How to make a timeline in PowerPoint

Timelines are a great way to show events, project stages, milestones, or important dates in a visual format. They can be useful in everything from a business presentation, training session, project update, and even make fantastic classroom resources. I’ve had many examples where people think that you need some fancy software to create a nice looking timeline, when in actual fact PowerPoint makes it surprisingly easy to build a professional-looking timeline.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to create a timeline in PowerPoint step-by-step using SmartArt.

Create a Timeline using SmartArt

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
2. Create a new blank presentation, or open an existing presentation you want to add a timeline to.
3. Insert a new slide. Any slide layout which includes a Content placeholder, can contain a SmartArt graphic.

4. Click the Insert a SmartArt graphic icon, or if using a Blank slide layout, go to the Insert tab and click SmartArt.
5. The Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box will appear:

6. Choose the Process category from the left sidebar.
7. You’ll notice several timeline-style layouts available. Click a graphic type to see the name and description on the right:

8. Some popular options include Bullet Timeline, Circle Accent Timeline, Basic Timeline and you may even see some other process based graphics which will suit usage with a timeline.
9. For a simple timeline, choose Basic Timeline.
10. Click OK.
11. The SmartArt graphic will be added to the slide.

Enter Timeline Information

Now that you have the SmartArt graphic on the slide, you can add your content. There are two ways to enter information: using the Text Pane, or typing directly into the shapes. Let’s look at both techniques.

1. On the left side of the SmartArt graphic, you will see a small arrow. Click it to open the Text Pane.
2. The Text Pane will appear on the left side of the SmartArt graphic.
3. Each shape will appear as a separate bulleted list item.
4. If you have a list of the major timelines in a Word document, or Excel worksheet, you can copy and paste them in list format from one file type into the Text pane. Otherwise type in the major timeline events.
5. Use the arrows on the keyboard to move between the original three (3) bullet points, press the Enter key to add more.

6. If you prefer to type directly into the existing shapes, you can use then just like a normal shape. Click on the item and the cursor will appear allowing you to type directly.
7. To add more shapes, go to the SmartArt Design tab on the ribbon.
8. Click the Add Shape button.
9. Click inside the new shape and type in the information needed.

Add more detail to each milestone

Now that you have added the main milestones to the timeline, you may want to add a little more detail to each. Each shape in the timeline acts as part of the overall hierarchy of the timeline. The main milestones are all level 1 items in the bulletted list, so anything we want to add as more detail can be created as a subitem under the milestone.

1. Make sure the Text Pane is displayed.
2. Click at the end of the first milestone in the list.
3. Press Enter.
4. A new milestone will appear.
5. From the SmartArt Graphic tab on the ribbon, click the Demote button:

6. The item will now become a sub-item of the one above. This then displays as a bulleted item under the parent item in the timeline:

7. Add any additional sub-items you need under each main milestone.

Customise SmartArt Style and Colours

SmartArt graphics automatically inherit your PowerPoint theme colours, but you can easily customise them.

1. Select the SmartArt graphic.
2. Go to SmartArt Design tab on the ribbon.
3. Choose Change Colours.
4. You can select from various colour combinations:

Along with being able to adjust the colour scheme, there are also several different styles you can apply to the timeline which will apply effects such as 3D effects.

1. Go to the SmartArt Design tab.
2. Browse the SmartArt Styles gallery:

For professional presentations, I usually recommend keeping styles clean and simple.

Change SmartArt Layouts

If you have chosen a specific Timeline design and then decide you would like to use a different one instead, you can easily switch between the layout options. Most SmartArt graphics have several layout options for the specific type of SmartArt graphic you have already created, or you can choose to switch to an entirely different type of graphic.

To change the SmartArt layout:

1. Select the SmartArt graphic.
2. Click the SmartArt Design tab.
3. Use the Layouts group to explore the other Timeline layout options:

4. Click to apply a new layout to the existing graphic.
5. Your Timeline is now done!

SmartArt makes creating timelines in PowerPoint quick and easy, even if you have limited design experience. You can quickly turn a list of dates or events into a polished visual that’s much easier for your audience to understand. Please comment below with any questions or check out my other PowerPoint tips.