PowerPoint Timeline

You can create a timeline in PowerPoint in two ways:

• Manually – by using one of the PowerPoint’s in-built Smart Art graphics and formatting it as a basic timeline.

• Automatically – by installing the free PowerPoint timeline maker add-in called Office Timeline, choosing one of its timeline templates and customizing it to fit your needs.

To learn more about what each of the methods above entails, check out our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a timeline in PowerPoint.

To insert a timeline in PowerPoint, follow the simple steps described below:

1. Open a new presentation in PowerPoint.

2. From the PowerPoint ribbon, go to Insert > SmartArt > Illustrations.

3. Within the dialog box that pops up, click on the Process category.

4. Select the Basic timeline option.

PowerPoint will automatically add to your slide a default graphic with placeholder text and three milestones that you need to manually edit in order to turn it into a proper timeline. Double-click on the placeholder text to type in yours and add more milestones using the Text Pane of your basic timeline graphic.

Alternatively, you can skip all the formatting struggle and easily customize our pre-formatted PowerPoint timeline template that was designed as a native PPT slide. If you want to explore more examples of such ready-to-use visuals, check out our gallery of PowerPoint timeline templates.

Yes, there is – actually Microsoft PowerPoint offers you two timeline options that you can use to create such a graphic. These are:

1. Inserting a default Basic Timeline in your slide from Insert > SmartArt (Illustrations) > Process.

2. Using one of the in-built timeline templates that you can find by typing “timeline” in the search box at the top of the New section on PowerPoint’s Home screen.

Yes, PowerPoint does have a series of native timeline templates that users can manually format and adjust to create a simple timeline. You can access them from the New section of PowerPoint’s Home screen, after you type in “timeline” in the search box at the top.

However, these in-built PowerPoint timeline charts can prove limited or unsuitable for visually representing more complex plans that need to be regularly updated.

To offer you more flexible and diverse options, we’ve created this customizable PowerPoint timeline slide along with an entire collection of other professionally designed timeline templates.

You can alter any of these PowerPoint timeline samples manually or automatically by using the free timeline maker add-in for PowerPoint called Office Timeline. Automating the entire process of creating, updating, and customizing a timeline chart, the tool helps you save time and effort. It also provides you with additional pre-built timeline examples right inside the presentation platform.

Microsoft Office does feature a few simple timeline templates within its suite of programs (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint). However, these graphics need further manual editing and formatting in order to create a basic timeline, which often proves time-consuming.

To get started faster with using these pre-formatted samples, check out our series of free tutorials on how to make a timeline using Microsoft Office tools.

You can create a timeline from Excel to PowerPoint using the free timeline maker add-in from Office Timeline. With its help, you will be able to copy-paste your Excel data straight into PowerPoint and automatically generate a stylish timeline based on the input.

To get a detailed walk-through of the process, check out our tutorial on how to make a timeline in Excel. It demonstrates the easiness of the Excel-to-PowerPoint option as compared to building a timeline from scratch directly in the spreadsheet platform.

The easiest way in which you can make a timeline slide in PowerPoint is to use one of the platform’s in-built timeline templates. Here is what you need to do:

1. Open a new PowerPoint presentation.

2. From the Home screen, go to New.

3. Enter “timeline” in the search box at the top and choose your preferred model from the returned results.

4. Double-click to open your preferred model and replace the placeholder text with your own specific details.

If you want more timeline examples and more professional layouts to choose from, simply customize our PowerPoint timeline template or browse our gallery of free project timeline templates. All these are designed as presentation-ready PPT slides that can be customized with just a few clicks.

Another method of creating a timeline slide in PowerPoint is to manually format a Basic Timeline default chart from PowerPoint’s SmartArt Process illustrations (under the Insert tab). Our tutorial on how to make a timeline in PowerPoint documents all the steps of the process, along with a more automated alternative.

Out of Microsoft’s suite of standard office programs, PowerPoint is the best one to use in order to create a timeline. Microsoft Project, Excel, and Word can also be used to produce such a graphic, however the final output may not be that professional looking, easy-to-follow, and suited for an executive presentation.

Given that timelines serve as an efficient tool to clearly visualize and showcase a sequence of events in chronological order, the presentation software gives you the means and format to do so.

Check out our comprehensive tutorials and easily learn how to make a timeline with each of Microsoft’s office platforms and other tools as well.

Before you create a project plan in PowerPoint, make sure you have the following elements well defined:

1. Project scope, goals, deliverables, and critical tasks required to achieve your set objectives.

2. Requirements and resources (that is, the supplies you will need to finish your project on time).

3. A designated team to carry out your project’s tasks.

4. A clear project schedule that illustrates the desired course of action once the project is initiated.

Once this information is ready, you can simply download our free PowerPoint project plan template and customize it with your own data. Built as a native PowerPoint slide, our pre-designed project plan sample can be easily shared and updated by anyone who has the popular presentation tool.

Here are the main ways in which you can create a project timeline for free:

• By using standard office tools like Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.

  Our step-by-step tutorials on how to make a timeline with various productivity tools will help you get started faster.

• By simply customizing any of our pre-formatted project timeline templates.

  Just download your favorite sample, open it in PowerPoint, and automatically update it according to your own data and style preferences using the free 14-day trial of the Office Timeline add-in.