Can I Create a Timeline in PowerPoint? (Yes, With SmartArt)

Yes. In PowerPoint, click Insert > SmartArt, choose Process, and double-click Basic Timeline or Circle Accent Timeline. Type your dates and events into the [Text] boxes, then use Add Shape to add more milestones.

These steps match PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016 on Windows, and the same SmartArt tools are in PowerPoint for Mac and PowerPoint for the web. Older versions such as PowerPoint 2010 and 2013 also have the Basic Timeline layout, but the tab is labeled SmartArt Tools Design instead of SmartArt Design. Microsoft ended support for Office 2010 in October 2020, so use a current version if you can.

Which Timeline Method Should You Use?

PowerPoint gives you four practical ways to build a timeline. Pick one based on how many milestones you have and whether the spacing has to match real dates.

Method	Best for	Trade-off
SmartArt timeline	A quick, tidy timeline with up to about 8 evenly spaced milestones	Spaces every entry evenly, no matter how far apart the dates are
Convert a bulleted list	Milestones you already typed on a slide	Same limits as SmartArt
Shapes and lines	Dates that must be spaced to scale, or a custom design	Takes longer, and you space and align everything yourself
Timeline template	A finished, designed look without building it yourself	You adapt your content to someone else’s layout

For most school, work and project slides, start with SmartArt. You can switch to shapes later if you need exact spacing.

How to Create a Timeline in PowerPoint With SmartArt

1. Open your presentation and select the slide where you want the timeline. A slide with the Blank or Title Only layout gives the timeline the most room.
2. On the Insert tab, click SmartArt. The Choose a SmartArt Graphic window opens.
3. In the list on the left, click Process. Every layout in this group shows steps in order.
4. Double-click Basic Timeline or Circle Accent Timeline.

5. Click the first [Text] placeholder and type a date or event, such as “Jan 2027: Kickoff.”
6. Click each remaining [Text] placeholder and type the next milestone.

A timeline appears with one marker per entry, and PowerPoint spaces the markers evenly along the line. Basic Timeline places labels above and below the line so they have room. To move or resize the whole timeline, drag its outer border or a corner handle, not a label inside it.

Microsoft’s guide to creating a timeline in PowerPoint uses the same steps and notes that most other Process layouts work as timelines too.

Type your dates in the Text Pane

The Text Pane is a small outline next to the graphic. It’s the fastest way to enter a long list of milestones.

1. Click the timeline to select it.
2. On the SmartArt Design tab, click Text Pane. You can also click the small arrow on the left edge of the graphic.
3. Type one milestone per line. Press Enter to start a new milestone.
4. Close the pane when you’re done.

Keep every milestone at the same level in the list. If you press Tab, the line is indented and becomes a sub-item of the line above it instead of a new marker. Press Shift + Tab to move it back out. If you paste several lines at once and they all land on one marker, put each milestone on its own line in the Text Pane.

Turn a bulleted list into a timeline

If you already typed your milestones as bullet points, you don’t need to start over.

1. Click inside the text box that holds your bulleted list.
2. On the Home tab, click Convert to SmartArt. In some versions it’s a small icon in the Paragraph group.
3. Choose Basic Timeline. If it isn’t shown, click More SmartArt Graphics, select Process, and choose a timeline layout.

Each bullet becomes a point on the timeline, in the same order. Microsoft documents this option in its guide to adding SmartArt to a slide.

How to Add, Move or Delete Dates

Select a marker on the timeline first, then use the SmartArt Design tab:

• Add an earlier date: click Add Shape > Add Shape Before, then type in the new box.
• Add a later date: click Add Shape > Add Shape After.
• Move a date earlier or later: click Move Up to move it left (earlier) or Move Down to move it right (later).
• Delete a date: click the marker’s border and press Delete, or delete its line in the Text Pane.

PowerPoint re-spaces the markers each time. Changing the text of a date does not move it. If you type “March” over “June,” you also need to move that marker into the right order.

To make the slide title above your timeline stand out, you can also add an outline to text in PowerPoint.

How to Change the Timeline’s Look

Switch to a different layout

1. Click the timeline.
2. On the SmartArt Design tab, click More in the Layouts group.
3. Click More Layouts, then Process, to see only timeline and process layouts.
4. Choose a layout.

Your text carries over to the new layout. Accent Process works well to show progress through stages, and Continuous Picture List suits a timeline with photos, since its circles hold pictures. After switching, check the whole slide, because some layouts take up more room or shrink the text.

Change colors and styles

1. Click the timeline.
2. On the SmartArt Design tab, click Change Colors and pick a color combination. Point to an option first to preview it.
3. Click a style in the SmartArt Styles group to add effects such as shadows or 3-D. Click More to see every style.

The whole timeline changes at once and follows your presentation’s theme colors. To highlight one key milestone, click that single marker, then use Shape Fill on the Format tab to give it its own color.

How to Space Dates to Scale

SmartArt always spaces entries evenly. A gap of one week looks the same as a gap of six months. If the timing matters, use one of these options.

Convert the SmartArt timeline to shapes

1. Right-click the slide thumbnail and click Duplicate Slide, so you keep an editable SmartArt version.
2. On the copy, click the timeline.
3. On the SmartArt Design tab, click Convert > Convert to Shapes.
4. With the shapes still selected, click Group > Ungroup on the Shape Format tab.
5. Drag each marker and its label to the right spot along the line.

Microsoft’s article on converting SmartArt into shapes warns that you can’t turn the shapes back into SmartArt. Converted shapes also won’t add or re-space milestones for you, which is why the duplicate slide is worth keeping.

Draw a timeline from shapes

1. On the Insert tab, click Shapes and choose a line. Hold Shift while you drag across the slide to keep it straight.
2. Click Shapes again, choose a circle, and hold Shift while you drag to draw a perfect circle on the line. Press Ctrl + D to duplicate it for each milestone.
3. Add a text box above or below each circle for its date and label.
4. Place the markers where the dates fall. For even spacing instead, select all the circles and click Shape Format > Align > Distribute Horizontally.
5. Select everything and press Ctrl + G to group it, so the timeline moves as one piece.

To place dates to scale, work out the distance first. For a one-year line that is 10 inches long, each month is about 0.83 inches. You can type exact positions in the Size and Position pane (right-click a shape and click Size and Position).

Start From a Timeline Template

1. Click File > New.
2. Type “timeline” in the search box and press Enter.
3. Click a template, then click Create.
4. Replace the sample dates and labels, and delete any placeholders you don’t use.

Microsoft’s timeline guide also links to its free online timeline templates. Choose a template with about as many milestones as you have. Squeezing 12 events into a design made for 6 rarely looks good.

PowerPoint for the Web and Mac

• PowerPoint for the web: click Insert > SmartArt, then pick a layout from the Process group. Type in the Text Pane, and the layout adjusts as you add milestones. Microsoft’s timeline guide has a separate Web tab with these steps.
• PowerPoint for Mac: use the same Insert > SmartArt button. Find Basic Timeline under Process, or under a separate timeline group if your Mac version lists one. The SmartArt Design tab has the same Add Shape, Move Up and Move Down buttons.

How to Animate a Timeline

Animation lets you reveal one milestone at a time while you talk.

1. Select the timeline.
2. On the Animations tab, choose an entrance effect such as Wipe or Fade.
3. Click Effect Options. For Wipe, choose From Left so the timeline grows in the direction it reads.
4. Click Effect Options again and choose One by One.
5. Click Slide Show > From Current Slide to test it.

Each date now appears on a click, from left to right. Microsoft’s guide to animating a SmartArt graphic adds a few limits. You can reverse the whole order (open the Animation group’s dialog box launcher, go to SmartArt Animation, and check Reverse order), but you can’t reorder individual markers. Connecting lines animate with their shapes. A few effects aren’t available for SmartArt until you convert it to shapes.

For more control, such as showing a milestone only when you click a button, you can make things appear in PowerPoint with clickable buttons. Animations like these also play if you make the PowerPoint into a video on Windows.

Tips for a Clear Timeline

• Keep labels short. A date and three to six words per point stays readable. SmartArt shrinks text to fit, so long labels get small fast. Put extra detail in the speaker notes.
• Limit the count. About 5 to 8 milestones per slide works well. Split a longer timeline across two slides, or group it by phase or quarter.
• Read left to right. Most audiences read left to right as past to future.
• Use color with a purpose. Two or three colors, for example one per phase, are easier to follow than a rainbow.
• Check from the back of the room. Run the slide in Slide Show view and make sure labels are large enough to read.
• Update by hand. PowerPoint timelines aren’t linked to a calendar or project schedule, so change the dates yourself when plans shift.

For a tall, poster-style timeline, change the slides to portrait orientation and pick a vertical Process layout, such as Vertical Process.

Troubleshooting

• The SmartArt Design tab is missing. Click the timeline itself. The tab only appears when the graphic is selected. You may need to click its outer border.
• All the dates are on one marker. The milestones are on one line or indented under each other. Open the Text Pane and put each one on its own line at the same level.
• Text is tiny. Shorten labels, remove a few entries, make the graphic bigger, or try a layout that gives labels more room.
• The animation shows everything at once. Open Effect Options and change As One Object to One by One.
• Convert to Shapes went wrong. Press Ctrl + Z right away to undo it. Once you save and move on, you can’t turn the shapes back into SmartArt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• How to change line spacing on every slide
• How to take a screenshot in PowerPoint