task was originally supposed to cost.
Actual Cost – The actual cost of the task should be entered after the task is completed.

Notes – Task notes or comments can be added in the text area. Helpful to capture additional task info.

Work Break Structure – WBS

The building blocks of a project start with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The WBS is a hierarchical reflection of all the work in
the project in terms of deliverables. In order to produce these deliverables, work must be performed.

WBS is a hierarchical and incremental decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables, and work packages. It is a tree
structure, which shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an objective; for example a program, project, and contract.
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure is a team effort and is the culmination of multiple inputs and perspectives for the given
project. One effective technique is to organize a brainstorming session with the various departments that will be involved with the
project. Project teams can use our Gantt chart template to identify major deliverables, sub-deliverables, and specific work
packages.

Gantt Excel auto calculates WBS for you based on task hierarchy so that you don’t have to do the hard work, you just need to figure
out the major deliverables and the sub-deliverables and the tool magically takes care of it for you.
The key benefit to Gantt Excel is its ease-of-use translating work breakdown structures into high-level project schedules. A natural
extension of the work breakdown structure is the project schedule. By brainstorming the project scope in a Gantt chart tool, the
project manager can easily assign budget and duration estimates.

Parent & Child Task Relationships

If a task is relatively large and requires several users with different skills to manage, break the task into subtasks and create parent-
child relationships. A child task should be a relatively smaller, manageable size of work. When you group child tasks together under
a parent, values such as dates, costs etc. aggregate and roll up to the parent task. So the parent task takes on the form of a
summary task or rollup task for its child tasks. Planned start date and Planned end date rollup occurs when you create child tasks:
the duration of the parent automatically adjusts to cover its child tasks.

A parent-child relationship is different from a dependency relationship. In a dependency, one task must finish before another begins.
In a parent-child relationship, any number of tasks can be nested under a parent task with or without any dependencies.
Creating a Parent-Child Task Relationship
To set parent-child relationships, select a task that you want to convert to a child task and click on the Make Child button.

Shortcut – Alt + Right arrow key

To create a parent task from a child task click on the Make Parent button.

Shortcut – Alt + Left arrow key

Parent-Child (Rollup) Task Calculations

Rollups involve date changes, state changes, and value calculations. Gantt Excel automatically calculates parent task rollups and
sets the following fields to read-only
Estimated Start Date
Estimated End Date
Baseline Start Date
Baseline End Date
Actual Start Date.
Actual End Date
Percent Complete
Estimated Cost
Baseline Cost
Actual Cost

Task Dependencies
Setting dependencies between tasks is the most powerful feature of Gantt Excel. The in-built auto-scheduling automation of the
template is able to update the dates of tasks based on changes that are made to its dependent tasks.
Definition of Task Dependency
Task Dependency is a relationship in which a task or milestone relies on other tasks to be performed (completely or partially)
before it can be performed. This is also referred to as a logical relationship.  It is important to understand the types of dependencies
that can be used in Gantt Excel Ultimate.

4 types of task dependencies are supported in Gantt Excel Ultimate

 1. Finish-to-Start (FS)
2. Start-to-Start (SS)
3. Finish-to-Finish (FF)
4. Start-to-Finish (SF)

Finish-to-Start (FS):

This is the most common type of dependency between tasks and a type that is used most often. This dependency means that if
there are 2 tasks TASK A and B, then TASK A (FS) B means that, the dependent task (B) cannot begin until the task that it depends
(A) on is complete… In other words, if TASK A is delayed by a day, then TASK B will also be delayed and will begin a day later.
Example: If you are building the foundation for your house and you have two tasks, “Excavate” and “Pour concrete,” the “Pour
concrete” task cannot begin until the “Excavate” task is complete

Start-to-Start (SS):
This dependency means that if there are 2 tasks TASK A and B, Task B can’t start until Task A starts. They don’t have to start at
the same time: Task B can begin any time after Task A begins.
Example: To save time, you want to level concrete at one end of the foundation while it is still being poured at the other end.
But Level concrete (Task B) can’t start until Pour concrete (Task B) has also started.

Finish-to-Finish (FF)

This dependency means that if there are 2 tasks TASK A and B, Task B can’t finish until Task A is completed. They don’t have to
end at the same time: Task B can end any time after Task A ends.
Example: Your team is adding the wiring to the building and inspecting it at the same time. Until Add wiring (Task A) gets done, you
won’t be able to finish Inspect electrical (Task B).

Start-to-Finish (SF)

Task B can’t finish until Task A begins. Task B can finish any time after Task A begins. This type of link is rarely used.
Example: The wooden window frames for your house are built off-site. You can’t finish Assemble windows (Task B) until Window
frame delivery (Task A) begins.

Lag time, a time interval can be set between dependent tasks to allow for required delays. For example, in a construction project,
you need to let the foundations set before building the walls. In this case, lag time should be set for concrete to set. A successor
task can only start once the defined lag time (specified in days) has elapsed.

Creating a Task Dependency

The easiest way to create a task dependency is to double-click a task and then set dependencies from the right pane.

Steps –

1. Click on the drop-down under Predecessor – Task name and select the predecessor task, set

the dependency type and lag.
2. Click the Add button to add the dependency and click Ok to finish. A task dependency is set instantly.
Modifying Task Dependency
To modify a task dependency just double-click a task and then you can add/ edit or delete existing dependencies.
  To edit a dependency, select the task dependency and click the edit button. Click the Save button when you finish.
 To delete a dependency, select the task dependency and click the delete button.

Timeline
In addition to the grid portion of the template, the Gantt Chart timeline view also provides an illustrated version of your task list, with
Gantt bars that show the duration of your project’s tasks across a timeline. For each task, the associated Gantt bar begins at the
start date and ends at the finish date.

Notes:

 Gantt bars are displayed using the start and finish dates for the tasks in your project.
 Task completion percentage is added as an overlay over the Gantt bars. This visually communicates progress of the tasks.

The timeline can be viewed in six different views: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly and Yearly view. This feature is
particularly useful for lengthy projects.
You can also set the number of weeks that you would like to display in the timeline by clicking on the Settings button in
the Gantt tab> Select Display tab and then set the “No of weeks to display in the Timeline” option.
Customizing the Gantt Chart Timeline Colors
The Gantt Excel timeline includes Gantt bars and other colored shapes representing…

1. Estimated Duration bar color

2. Task Percentage Complete overlay bar color
3. Baseline Duration bar color (turned off by default)
4. Actual Duration bar color (turned off by default)
5. Dependency Connector color
6. Today(s) date Indicator color
7. Task Border color

Default Gantt Timeline Colors

Default colors can be changed across the Gantt chart sheet by clicking on the Settings button in the Gantt tab.
You can double-click the default colors to any color of your choice and click the Update button.
The Gantt timeline will instantly update the default colors of all tasks with the newly selected colors.

Changing Colors of Individual Bars and Milestones

You can also change the color of each individual bar or milestone marker

1. To do this, just double-click the task or milestone and then change the colors under the Bar Colors section and then hit
the Ok button.
 
Keyboard Shortcuts for Gantt Excel
This article shows all keyboard shortcuts for Gantt Excel.

Task Shortcut Keys

Add New Gantt Chart Alt + GC

Add New Task (at selection) Alt + GA

Add New Task (below selection) Alt + GAB

Add New Milestone Alt + GM

Task Shortcut Keys

Edit Task Alt + GE

Duplicate Task Alt + GD

Delete Task Alt + GX

Make Parent Task Alt + Left Arrow

Make Child Task Alt + Right Arrow

Move Task Down Alt + Down Arrow

Task Shortcut Keys

Move Task Up Alt + Up Arrow

Resources Alt + GR

Holidays Alt + GH

Settings Alt + GN

Delete Task Alt + GX

TIP 1 TIP 2 TIP 3

Double-click a task to bring up the Double-click a date to select a Double-click a resource to bring up
task form. date within the date picker. the resource form.