HOME

CODING

DATABASE

SYS ADMIN

STRATEGY

DESIGN

How To Create a Simple Gantt Chart with Google Sheets

FELLOW TECHOS
Anton Visser (9)
Brett Garland (1)
Charlie Palmer (2)
Dale Liszka (3)
Doli Stepniewski (10)
Paul Shoemaker (1)
Ted Parton (4)

DESIGN, INTERNET, REPORTING & ANALYTICS

How To Create a Simple Gantt Chart with

Google Sheets
Doli Stepniewski May 9, 2014 17 Comments
Heres a little trick to make a super-basic Gantt Chart / timeline graph using
Google Sheets.
Quick start: Basic Gantt Chart template.
Disclaimer: This is not a powerful management tool nor a replacement to timeline
project software. This simply displays a spreadsheet chart in a Gantt-like style.
Prerequisites: Google account with access to Google Drive (AKA Google Docs) and a
working knowledge of spreadsheets.

ECHO

Create a new spreadsheet with three (3)

columns Add tasks with respective start
and end dates.

Copy & paste headers below your data

Add formula =A2 to copy first row/column
of tasks.

Convert dates to days with int() function

Subtract the constant Start Date days from
self (and other days) to convert all dates
into project days and task days.

= i n t ( B 2 )

i n t ( $ B $ 2 )

NOTE: Using $B$2 will make the value static and always represent that cell, so
when we paste into other columns, it will remain the start date cell value.

Find the number of days the task is

projected to take by subtracting converted
Start Date days from converted Complete
Date days.

= (

i n t ( C 2 )

i n t ( $ B $ 2 )

i n t ( B 2 )

i n t ( $ B $ 2 )

Copy the row by selecting the first three

columns of data, then dragging the bottom
right corner down 6 rows.

Select the data range then click insert

chart icon or select menu item.

Select Stacked Bar Chart type by clicking

more.

Finally, change the first bar set color to

none.

The chart now shows only the days a task will take. Edit title and axes as
needed. Since we used formulas to create chart data, simply change dates next
to tasks and the chart will update automatically.

Let me know if this tutorial was helpful. Id love to hear how youve
implemented or improved upon it. Try it: Basic Gantt Chart template.

charts

gantt

google

spreadsheet

Magento Send Email Via SendGrid

Happy Holidays from Hello Techo Fun with CSS

Comments

Community

Share

Recommend 3

Login

SortbyOldest

Jointhediscussion
BarryG 2yearsago

Great!WishGooglewouldfocusabitmoreontheirdocsto
buildthesebasicsin.
2

Reply Share

JamieGray>BarryG 6monthsago

agreed.surewishthiswaseasiertoimplementw/o
spendingtimetroubleshootingfunctionsanddata
ranges

Reply Share

BarryG 2yearsago

Fortracking,youcanadda3rdcolumn"Now".Addafirstrow
"Today"whichstartsat0andgoesoutthenumberofdays
untilthepresent.Anyprojectthathascompletedornotstarted
hasathirdcolumnvalueof0.Anyprojectthatislatehas
int(today)int(completedate).Firstcolumnhasnocolor,2nd
columnhasgreenandthirdcolumn(lateness)isinred.
1

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >BarryG

2yearsago

GreatideaBarry.Thanksforthecomments.

Reply Share

mordiano>BarryG 2yearsago

Couldyouprovideascreenshot?
1

Reply Share

CronFizzle ayearago

CronFizzle ayearago

Howdoyouusedatesforthehorizontalaxis?excelletsyoudo
itbutsheetsdoesn't

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >CronFizzle

ayearago

CronFizzle,usingdatesinhorizontalaxisinGoogle
Sheetsissupported,howevernotinthistutorial.The
purposeofthistutorialistoshowhowyoucanhack
SheetstosimulateaGanttchartbyconvertingdatesto
days(int)andchartingthosevaluesout.Thatsaid,you
couldincludedatesonchartasanannotationinsteadof
horizontalaxis.Theannotationwouldshowuponthe
baratappropriatespot.Changethechart'sdatarangeto
includethecolumntorightoflastnumber,thencopy
enddatecolumnvaluestothelastcolumn.Besureto
use=to_text([cell])sothatthedatefieldiscastastext
sothatitisinterpretedasannotationandnotvalue.you
canlearnmoreaboutannotationinSheets'chartsat
https://support.google.com/doc...

Reply Share

AksamZarook ayearago

Thanks.Irunawebdesignserverandwaslookingfora
solutionlikethistotrackprojectsandsharewithclients
1

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >AksamZarook

ayearago

RightonAksam!It'snotafullblown,featurerich
solution,butgetsthejobdoneinapinch.
2

Reply Share

dude 5monthsago

Myenddatesreturnednegativevalues,butthedurationwas
accurate.SoIprependedtheformulawithabsolutevaluelike
thisABS(value).Thenitworkedgreat!

Reply Share

Anupam 5monthsago

Thisisagreatidea!Thanksforsharingit.Iwasanyways
lookingforonlinetoolstomakeganttchartsquicklybutit
seemsgooglespreadsheetscanjustdoitusingthismethod.

seemsgooglespreadsheetscanjustdoitusingthismethod.

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >Anupam

5monthsago

Anupam,Thesky'sthelimitifyou'rewillingtohacka
little)

Reply Share

Martin amonthago

Thanksforthedetailedstepbystep!
Iwasabletogetthebasicsdone.Now,isthereawayto
individuallychangethecolorofeachbar?
Also,isitpossibletoshowrealdatesintheHorizontalaxisin
stayofamountofdays?(doImakesense?)
Thanksabunch!

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >Martin

amonthago

HeyMartin,Thanksforthefeedback.
Sincethisisahack,we'renotabletochangecolorsof
individualbars.Eachdatasetcanonlybeassignedone
colorwe'reusingatrickwithtwodatasetsonewith
colorandtheotherastransparent.
Thebestwecandowithrealdatesisviaannotations.
(SeethecommentandscreenshotIleftforCronFizzle
aboutayearago).
Goodluck!

Reply Share

JayGarcia 25daysago

Thisisjustwonderful.Getsthejobdonewithouttoomuch
hoopla.Thanks!

Reply Share

hellotecho

Mod >JayGarcia

21daysago

Jay,gladyoulikedit!

Reply Share

Stuart 12daysago

DearDoli,
Ifyoudontmind,pleasealsoteachustutorialonhowtocreate
thesekindofganttchart:
http://excelhawk.com/gantt+cha...

http://excelhawk.com/gantt+cha...
Thanks,
Stuart

Reply Share

ALSOONHELLOTECHO

MagentoSendEmailVia
SendGrid

UbuntuextractingSFXNo
suchfileordirectory

2comments2yearsago

12comments3yearsago

AntonVissersandyIran

MatheusMoreiratype:$

intothesameissueinoneof
unrare
mystores,buthaven'thad
IE10.Win7.For.LinuxVirtualBox.part1.sfx
timetofigureitout.The
workaroundIuseisto'send
Subscribe
d AddDisqustoyoursiteAddDisqusAdd
orderemailcopyto'andset
Privacy
'sendorderemailcopy
method'to'seperateemail'

Copyright 2016 hello techo | Theme by: Theme Horse | Powered by:
WordPress