How to Create a Timeline with Dates in Excel (4 Easy Ways)

The dataset below contains information about a company’s projects. It contains the Starting Date and the Finishing Date of each project. We will try to create a timeline using this dataset.

Method 1 – Generating a Timeline with Dates Using SmartArt in Excel

STEPS:

• Select Insert, and select Illustrations. A drop-down menu will open.
• Select SmartArt from the drop-down menu. It will open the SmartArt Graphic window.

• Select Process, and select the Basic Timeline icon.

• Click OK to proceed.

• The timeline will appear on the worksheet.
• Select the less than (<) symbol.

• A new box will appear.
• Press Enter to add more solid circles to the timeline. To complete the timeline, we need a total of 6 solid circles.

• After adding the solid circles, the timeline will look like the picture below.

• Enter your text in the ‘Type your text here’ in order.

• Click anywhere in the sheet to see a timeline with dates like the picture below.

Read More: How to Create a Project Timeline in Excel

Method 2 – Inserting a Scatter Chart to Create a Timeline with Dates 

STEPS:

• Select any dataset cell and press Ctrl + A to select all the used cells.

• Go to the Insert tab and select the Scatter Chart icon. A drop-down menu will open.
• Select the first icon from the drop-down menu.

• You will see a plot on your worksheet, like the picture below.

• Click on the plus (+) sign.
• Select Axis, and deselect Primary Vertical.

• Click on the plus (+) sign.
• Select Axis Titles and deselect Gridlines.
• Select Legend >> Right.

• Change the titles and make the graph more understandable.

• Click on the plus (+) icon and select Data Labels > Left.

• Click on a starting date point and right-click on it. A menu will open.
• Select Format Data Labels.

• The Format Data Labels option will appear on the right side of the screen.
• Select Right in the Label Position category.

• You will see a timeline with dates like the screenshot below.

• You can also use the Pie Charts to create a timeline like below.

Read More: Create a Timeline in Excel with Milestones

Method 3 – Applying an Excel Pivot Table Analysis to Make Timeline with Dates

STEPS:

• Select a cell in your dataset and select Insert >> Table.
• Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + T.

• Click OK in the Create Table dialog box. Make sure you select the ‘My table has headers’ box.

• Your table will be like the picture below.

• Select Insert >> PivotTable.

• A dialog box will pop up. Click OK to proceed.

• The PivotTable Fields will appear on the right side of a new sheet.

• Select Projects, Starting Date, Finishing Date, Months, & Months2.
• Drag the Months, Months2, Starting Date, and Finishing Date fields in the Legend (Series) box.
• Drag the Starting Date and Finishing Date fields in the Values box.
• Make sure the Projects field is in the Axis (Categories) box.

• Right-click on the Count of Starting Date and select Value Field Settings.

• In the Value Field Settings window, select Sum and select Number Format. It will open the Format Cells window.

• In the Format Cells window, select Date and select the 14-Mar-12 format.

• Click OK to see results like the picture below.

• Click on the plus (+) icon and select Data Labels.

• Change the position of the Data Labels to make them more readable.

• To save the timeline as a picture, right-click on the graph and select Save as Picture.

Method 4 – Creating a Timeline with Dates Manually in Excel

STEPS:

• Select a cell in the dataset and press Ctrl + A to select all the used cells.

• Go to the Home tab and select the Orientation icon. A drop-down menu will appear.
• Select Angle Counterclockwise.

• The dataset will look like the picture below.

• Now, autofit the rows.

• Add some colors to make the timeline more presentable.

Read More: How to Create a Timeline Chart in Excel

Things to Remember

When you are trying to create a timeline with dates in Excel, remember some things.

• In Method-1, choose the SmartArt Graphic according to your needs.
• You can use different types of charts instead of ‘Scatter Charts’ in Method-2.
• In Method-3, you may not get the timeline in chronological order sometimes.

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