Gantt chart maker, tasks on a timeline.

A Gantt chart maker lays a project out as bars on a calendar: each task is a bar that starts on its start date and lasts as many days as it takes, and arrows show which task has to finish before the next one can begin. This one is free to use with no sign-up. You type the tasks, it draws the chart as you go, and you can save it as a PNG, SVG or PDF with no watermark.

How to use the Gantt chart maker

1. Set the Project start in the side column. Tasks with no start date of their own begin here.
2. Edit the tasks in the table under the chart. Type a name, the Days it takes and, if it has to wait for another task, that task's number under After task.
3. Use Add task, Add phase or Add milestone for more rows. The arrow buttons on a row indent it, move it up or down, or delete it with the cross.
4. Pick a Scale: Days, Weeks or Months, or leave it on Automatic, which chooses by the length of the project.
5. Drag a bar sideways to move it, or drag its right end to change its length.
6. Click Save PNG, or use Copy picture, SVG, PDF or CSV. Copy link puts the whole plan in a link you can send.

How the dates are worked out

A task that follows another starts on the next working day after the one it follows ends. Take a project that starts on Monday 5 October 2026 with Monday to Friday working days:

Build skips the weekend after Design, so its 8 days are 12 to 16 October, then 19 to 21 October. Test takes the 22nd, the 23rd and the 26th. The project runs from 5 to 26 October, which is 22 calendar days but only 16 working days, because 5 plus 8 plus 3 is 16. The status line under the chart tells you both numbers.

Lag, phases and milestones

Add a plus and a number after a task number to leave a gap. 2+3 starts three working days after task 2 ends, and 2-1 overlaps it by one day. List several tasks, like 4, 5, and the task waits for the last of them. Dragging a bar that follows another task sets this gap for you, so it never starts before the task it follows.

Indent a task under another and the one above becomes a phase. A phase has no days of its own: it draws as a black bracket from its earliest task to its latest, so you can fold a long plan into a few lines. A task with 0 days is a milestone and shows as a diamond, which suits a launch or a sign-off.

Picking a scale

The day scale shows every day with its weekday letter and shades weekends, which is best for a plan of a few weeks. The week scale marks each Monday and fits a project of a few months. The month scale suits a plan that runs over a year. Automatic picks the finest scale that fits the chart box: days when the project is short enough, weeks when it is longer, and months for plans of more than about ten months. Fit chart to the width squeezes the chart to the box instead of letting it scroll.

Mark the longest chain

Turn on Mark the longest chain and the tasks that decide when the project ends turn red. If any of them runs late, the end date moves. Tasks that are not red have room to slip. It follows the After links you typed, so a task you forgot to link will not show up in the chain.

Bringing a plan in from a spreadsheet

Open Paste tasks from a spreadsheet and paste rows copied from Excel or Google Sheets: task, start, days or end date, the task numbers it follows, and percent done. Leave a column empty with an extra tab. Open a CSV file reads a saved file the same way, and the CSV button writes the plan back out with the calculated start and end dates.

Common problems

• The start box is greyed out. A task that follows another gets its start from it. Clear its After box to type a date.
• An arrow is missing. If two tasks wait for each other the chart ignores one arrow and says so under the chart.
• The dates are one day off. Check Working days and the Days off box. A start on a weekend moves to Monday.
• The chart is too wide to read. Choose a bigger scale such as Weeks, or tick Fit chart to the width.

For dated events with no bars, use the timeline maker. To break a project into parts before you schedule it, try the , and to count working days between two dates, use the working days calculator.