How to make a timeline in Excel

Yes, Microsoft Excel offers a few templates that you can customize to create various types of timelines. To explore them, go to File > New and check the template preview list. If you cannot find what you need, type “timeline” in the Search for online templates box to refine the search and further filter the available options.

If you’re not happy with the limitations of the standard timeline templates in Excel, have a look at the library of professional timeline templates created with our PowerPoint add-in called Office Timeline, an automated timeline maker that you can use to make timelines with your Excel data and that offers a free trial of its premium edition. Here is a preview of the templates you’ll find:

Here are three ways to make a timeline in Microsoft Excel:

1. Insert a chart and turn it into a timeline. Find out how to do this in our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a timeline in Excel.

2. Build a timeline with SmartArt. These are the quick steps to make a timeline with SmartArt:

1. In your Excel file, go to Insert > Illustrations > SmartArt.

2. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box, select Process, pick a layout, then click OK.

   

   

3. On your SmartArt graphic, click [Text] to edit and add data.

4. Add items to your timeline by right-clicking on a shape, then Add Shape > Add Shape After/Before.

5. Customize your timeline. After you create the timeline, you can style it further, add or move dates, change styles, layouts, or colors by using the options in the SmartArt Design and Format tabs that show on the menu ribbon when you select the SmartArt graphic.

   Note: Be aware that the SmartArt Design and SmartArt Format tabs are contextual tabs. This means that they are not visible all the time. They only show when you select a particular object which can be edited using special options.

   

   

Tip: This solution also works with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. For more detailed instructions, check out any tutorial in our series on how to make a timeline in Excel.

3. Use a free, fast, automated timeline making tool.

Since the manual methods require considerable time and customization efforts, we suggest an easier, automated way, good for complex timelines that you can use with your Excel data. This method requires downloading a free, specialized timeline maker: the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in.

This is a time-saving solution, offering a variety of pre-built templates to choose from. You just pick your template, copy-paste or import your Excel data and quickly generate beautiful timelines. The timelines are presentation-ready PowerPoint slides that can be saved as images, so you can easily include them in Microsoft Excel or other Microsoft Office files. Depending on the template that you choose, your timeline could look like this:

Yes, there are several ways to make a timeline in Excel:

With SmartArt:

1. Go to Insert > Illustrations > SmartArt.

2. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic window, select Process on the left and pick one of the timeline layouts.

3. On the SmartArt graphic, click [Text] to edit and add your data.

Note: This method is rather manual and tedious. A lot of time will be needed for customization. Complexity: MEDIUM | Time: HOURS | Results: NOT GREAT

With Charts:

1. Organize your data in an Excel table.

2. Go to Insert > Charts.

3. Select Scatter.

4. Format and style chart into a timeline. To do this, follow the steps described in our article.

Note: The chart will need extra workaround formatting to make it look like a timeline, which could prove very time-consuming.
Complexity: HARD | Time: HOURS | Results: MEDIUM

With Office Timeline:

1. Open Office Timeline and select your preferred template.

2. Copy-paste data from Excel into the Office Timeline wizard. Or just type in your data.

3. After light customization, your timeline is ready to be used in PowerPoint presentations or, as an image, with any MS Office tools.

Note: Office Timeline is a PowerPoint add-in that helps you create professional timelines. You can try out the premium Pro+ Edition for free for 14 days.
Complexity: EASY | Time: MINUTES | Results: GREAT

Here’s how you can build a simple timeline in Excel:

1. Go to the Insert tab on the Excel ribbon, select Smart Art from the Illustrations section.

2. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic window that opens next, go to the Process option, select one of the timeline layouts, and then click OK.

3. Customize your timeline: enter text (click on shape to type), change layout, styles and colors or add items in the SmartArt Design tab on the ribbon.

Depending on the timeline layout you chose, the result can look like this:

We suggest an easier, more professional way to build simple, yet better-looking timelines using your Excel data: quickly generate the timeline in PowerPoint using our handy add-in called Office Timeline. With this automated tool, you can copy-paste your data from Excel to PowerPoint through its intuitive data entry wizard. Once you’ve entered your project information, Office Timeline will automatically process and turn it into a stylish timeline that you can then include in Excel spreadsheets and Word documents or use as a stand-alone PowerPoint slide. Here is how your timeline could look like:

You can make a timeline chart in Excel by manually formatting a basic Scatter chart. You should know that the amount of customization and editing work needed to transform the initial chart into an actual timeline-looking visual might prove tedious and challenging. However, simple timeline charts can be created in Excel by following these basic steps:

1. Organize your data in a table in Excel. In a three-column table, enter your key events, due dates and assigned plotting number for each of the listed events.

2. Insert a Scatter chart to your Excel spreadsheet. Go to Insert > Chart and select the Scatter option.

3. Add table data to your Scatter chart.

4. Customize the chart to turn it into a timeline. Find out detailed instructions in our step-by-step tutorial on creating a timeline from a Scatter chart in Excel.

A faster, easier way is to make your timeline chart in PowerPoint and then insert it into your Excel file as an image or object. For stylish visuals with minimum effort, our suggestion is to use a professional tool such as Office Timeline. The free trial of its premium edition, Office Timeline Pro+, includes templates like these, that you can use to generate timelines from your Excel data:

The simplest way to create a project milestone timeline in Excel is to use the spreadsheet platform’s native “Project timeline” template. It includes milestones as well as a customizable data table needed for your timeline. You can find the project timeline template in Excel by going to File > New and searching for “project timeline”:

An equally simple, yet more effective way is to use your Excel data to automatically generate a project milestone timeline directly in PowerPoint, with the help of our PowerPoint add-in, Office Timeline. You can use the resulting visual in any Excel spreadsheet, Word document, or PowerPoint presentation. Your timeline may look like this:

For this, you’ll first need to install the free trial of the premium edition. Then, once ready, you simply pick a preferred template, type in or copy-paste your data from Excel, and you are all set. As simple as that!

There are two ways to convert Excel data into a timeline: either using Excel’s native features or leveraging the power of an automated timeline maker. Below, we’ll briefly describe the steps for each method.

1. In Excel:

   1. Use a template. Type in your data, then format the timeline.

      PROs:

      • The templates are easily accessible.

      CONs:

      • Not too many options to choose from.

      • The quality of the resulting visuals is often mediocre.

      • Limited and time-consuming customization functionalities.

   2. Build a timeline from scratch. Go to Insert > Illustrations > SmartArt, selecting Processes in the window that opens next, and then choosing the timeline layout that you want to use.

      PROs:

      • This solution is easily accessible since it uses Excel’s built-in tools.

      CONs:

      • Offers few layout options.

      • Time-consuming formatting work required to customize a timeline in Excel.

      • The result does not look really professional.

2. With Office Timeline, the PowerPoint add-in timeline creator: Select a template you like, then type your data in the data entry wizard.

   PROs:

   • A rich gallery of pre-built templates to choose from.
   • Easy-to-use interface.
   • Professionally looking output.
   • A free trial to the add-in’s premium edition is available.

   CONs: Needs downloading and installation.

Here are the main 3 ways in which you can move a timeline from Excel to PowerPoint:

1. Just copy the timeline from Excel (CTRL + C), place your cursor on the destination slide in PowerPoint, and paste it there (CTRL + V).

   • Use this method if you don’t need to edit the timeline after inserting it in PowerPoint.

2. Save the Excel timeline as a picture (right-click on it + Save as Picture…), then insert it into your PowerPoint slide (by going to Insert > Pictures > Insert Picture From > This Device and looking for the image you just saved).

   • Use this method if you don’t need to edit the timeline after inserting it in PowerPoint.

3. Use our free automated timeline maker, Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in:

   3.1 Just copy-paste your Excel data directly into the add-in’s data entry wizard. The add-in will then automatically turn it into a timeline right inside PowerPoint.

   • Use this method if you need to edit the timeline after inserting it in PowerPoint. With Office Timeline, you can change the looks of your timeline and update the data as many times as you need.

   3.2 Import your data from Excel. By doing so, you will link your PowerPoint slide to the source Excel file and be able to refresh the PowerPoint timeline whenever making changes to your Excel data.

   • Use this method if you need to edit the Excel file after importing data into Office Timeline. You can update your imported timeline directly in PowerPoint by clicking the Refresh Data button on the Office Timeline tab.