project timeline presentation template

Customizable project timeline and roadmap templates

Plotting your course isn't just clarifying, it can be captivating too. build your next project timeline or roadmap using designer-developed, customizable templates. no matter what kind of project you're planning or managing, there's a timeline template that'll keep you on track..

Show your plan at a glance with timeline templates

Don't waste any time—start your next project plan or production roadmap with a timeline template. Timelines are a great way to visually organize your thoughts, plotting each step that you plan to execute. Making planners and trackers into timelines is a snap when working with templates. You can also use timeline templates to show how far a project has come along, every milestone accounted for. Small businesses can find timelines helpful for pitching new business during presentations as well as planning new products. And adding a timeline to a wedding save the date or an invitation is a great way to let guests know everything they can look forward to during your celebration. Timelines aren't just for project planning. Resumes are themselves a kind of timeline, and there are some fantastic graphic resume layouts that incorporate easy-to-read timelines that make your work history stand out.

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PowerPoint Timeline

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Using a PowerPoint timeline template is crucial when it comes to showcasing important project plans, schedules or workflows to clients or stakeholders. The benefits of a PowerPoint template when creating timelines are clear and concise:

• Speeds up the presentation-building process as you work right inside PowerPoint.
• Simplifies the efforts to create a clear, crisp timeline by providing an already professionally-designed format to your data.

Including timeline graphics that allow you to represent different activities and milestones within a specified time period, a PowerPoint timeline template may prove useful for a range of cases:

• Giving an overview of major tasks;
• Tracking the status of a project;
• Visualizing how long specific activities/phases are going to take;
• Highlighting important achievements.

In other words, a PowerPoint timeline template is a very effective way to ensure visibility and communicate a project’s story to those who need to stay in the loop.

Effectively visualize your next project plan with the help of our professional, crisp PowerPoint timeline template that you can download and use for free. As an additional resource, we also offer you the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about this type of project visuals.

Using the PowerPoint timeline template

This free PowerPoint timeline template has been designed for professionals who need to quickly make high-level timeline presentations to important audiences. Clients and executives expect to see clear, intuitive, easy-to-follow visuals when reviewing any project plans, programs, or business summaries. They also expect to see these communications in a way that is familiar to them and in a tool that they are comfortable using. A tool like Microsoft PowerPoint.

Complex Gantt charts or other visuals created by project management software or stand-alone planning applications are complicated, challenging to follow, and hard to work with. The Microsoft PowerPoint timeline can be easily shared and edited by teams, customers and management who use PowerPoint. It will showcase your work in a way that will be easy for them to understand and pay attention to.

The PowerPoint timeline template will be a refreshing alternative for anyone who has been presented typical Gantt charts and project schedules in the past. Once updated with your own information, it will turn into a high-level visual that is clear enough even to those who aren’t involved in the daily detail of your project plan. You can edit the template right inside PowerPoint either by manually adding your project data or automatically, using the free timeline creator from Office Timeline.

This timeline template has been built to work with Office Timeline’s free timeline creator app for Microsoft PowerPoint . The tool is a plug-in, which means you can edit our timeline sample or create other similar ones directly in PowerPoint. Simply add your milestones and tasks to its automated layout engine and see the changes applied instantly. Thus, you will be able to repeatedly update your timeline PPT slide as fast as clients and executives expect you to, without having to rebuild the visual from scratch each time.

Office Timeline Pro also integrates with project management applications such as Microsoft Project. It enables you to import all of your existing project data and create a timeline slide in PowerPoint automatically.

FAQs about PowerPoint timeline templates

Find here the answers to the most frequently asked questions about making project timelines in PowerPoint.

How do I create a timeline in PowerPoint?

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 .

How do you insert a timeline in PowerPoint?

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

Open a new presentation in PowerPoint.

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

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

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 .

Is there a timeline option in PowerPoint?

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

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

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.

Is there a timeline template in PowerPoint?

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.

Does Microsoft Office have a timeline template?

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.

How do I create a timeline from Excel to PowerPoint?

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.

How do I make a timeline slide in PowerPoint?

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:

Open a new PowerPoint presentation.

From the Home screen, go to New .

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

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.

What is the best Microsoft program to create a timeline?

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.

How do I create a project plan in PowerPoint?

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

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

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

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

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.

How do I make a project timeline for free?

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 .

Weekly Work Schedule

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Updating your template is simple and fast.

Use the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in to quickly update any of these timeline templates or create your own project visuals. Easily change the texts, dates, colors, shapes and styles of your timeline, right from inside PowerPoint.

Download Free Timeline Maker

Or try our online timeline maker .

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134+ Timeline PowerPoint Templates for Presentations

Download PowerPoint Timeline Templates and illustrations to make attractive timelines for PowerPoint presentations. These professionally crafted timeline templates have been designed to provide presenters with all the necessary layouts and appropriate imagery to create PowerPoint timelines with convenience.

Download a PowerPoint Timeline Template that best matches your presentation topic and customize it to create awesome timelines. These templates are suitable for making project timelines, sequential slides, timeline diagrams, etc.

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First impressions matter, especially in business presentations. Our timeline PowerPoint templates are designed by expert designers to ensure a polished and credible appearance. High-quality graphics and easy-to-edit layouts make it easy to present complex timelines engagingly.

Represent project milestones, steps in processes, success stories timelines, and plenty of other ideas that require a detailed date-by-date explanation with the help of our timeline presentation templates. Whether you’re preparing for a crucial business meeting, a corporate event, or any professional setting, our timeline PPT templates provide a seamless solution to create impressive timelines quickly and efficiently.

For more information, check our tutorial on how to make a timeline on Google Slides .

What is a timeline PowerPoint template?

A timeline PowerPoint template is a pre-designed slide deck that helps you create and present timelines in a structured and visually appealing manner. It includes various layouts for different types of timelines, such as project plans, historical timelines, and strategic roadmaps.

How do you create a timeline in slides?

To create a timeline in slides, download our timeline template PPT, open it in PowerPoint, and customize the text, colors, and images to match your content and branding needs. The intuitive design ensures you can quickly and easily create a professional-looking timeline.

Where do I find free PowerPoint timeline templates?

You can find free PowerPoint timeline templates by visiting our website and exploring our extensive collection of free download PowerPoint templates. These templates are designed to be user-friendly and easy to customize.

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Timeline Templates For Project Management

Our Powerpoint timeline templates are all that you need while presenting a forecast, plan or milestones for a project. Project management is such an integral part of any business and so the importance of a nicely laid out presentation that outlines the targets and objectives of a project is immense. This deck of Powerpoint slides come with all the graphic elements you need to put together a project roadmap or timeline schedule. The professional layouts and the customizable objects make these timeline templates a must have for any project manager.

Workforce Management

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Project Kick Off

Project Action Plan

Project Portfolio

Project Outline

Project Checklist

New Hire Orientation

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Executive Project Status Report

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Multiple Project Timeline Template in PowerPoint

Number of slides: 10

Project tracking timelines are essential tools for project managers and anyone who’s leading a project in the company. They help you organize and keep track of your project’s major tasks, deadlines, and team priorities. If you need to deliver an excellent project soon, check out this set of multiple project tracking timelines in PowerPoint. You’ll find incredible options, from a simple project timeline to complex project timelines. All of them in creative slides you can easily insert into your project report presentations.

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Multiple Project Timelines in PowerPoint for Team Management

12 month multiple project timeline.

For long-term projects, you’ve got amazing annual project timelines. These are project roadmaps where you can plan and schedule monthly activities for everyone on your team. There’s a yearly timeline in particular that covers five years in one view. Use it to lead your company’s efforts towards your biggest goals.

Multiple Project Gantt Chart

This one is probably the best project timeline template you’ll find online. Gantt charts help you showcase all your activities in an easy-to-read format. You need to mark the intersection between tasks and deadlines to create a powerful team planning tool.

Simple Project Tracking Timeline Slide

Besides monthly and annual project timelines, there are simple timelines for short-term projects as well. These are horizontal timelines divided into sections so you can showcase your project’s phases clearly and easily.

Free Multiple Project Timeline Templates in PowerPoint

Creating project timelines in PowerPoint is easier when you don’t build them from scratch. Save time and effort with these multiple project timeline templates.

Timeline Tracking Templates for Project Leaders

Multi-stage timelines are great for aligning different teams and keeping track of joint activities. They are a must-have for any project manager who values organization and productivity.

Project Update Presentations

All these project timelines are designed in a creative style that elevates your presentations’ look and feel. Use them to communicate the status of your projects in update meetings.

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Project Plan Timeline

It seems that you like this template, project plan timeline presentation, free google slides theme, powerpoint template, and canva presentation template.

Blue, green and orange are the background colors of this presentation and the colors that will lead your business plan to success. With this fully editable template, you will be able to present the most relevant data of your business plan in a clear and concise way. Among its slides you will find resources to do so: graphs, tables or diagrams at your disposal. Do not forget to take a look at the alternative resources that we have included at the end of the presentation, sure that, using them together with your content, the final result will be amazing.

Features of this template

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• 40 different slides to impress your audience
• Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
• Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
• Designed to be used in Google Slides, Canva, and Microsoft PowerPoint
• 16:9 widescreen format suitable for all types of screens
• Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the free resources used

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Am I free to use the templates?

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Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

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Project Timeline for PowerPoint

Business , Calendar , Chronologic , Gantt , Planning , Project Management , Table , Timeline , Workflow

Free project timeline for PowerPoint. This template, created with tables is very easy to customize.

Project Timeline

Use this timeline for project management , planning, tracking, and timesheets. Track and communicate your activities (tasks or events) and progress over the year.

Includes 2 slide option designs: Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9).

Widescreen (16:9) size preview:

This ‘Project Timeline for PowerPoint’ features:

• 2 unique slides
• Light and Dark layout
• Completely editable shapes
• Created with the Table function
• Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9) aspect ratios

Free fonts used:

• Helvetica (System Font)
• Calibri (System Font)

Terms of use:

Requires attribution, personal and educational use, commercial use, (re)sell, (re)distribute, read the full  terms of use.

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11 Beautiful Timeline Presentation Templates to Make Your Own

Written by: Christopher Jan Benitez

Are you tired of creating boring, cookie-cutter presentations for your team or clients?

Do you struggle to find unique and visually appealing ways to display information on a timeline?

Look no further! In this article, we present 11 beautiful timeline presentation templates from Visme that will help you craft professional and eye-catching presentations with ease.

But before we do, we’ll first look at what a timeline presentation is, its different types and additional design tips to make your presentation stand out.

At the end of this article, you can say goodbye to the pain of struggling to create visually appealing presentations and hello to a more compelling documentation of your timeline!

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit timeline presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What is a timeline presentation, 11 types of timelines used in presentations, 11 timeline presentation templates you can use, how to create a timeline presentation with visme, 5 design tips for a more beautiful timeline presentation.

A timeline presentation is a visual representation of a sequence of events or a process in chronological order from left to right or top to bottom. It’s an essential tool for organizing and presenting information to reflect the timelines of different products.

A typical timeline presentation includes a series of points or milestones. And each milestone represents a specific event or moment in time. It may also include images, text, or other multimedia elements to provide more context or detail about the events. You can connect the lines or arrows to show the order of occurrence.

There are different types of timelines because people use timelines differently.

Below are 11 types of timelines used in presentations.

1. Chronological timeline - Shows events or milestones in the order of occurrence. It shows the progression of events over time.

2. Linear timeline - A chronological representation of events. And each event corresponds to a point on the timeline.

3. Gantt chart - Represents the progress of a project over time. It shows the start and end dates of each task in the project (and the dependencies between them).

4. Roadmap timeline - A visual representation of a plan or strategy. It details the steps needed to achieve a goal.

5. Historical timeline - Narrates events that occurred in the past.

6. Biographical timeline - Represents notable events in a person's life.

7. Process timeline - Represents the steps involved in a specific process.

8. Milestone timeline - Embodies the events that occurred over time.

9. Product timeline - Visualizes the development and evolution of a product over time.

10. Event timeline - Takes viewers through the key events and activities in chronological order.

11. Career timeline - Showcases the events and accomplishments in a person's professional career.

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Whenever you’re ready to create a timeline presentation, make sure to create one using Visme.

It’s an all-in-one platform for creating beautiful presentations even if you don’t have any design experience. You can use its drag-and-drop builder to feature elements and make your project even more appealing.

Visme has other features you can use to get the most out of your timeline presentation, which we’ll discuss later.

Below are 11 templates you can use on the platform so you don’t have to start from scratch:

1. Crystal Diner Company Timeline Infographic Template

Use this template to display a vibrant infographic timeline of a product. It features bright colors and well-structured formatting and can help you convey a lively message.

2. History of Email Timeline Infographic Template

Highlight essential dates and notable milestones with this template. By default, it shows an informative history of email. And if you want to present something ripe with details, use this template and input your custom data.

3. Social Media Timeline Infographic Template

This social media timeline infographic template is ideal for presentations involving a set of relevant products. It features a white background and bold colors that can help you show a clear timeline of events.

4. Ice Cream Timeline Infographic Template

Use this ice cream timeline infographic template to strike an elegant appeal in your presentation. It’s great to use if you want to feature a sweet subject.

5. Company History Timeline Infographic Template

This timeline infographic template can help you present your company history. It’s perfect for you if you’re going for a professional vibe.

6. History of Solar Technology Timeline Template

The History of Solar Technology Timeline Template is ideal to use if you want to impress your audience with a colorful and information-rich presentation. It looks great regardless of the nature of your presentation.

7. Purple and Black Business Presentation Template

Use this eye-catching template to deliver a business-related presentation. Of course, it can still work wonders even if you won’t feature business-related topics.

8. BuffIT Pitch Deck Presentation Template

This BuffIT Pitch Deck Presentation Template can help you present an unforgettable professional presentation. It has a modern and edgy vibe and it can help you convey a friendly and professional message.

9. Product Design Process Timeline Infographic Template

Use this product design process timeline infographic template to show your design process. If you want to elaborate on certain aspects of your process, you can make it happen.

10. The Story of Your Company Timeline Infographic Template

Let the story of your company stand out if you use this template. Grab the attention of audiences and flesh out the points you want them to remember.

11. Interactive Biographical Timeline Template

Use this template to create a one-of-a-kind biographical timeline. The interactive feature of this template can help you get through to a hard-to-reach audience.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to create a timeline presentation.

Step 1: Launch Visme’s Free Timeline Maker + Online Templates

Go to Visme’s homepage can click on the “Sign Up Free” button to create an account. If you already have one, click the Login link on the homepage to sign in.

Step 2: Click Create Your Timeline

Once logged in, go to the Timeline Maker page and click on the “Create Your Timeline” button

Step 3: Choose a Timeline Presentation Template

On the next screen, choose from any of the templates that catch your eyes and capture the vision you have for your timeline. Click “Edit” on your chosen template to start working on the timeline.

Step 4: Review and Edit

On the editor page, you can make changes to everything on the timeline template. That includes the header and text, font pairs and colors, stats and figures and more.

Let’s say you want to add your brand’s text, color and logo automatically. In this case, Visme’s Brand Wizard extracts these from your URL and allows you to add them to the timeline in a few clicks!

You can also make your timeline more interactive and dynamic by adding clickable elements that link to a page or another presentation you’ve published.

Finally, you can add team members to work on the timeline simultaneously. Collaborating on the design  allows your team to finish the project ahead of time. Use our analytics tool to see who has viewed your proposal or taken action.

Step 5: Prepare to Present

Once you’re done with the timeline, click “Share” on the upper right part of the screen. Doing so opens a new window that lets you publish the timeline online.

Write a suitable title and description before clicking the “Share” button. Once published, you can embed the timeline on a web page, preferably on your website. This allows you to showcase your ideas to people while maintaining your branding at the same time.

It’s one thing to create a timeline presentation using Visme. It’s another to put your personal touch on the project that reflects your personality and brand.

As mentioned, Visme offers an array of design features to achieve your desired look and feel for your presentation. And to help you put those features to good use, below are tips you must follow:

1. Choose Your Fonts Wisely

Choose a font that is legible and easy to read, especially if you will be presenting the timeline to a large group or projecting it on a screen.

Below are additional tips to help you choose fonts:

• Consider the purpose of the text - Different fonts are more suitable for different purposes. For example, a formal invitation may be best suited to a traditional serif font like Times New Roman, while a children's book may be better suited to a playful, sans-serif font like Comic Sans.
• Keep readability in mind - An essential aspect of any font is that it is easy to read. Choose a clear and legible font — if you use text in a document or on a screen.
• Use contrast wisely - Pairing two fonts that are too similar can make the text difficult to read. Instead, try pairing a sans-serif font with a serif font or a script font with a sans-serif font to create contrast and make the text more visually appealing.

2. Be Strategic with Colors

Use colors to help differentiate different elements of the timeline. For example, you might use different colors for each period, event, or category of information.

Below are tips that can help you with colors.

• Consider the purpose and audience of the design - Different colors can convey different moods and emotions, so it's essential to choose colors that align with the purpose and audience. For example, bright, energetic colors may be more suitable for children's toy packaging, while calming, neutral colors may be better for a spa website.
• Use color psychology - Different colors are associated with different emotions and psychological responses. For example, red can be associated with passion and excitement, while blue can be associated with trust and calmness.
• Limit the number of colors - Using too many colors can make a design look cluttered and unprofessional. It's generally best to limit the number of colors to three or four — and use shades and tints of these colors to create variety.

3. Create a Visually Appealing Presentation

Use images or graphics to help illustrate the events on your timeline. It can help make the timeline more visually appealing and help your audience better understand the events and their significance.

Below are tips that can help you create visual appeal.

• Use a timeline legend - Explain any symbols or abbreviations used on the timeline. It can help your audience better understand the timeline and the information presented.
• Feature media - Add Visme’s icons , stock photos and videos . Also, include charts, graphs, maps, widgets and other data visualization tools .
• Make your presentation interactive - Use quizzes, surveys and polls to make your content more engaging. It can help to hold your audience's attention and make the content more memorable.

4. Use a Timeline Scale

Use a clear and legible timeline scale. Make sure the scale is easy to understand. It should also reflect the periods on the timeline.

Below are tips that can help you with a timeline scale.

• Determine the purpose of the timeline - Before creating a timeline, it's essential to consider what you want to achieve with the timeline. Are you trying to show the progression of events over a long period, or do you want to focus on a specific project or event? Understanding the purpose of your timeline will help you choose the appropriate scale and level of detail to include.
• Choose the right level of detail - A timeline should include enough information to convey the key events or milestones — and not so much detail that it becomes cluttered or difficult to read. Consider the audience for the timeline and how much information they need to understand the story you are trying to tell.
• Leverage visual cues - Timelines can be more effective when they include eye-catching elements like images, charts, or graphics. These elements can help convey information in a more engaging and easy-to-understand way. Consider using icons or color coding to communicate different types of events. You can also do it to highlight important milestones

5. Pick a Relevant Title

Use a timeline title that clearly and concisely explains it. It can help your audience understand the context and significance of the events.

Below are tips that can help you pick a title.

• Make it descriptive - Accurately and concisely describe the content and focus of the timeline. It will help audiences understand your intention and what they can expect to learn.
• Keep it short and sweet - A long, convoluted title may be difficult to understand or remember. Aim for a title that is short and to the point. It also has to be descriptive enough to give your audience an idea of your timeline's topic.
• Consider your audience - Learn who will be viewing your timeline. A title that resonates with your audiences will be more effective in drawing them in and engaging them with the content of your timeline.

Create Timeline Presentations & More in Minutes with Visme

If time is of the essence in your business, then creating timelines for it is just what you need.

Whether it’s to showcase your history to your audience or present a campaign timeline for your pitch deck , you need a timeline maker that will help present your ideas in a clear and visually appealing manner.

But, with Visme, you can achieve this without any design knowledge! Just choose any of the templates above and make the necessary edits using its drag-and-drop builder and advanced features.

And just like that, you’ll be able to design a professional timeline presentation that will wow your audience! Sign up for Visme and use it to create a timeline presentation template.

Design eye-catching timeline presentations in minutes using Visme

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About the Author

Christopher Jan Benitez is a freelance writer who specializes in digital marketing. His work has been published on SEO and affiliate marketing-specific niches like Monitor Backlinks, Niche Pursuits, Nichehacks, Web Hosting Secret Revealed, and others.

Free PowerPoint Project Timeline Templates

By Kate Eby | March 9, 2022

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We’ve compiled the most comprehensive collection of free PowerPoint project timeline templates for project managers, team members, sponsors, and other stakeholders in a presentation-friendly format. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a simple project timeline template , a project roadmap timeline template , a project timeline Gantt chart template , a 30-day project timeline template , and an IT project timeline template . We’ve also included a list of helpful tips for completing these templates .

Simple Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Simple Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint

Use this simple project timeline template to present key timeline information to project sponsors, team members, and other stakeholders. This template includes a visually rich Gantt chart with month-by-month project timeline columns, color-coded task owners, and customizable task durations. Ensure that your project is on track and that you’ve accounted for all items prior to launch with this dynamic, easy-to-use template. 

Read our collection of free project timeline templates to find additional resources and get the most out of your project planning timelines.

Multiple Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Multiple Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint

Successful project management requires not only managing the scopes, budgets, and resources of multiple projects, but also planning and executing deliverables. Use this project timeline template with multiple project swimlanes to capture and communicate timelines and milestones for a variety of projects. A Days per Project bar chart slide helps project team members understand project durations, while a color-coded Number of Team Members slide helps communicate resource allocation details. 

For more information about making PowerPoint timelines from scratch, read our guide to making a timeline in PowerPoint .

30-Day Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download 30-Day Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

Create successful month-by-month project plans with this visually rich 30-day project timeline template. Enter project goals and objectives in the customizable bar chart, and adjust the bars to reflect the duration of each task. You can also add milestone dates for key objectives or deliverables and use the built-in Results row to quickly review project progress.

High-Level Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download High-Level Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

Clearly communicate your project’s core deliverables and key milestones with this high-level project timeline template. This single-slide template provides visually dynamic, color-coded stages, with text boxes to list the details of each stage. This template is all you need to track your project’s most important goals.

IT Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download IT Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

This IT project timeline template includes a customizable framework for everything you need to plan and present your IT-specific project schedules. The template comes pre-filled with example text for each project stage and allows you to enter individual project tasks or timelines for different stages. A Duration column helps you track various project components, while the bar chart provides a visual representation of how each stage relates to the next.

Software Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Software Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

Use this dynamic software project timeline template to keep team members and project sponsors apprised of project plans and progress, from kick-off to launch. The template comes pre-filled with Prep, Initiation, Development, Operations , and Launch categories, and includes common software project tasks, such as Technical Requirements, API Development, UI Client , and Hardware Configuration . This template includes a bar chart to easily review project stages and progress.

Project Milestones Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Project Milestones Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

This project milestones presentation template provides a clear picture of your project’s principal events and stages of completion. Break down project goals into individual tasks and milestones, set due dates, and establish task duration. This visually rich template provides project managers and stakeholders with a high-level timeline of key milestones and due dates.

Project Timeline Planning Template for PowerPoint

Download Project Timeline Planning Template — PowerPoint  

Present both a high-level overview and stage-by-stage rundowns of your project plan with this project timeline planning template. This template serves as the visual representation of your proposed project plan and enables you to create tasks, edit task status, assign tasks to team members, set start and end dates, and enter additional details. The bar chart slide translates these tasks into a visual timeline and allows you to add a color-coded indicator that signifies the status of each task.

Project Roadmap Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Project Roadmap Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

Use this project roadmap template to visualize project goals, scope, deliverables, tasks, and assignments for successful project planning and execution. The template allows you to add milestones and other important dates for your project’s eventual launch. Month-by-month columns and color-coded project phases help you and your team quickly and accurately gauge project progress.

Project Timeline Gantt Chart Template for PowerPoint

Download Project Timeline Gantt Chart Template — PowerPoint 

This project timeline template uses a Gantt chart to help you and your team plan project stages, milestones, deadlines, and resources. Break down your project timeline into stages with clear, achievable tasks to create a simple but comprehensive project timeline. By doing so, you can provide team members, project sponsors, and other stakeholders with a high-level overview of your project’s aims, dependencies, and individual task durations.

Agile Project Timeline Template for PowerPoint

Download Agile Project Timeline Template — PowerPoint  

This Agile-specific project timeline template is the perfect solution for Agile project managers who need to break project-deliverable goals into sprints , or individual time-bound tasks, and assign departments or individuals to each sprint. Customize the color-coded key to indicate priority levels or potential risks for each item on your project timeline. You can also use this template for Agile retrospectives, and Program Increment (PI) Planning. 

Learn more in our comprehensive guide to Agile project management .

3-Year Project Roadmap Template for PowerPoint

Download 3-Year Project Roadmap Template — PowerPoint  

Present your project’s big-picture, long-term goals and current status with this three-year project roadmap template. Use the year-by-year horizontal “streams” to track task or milestone owners, statuses, project stages, priorities, and potential risks for each component of your project timeline. This template is ideal for longer-duration projects that require you to account for multiple targets and deliverables over many months or years.

What Is a PowerPoint Project Timeline Template?

A PowerPoint project timeline template is a tool project managers use to propose a project timeline or present status updates. Use the template to set task due dates and keep project team members and other stakeholders apprised of project progress. 

As the primary tool for project planning and status update meetings, a PowerPoint project timeline template is essential for ensuring that you have accounted for all project stages and tasks and assigned them to team members. A template provides a high-level, visually rich overview of interrelated tasks and their chronological sequence, due dates, durations, and milestones. A template might also include a brief overview of the project’s scope and goals, so project team members and sponsors understand how to measure project success upon completion. 

While PowerPoint project timeline templates vary, many of them include the following components to include in your proposed project or project status presentations: 

• Project Name: Enter a name for the project. 
• Project Scope: Provide a brief, high-level overview of what the project will entail. 
• Objectives or Goals: Briefly list the project’s main objectives and goals. What does the project hope to achieve? What is its purpose?
• Task ID: For each project task on your timeline, provide a unique task ID. Assigning numbered tasks to team members makes it easier to keep complex projects organized and on schedule.
• Task Name: Enter a name for each task on your timeline that must be completed upon project execution. 
• Stage: Provide the name of the project phase for each stage of the project, such as “Prep,” “Initiation,” “Development,” “Operations,” “Launch,” or “Retrospective.” 
• Assigned To: Assign each project task to a team member, stakeholder, third-party service provider, or client.
• Department: Include the name of the department responsible for each project timeline task or stage. 
• Start Date: Enter a proposed or actual start date for each project task. 
• End Date: Enter an anticipated end date for each project task. 
• Duration: Add the estimated or actual duration of each project task. In PowerPoint project timeline templates, you can extend or retract the start and end dates of the project task bar graphs to quickly update the duration of any task.  
• Milestone: Set project milestones as major indicators of proposed or accomplished achievements in your project’s timeline. 
• Risk: List any potential risks to successful project execution. By doing so, you can proactively address most risks and ensure they don’t disrupt your project schedule. 
• Sprint: For Agile teams, assign tasks to a particular sprint for work to be completed within a certain time-bound period.

Create and Manage Dynamic Project Timelines with Smartsheet for Project Management

From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover a better way to streamline workflows and eliminate silos for good.

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Blog Marketing 25+ Easy-to-Edit PowerPoint Timeline Templates

25+ Easy-to-Edit PowerPoint Timeline Templates

Written by: Jennifer Gaskin May 14, 2021

PowerPoint is the presentation workhorse in most modern offices across the world. But the stock PowerPoint timeline templates leave a lot to be desired. That’s especially true for businesses and marketers who want to harness the power of visual design.

But incorporating timeline infographics into your PowerPoint timeline templates can help you supercharge the impact and engagement of your presentations. With Venngage’s Timeline Maker , creating a captivating timeline is a simple and easy process.

In just a few clicks, you can create a PowerPoint timeline that will spice up your presentation. With a Venngage for Business plan, you can even export your design as a PPT file that you can use for any presentations.

Let’s take a look at some examples of PowerPoint timelines and timeline infographics that you can incorporate into your next presentation.

Click to jump ahead:

Creating a timeline in powerpoint.

• Timeline slide template

Free PowerPoint timeline templates

Timeline infographic powerpoint templates, project timeline powerpoint templates, schedule templates for powerpoint.

• PowerPoint milestone template
• Vertical timeline PowerPoint template

Using Venngage to create a timeline in PowerPoint

Powerpoint timeline template faq.

Creating a timeline in PowerPoint is a simple process, though the program’s built-in tools are not very robust. Here are the basic steps to create a timeline in PowerPoint:

• Add or open a slide
• Click insert, then SmartArt and then hover over the process tab
• Choose a type; there are currently only two SmartArt timeline graphics, but you can also use other SmartArt graphics as timelines
• Double-click the one you want and then begin inserting your entries

Once you have the basic structure created, you can add dates, change the text and colors or modify the layout. This certainly could work for some presentations, but the flexibility and creativity in design is limited.

If you want to impress and engage your audience, a tool like Venngage’s Timeline Maker is the better choice.

Return to Table of Contents

Timeline slide templates

Timelines are useful for many organizational purposes, including scheduling, planning product launches and ensuring projects stay on time and in budget. Timelines are among the most intuitive types of visual content because the brain immediately recognizes what it’s seeing.

Many marketers use timelines as part of their content strategies. That means having a go-to timeline maker is important for internal and external purposes for most businesses and organizations.

Let’s take a look at this social media presentation template:

Timeline slide templates are at their best when events are arranged in a single line or in another linear manner. Slide 3 in the example above is an excellent timeline slide template that you can easily add to any presentation:

Here’s another example of timelines being used in presentation slides:

Timeline slide templates can also be arranged along a vertical axis rather than a horizontal one. Slide 3 in this example shows how you can create an overview of a project timeline with simple headers and explanatory text:

Consider adding some data visualization into your timeline slide templates if you can. In the example below, readers see patient care milestones, but a bar chart transforms this into a statistical timeline rather than one that merely lists dates.

Similarly, this timeline infographic would be an excellent addition to your presentation arsenal as it gives readers another way to visualize data surrounding a set of milestones. In this case, it’s a fundraising campaign, but this approach could apply to just about any organizational need.

Some free PowerPoint timeline templates lean toward the simple and boring. This is especially true when it comes to the stock tools and templates PowerPoint comes with. But Venngage offers many other templates that are free to work with.

Here’s one:

While this PowerPoint timeline template has a minimalist style, it’s anything but boring. The dark background, bright foreground and linear icon style all contribute to a sleek and modern feel:

Here’s a different timeline template that you can edit and add to your PowerPoint slide. Consider customizing this free template to add the steps involved in hiring and training a new team member or to help visualize the steps needed to move into your new office.

Let’s face it, PowerPoint is boring. Bring some liveliness to your presentations by using this free timeline template to share with your audience fun events you’ve organized.

Share fun facts or delve into the hidden history behind things we all take for granted. This timeline template can be customized for your research. Simply add the events you’ve discovered and share them with your internal or external audience.

Infographics come in many styles, but timeline infographics are among the most popular, and they’re easy to create. Because they have a built-in layout, that means your audience will not struggle to understand them.

You can even use the timeline approach for multiple slides in your presentations. Consider this timeline infographic PowerPoint template, which incorporates the basic structure of a timeline throughout most of its slides.

At times, it’s necessary to visualize a complex process with lots of tasks. Consider adding this timeline infographic to your PowerPoint template that allows you to assign tasks to various departments or team members. Note the color-coding to help ensure the initiative is well-organized.

Looking to the past can help you understand the future. That’s why you should have a history timeline infographic you can pull out for your PowerPoint presentations when appropriate.

Remember not to overload your audience with events; for recent history, try to stick with five to seven events.

Timeline infographics for PowerPoint can look back through ancient history, too.

While this timeline infographic PowerPoint template goes back to 1958, some of your audience members may perceive that as ancient. This is useful for organizations with a long history or editorial content surrounding a broad topic.

Staying on time in any project could be the difference between success and failure. That’s why we recommend creating project timelines for your PowerPoint presentations. Include these in any deck you create about the project so there’s never any miscommunication about timing.

Establish expectations for team members, potential investors and other interested parties by explaining how long each segment of a project will take. This can be very high level, as in this example that does not detail individual tasks in each segment:

Here’s another way to present project timeline in presentation form:

If you’re looking to explain a bit more about what each step of a project will involve, consider adding a slide like this one. While the steps aren’t visualized along an axis, they’re clearly numbered, and additional text describes what each one involves:

Project timeline PPT templates can also be highly detailed, like this example. This option also incorporates data visualization with color-coded charts. A slide like this would be perfect for presentations that will be shared across teams or departments.

Some presentations call for specific timing, so consider making a schedule template for PowerPoint that will allow you to create a customized schedule slide for each new project or campaign.

PowerPoint calendar timeline templates

Powerpoint project schedule templates, powerpoint event schedule templates.

PowerPoint schedule templates may include specific dates and even times when tasks or events are scheduled to take place. That makes calendar timeline templates especially useful for conferences, social media or human resources.

Help conference-goers plan their days by creating a detailed schedule of events. This timeline template PPT would be an easy addition to a pre-event download for speakers, attendees and those working the event.

Or consider this social media PPT presentation that has a timeline in slide 4:

The timeframe slide helps team members visualize when various aspects of the campaign will be launched. This ensures they’re able to put together detailed content calendars and stay on task:

PowerPoint timelines are also helpful for keeping projects on schedule. They can include specific deadlines or milestones or they can be broad, depending on the audience in question and what information will be most helpful.

This PowerPoint project schedule template is ideal for large-scale projects that will take several months or years to complete. Consider adding a slide like this for early-stage presentations or pitches that can help you land the job:

Project scheduling requires some organizational discussions. This timeline slide is a smart addition to any presentation that’s focused on project planning, as it will help leaders work backward to determine when tasks must take place.

We’ve touched on these a bit already, but if your presentations need to include detailed event schedules, timelines are ideal for visualizing those events. Not only will it keep participants on track, but it will reassure them that adequate planning has been done.

Event schedule templates are especially helpful in the educational, training and leadership space. Tell new team members what to expect so you can be sure they get off to a good start.

Give participants a chance to make their own decisions about what they’re interested in. If you’re organizing a large conference or seminar, an event schedule template like this is a must-add to your event presentations.

PowerPoint milestone templates

PowerPoint milestone templates are helpful for organizations like startups so they can show investors what they’ve already done and why they should get money to do more. They’re also useful for product development milestones.

Toot your organization’s horn with a PowerPoint milestone template like this one. Designing a timeline slide can help make a brief history feel more impactful, which may make your startup seem more authoritative and successful. That will make any investor take notice:

A similar approach uses icons to help the reader visualize the information included by organizing it into categories like revenue, product and operations, as in the example below:

Whenever possible, think about clever ways to integrate data visualization. Your audience might not realize it, but it will help them remember and understand your material:

You can also use milestone templates to make sure your processes are on point. This example is about creating a successful marketing campaign, but it can be customized to your area of expertise.

This modern project timeline is perfect in the construction or manufacturing industry thanks to its industrial vibe.

The slide uses arrows to help guide the reader to each milestone:

Here’s a take at the same commercial development presentation, but the design is very different:

If the gritty industrial feel isn’t right for you, consider this development milestone PowerPoint template to make sure your project milestones are clear:

Vertical timeline PowerPoint templates

Horizontal timelines are an ideal match for PowerPoint because the default aspect ratio of the program is 16:9. That means slides default to landscape/horizontal layouts. However, some stories are best told vertically, and it’s possible to change your slide orientation to vertical.

Why would you want to do that? In addition to being a better match for some information, vertical layouts are unusual. Surprising people is one of the best ways to make sure they remember you.

Let’s look at some vertical timeline  PPT templates that may convince you to give vertical slides a shot.

Dip your toes into vertical PowerPoint timelines with this milestone template. Consider splitting it into two or more slides depending on the story you want to tell. That could allow you to expand upon each entry.

If you’re already breaking the form by going vertical, why not be even more memorable by starting your timeline slide at the bottom of the frame? Be sure to keep your events clearly numbered so readers don’t get confused.

Creating a timeline for PowerPoint with Venngage is simple. Choose one of the templates above or create your own. Here’s how simple it is:

1. Create a Venngage account for free

You can create an account with your email, Gmail or Facebook credentials.

2. Pick from our hundreds of timeline templates

Our templates library has sections dedicated to timeline infographics or presentations , with hundreds of fully customizable templates to choose from.

3. Add, update or remove sections easily with the smart editor

Most of our templates are created with the simple drag-and-drop editor that lets you design in minutes, even if you have no design skills.

We’re also rolling out new smart templates with the smart list editor, where you can add, delete or drag lists around easily. Each node in a list will correspond and adjust automatically to whatever content you create.

4. Customize to your heart’s content with various icons, illustrations, fonts colors

We offer over 40,000 icons and illustrations as well as 3+ million stock photos for you to choose from.

With a Venngage Business account, you can enjoy Business-exclusive features like real-time collaboration:

Or one-click branding, which allows you to add branding elements to any of your designs:

5. Export your timeline as a PPT slide or PDF, or share it with a private link

A free Venngage account allows you to share your timeline PowerPoint design publicly for free.

You can also upgrade to share your design privately, or download your presentation in PNG, PDF, Interactive PDF and PowerPoint format:

Do you have questions about creating timelines for PowerPoint? We can help.

Is there a timeline template in PowerPoint?

There are two timeline templates in PowerPoint, but several process SmartArt graphics can be hacked to create a timeline.

How do you present a timeline?

Traditionally, timelines are arranged along a horizontal or vertical axis. But they can also be in a circular format, which is helpful for visualizing processes that are repeated. Other methods of presenting a timeline include stacked and diagonal.

What is the best way to show a timeline in PowerPoint?

The beauty of timelines is they are a layout style that everyone intuitively understands. But depending on the length of your timeline, you could add simple animations in PowerPoint to bring your timeline even more life.

In summary: Give your PowerPoint presentations added spice with timeline infographics

While PowerPoint remains one of the best tools for presentation decks of all sorts, its built-in tools leave a lot to be desired in many ways. One of those is in creating engaging and robust timeline infographics and slides.

Use Venngage’s Timeline Maker to export a timeline graphic to PowerPoint or create a range of timeline presentation templates you can add over and over again.

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How to Create a Project Timeline: Free Templates for PowerPoint, Word, & Excel

Your projects aren’t static entities. Things happen over time. That's why it’s important to be able to show important dates and events visually on a timeline so others can see the full picture of your project. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to make a simple timeline in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, with free downloadable templates to help you get started faster.

What is a project timeline?

A project timeline is a chronological graph of activities and milestones scheduled in your project plan . You might break your timeline down by day, week, month, quarter, or even year, depending on the project’s scope of work and level of detail you need to share.

In project management, timelines provide a simple way to communicate important deadlines and deliverables to your teams and stakeholders.

Project timeline examples

Let’s take a look at 2 common types of timelines, with examples of how you might use them in project management. 

Linear timeline

Linear timelines are often found in history books, but their simplicity comes in handy for project managers too. 

A linear timeline plots a series of dates and events in sequential order along a single horizontal or vertical line. This type of timeline is perfect for communicating high-level project information and status. 

Here’s an example of how you might use this type of timeline to give executive leaders a broad overview of project work without overloading them with too many details.

Gantt chart timeline

A gantt chart is packed with details about the whole project—things like dependencies, resource assignments, task discussions, and important project files. 

A gantt chart is versatile enough to communicate whatever level of detail you want to show in your timeline—whether you’re outlining your annual project roadmap or scheduling day-to-day tasks for a digital marketing campaign . 

Here’s a simple example of a gantt chart timeline for building a treehouse, with resource assignments and task dependencies noted.

If you're looking to build a gantt chart, we recommend you create one in TeamGantt .

4 steps for planning a project timeline

Timeline planning is an important part of any project management process . Let’s walk through 4 simple steps you can follow when creating a timeline for your projects.

1. Decide which format to use for your timeline

Different timeline styles serve different purposes, so choose the format that aligns best with your overall goal and target audience.

For example, let’s say you need to communicate who’s responsible for what and when to your team. In that case, a gantt chart is your best bet. That’s because it allows you to assign specific deadlines and resources to the work and connect related tasks with dependencies.

If you simply need to give managers or stakeholders a 10,000-foot view of the project, a linear timeline will do. Go vertical with your timeline if you plan to share or print it in portrait orientation. Presenting your timeline on screen in a meeting? Horizontal timelines make the best use of space in a slide deck.

2. Break your project down into smaller pieces

Breaking your project down into phases, tasks, and key milestones is a good practice to get into whether you use a timeline or not. Considering the steps in your project as part of a hierarchy can help you stay organized and determine task priorities.

Let’s use a construction project as an example. You might include these first few steps on your timeline:

• Grade the lot
• Lay the foundation
• Frame up walls and a roof
• Add siding, doors, and windows
• Install plumbing, electrical, and HVAC

Of course, that’s just the beginning, and there are many smaller steps that make up each of those phases. A work breakdown structure is a great tool for scoping out all the granular details. For a basic timeline, however, keeping it simple will suffice.

3. Figure out key deadlines and task timing

Now that you’ve broken your project down into manageable chunks, it’s time to determine how long each timeline event will take and when major deliverables are due. If you’ve done similar projects in the past, reviewing those timelines is a good place to start.

Conversations are your best friend at this stage of timeline planning. Get input from the people who will actually be doing the work to be sure your estimates are on point. And don’t be afraid to ask stakeholders for more information along the way if you can’t find an answer in the scope document .

4. Place events on your timeline in chronological order

Finally, take your list of project activities, and add them to your timeline in the order work needs to happen. Don’t forget to clearly label the start and end dates of your project.

If you’re making a linear timeline, you might want to set your intervals by week or month, depending on the length of the project. 

A gantt chart makes it easy to zoom in at a daily or weekly level if you’re building a timeline for your project team. Be sure to add dependencies between related tasks that need to happen in sequential order.

Easy drag and drop features with templates for faster scheduling. Plan a project in minutes, collaborate easily as a team, and switch to calendar and list views in a single click.

How to create a timeline in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel

Luckily, creating a timeline for your project is a pretty easy task once you know where to look. And the process is basically the same whether you choose to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel to do it.

While none of these applications are the most flexible solution for managing projects , they can be helpful for sharing project timelines with executive leaders or other key stakeholders, as well as creating client presentations.

Which application you choose to create your timeline is completely up to you. There are no real benefits of one over the other as far as the timeline itself is concerned. The best option is to choose the application either you're most  comfortable with or that's most commonly used by your team and project stakeholders .

Follow these basic steps to create a project timeline in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel.

1. Open a blank or existing file in Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, or Excel

If you already have a presentation, document, or workbook you want to insert a timeline into, open your existing file. 

Starting from scratch? Create a new presentation, document, or workbook by opening the program and clicking on File > New . Here’s an example of how this step looks in PowerPoint:

2. Add a SmartArt timeline from the Insert tab.

Next, decide where you want the timeline to go in your document. Then click Insert > SmartArt , and choose a timeline style from the Process menu. Select any design you like—it can be changed easily later.

Here’s what this step looks like if you build your timeline in Microsoft Excel:

3. Edit the timeline entries with events from your project

Now that your timeline has been created, it’s time to add your project events to it. 

Remember, this timeline is for the main phases and high-level events. You don’t need too much detail here. The event, event date, and event status are probably plenty, but every project is different.

The timeline comes preloaded with a few placeholder events. Simply click on [Text] in the first placeholder event, and rename it to match your first project activity. Repeat the process for the remaining 2 default entries. 

Once you’ve edited your final default entry, just hit Enter or click + to add a new project activity. Continue this step until all your main project events have been added to your timeline.

Here’s a sample project timeline we created in Microsoft Word:

4. Customize the visual style of your timeline.

There are many different styles of timelines available to you. They all function the same, but some may be easier to read than others, depending on the amount of data in your timeline.

To change timeline styles, highlight your timeline, and choose new a new design from the Smart Art > Process menu. The design will update, and your data will stay intact.

Free PowerPoint, Word, and Excel timeline templates

Want a head start creating your project timeline? Download one—or all—of our free templates to save time on setup.

• PowerPoint timeline template (.pptx)
• Word timeline template (.docx)
• Excel timeline template (.xlsx)

Want to create a more detailed timeline with resource assignments? See our Excel gantt chart template or try one of our online project planning templates .

Build a free collaborative timeline in minutes

When you’re a project manager, every minute counts. So why waste time building out a bunch of complicated spreadsheets just to keep tabs on a project?

At TeamGantt, you don’t have to. Our free online timeline maker enables you to stay focused on the tasks that move the needle. Whip up a project timeline in minutes, and watch your team cross the finish line faster. It really is that simple.

Get started for free!