Office guide

How to Use Gantt Chart Maker

A Gantt chart shows when tasks happen and how their timing depends on other work. Accurate dates, sensible task granularity, progress, and dependencies make the timeline useful for planning rather than decoration.

Open the Gantt Chart Maker

What to prepare

A few reliable inputs make the first result easier to review.

  • The project start date and a list of concrete tasks
  • Start and end dates based on working assumptions
  • Known predecessors, milestones, and honest progress estimates

How to Use Gantt Chart Maker

  1. Name the project and set its start date
  2. Add tasks with start dates, end dates, progress percentages, and dependencies
  3. Build the chart, then look for impossible sequencing and crowded overlaps
  4. Adjust the plan and export an SVG for presentation or CSV for further analysis

Worked example

For a website launch, make Content approval a predecessor of Page build, and Page build a predecessor of QA. A launch milestone should occur after QA rather than overlapping it.

Review the result

Trace each dependency from left to right and check that successor work does not start before required inputs exist. Update progress from completed work, not time elapsed.

Practical tips

  • Use milestones for zero-duration decision points
  • Break long tasks into deliverables that can be assessed
  • Keep dependency labels stable when tasks are renamed

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Adding every small action as a separate timeline bar
  • Reporting 90 percent complete for work with no clear finish condition
  • Forcing dates to fit a deadline without resolving resource limits

Build it in your browser

The free Gantt Chart Maker processes entries locally in your browser. Review the generated draft against source information and any policy that applies before sharing it.

Use the Gantt Chart Maker