How to create a timeline: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Google Sheets, Preceden, and JavaScript

A timeline visualizes events chronologically, making it easier to understand project progress, historical sequences, or future plans. Whether you're tracking project milestones, creating a presentation, or documenting company history, you need the right tool to build your timeline.

This guide shows you how to create timelines using tools you likely already have:

• Excel: Using SmartArt for basic document timelines.
• Word: Using SmartArt for report and document timelines.
• PowerPoint: Using SmartArt for presentation timelines.
• Google Sheets/Docs: Using Timeline view for collaborative projects (requires Google Workspace).
• Preceden: Using dedicated timeline software for professional results.
• JavaScript: Using Bryntum to build custom timeline charts.

Each section is self-contained, so you can jump directly to the tool you want to use. Before diving into the how-to sections, you'll learn the key differences between timelines and Gantt charts to choose the proper visualization for your needs.

What Are the Differences Between a Timeline and a Gantt?

Timelines and Gantt charts both visualize events over time, but they serve different purposes. Understanding the difference helps you choose the right tool for your project.

What's a Timeline?

A timeline is a linear visualization that shows events in chronological order.

Timelines focus on dates and milestones, making them ideal for:

• Historical events such as company founding, product launches, and industry evolution.
• Project milestones like major deadlines and deliverables.
• Event planning, like conference agendas.

A timeline answers the question: What happened when?

What's a Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart shows when events happen, how long they take, and how they relate to each other.

Gantt charts display:

• Task start and end dates.
• Task duration.
• Overlapping tasks.
• Task dependencies – which tasks must finish before others can start.

A Gantt chart answers the questions: When does this happen, how long does it take, and what depends on it?

Timeline vs Gantt Chart: Which One Should You Use?

Choose a timeline when you want to communicate a sequence of events to an audience. Timelines work best for presentations, reports, and documentation where clarity matters more than detailed project management.

Choose a Gantt chart when you need to plan and track complex projects with multiple tasks, dependencies, and resources. Gantt charts work best for project managers coordinating teams and deliverables.

How to Create a Timeline in Excel?

Excel doesn't have a dedicated timeline chart. You can create a basic timeline using SmartArt graphics, which work in Excel desktop applications but not in Excel Online.

Step 1: Insert SmartArt

On the Excel application, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. Select the SmartArt option.
3. Then select "Process". You will see many options to describe a process, a timeline.
4. Choose the one that works for you, but for this tutorial, we will use the first one, "Basic process".

Step 2: Add Your Events

Excel displays a timeline with placeholder text. Click each text box and type your event name and date.

To add more events, you can use the SmartArt text utility, by typing on the "Enter" button for a new line, or the "+" button. A new item will appear on the right of your timeline.

Step 3: Format Your Timeline

Customize your timeline using the SmartArt Design tab. You can change the colors, apply SmartArt styles or change the layout.

For detailed formatting, select individual text boxes and use the Format tab to change fill colors, borders, or text properties.

How to Create a Timeline in PowerPoint

PowerPoint provides SmartArt graphics that make timeline creation straightforward. This feature is available in both PowerPoint desktop and PowerPoint Online.

Step 1: Insert SmartArt

1. In your PowerPoint presentation, follow these steps:
   1. Click the Insert tab.
   2. Click SmartArt.
   3. Select "Process" from the left panel. You'll see various process diagrams, including timeline options.
   4. Select the timeline style you prefer. For this guide, we'll use "Basic Process".

Step 2: Add Your Events

A timeline graphic will appear with text placeholders. Click on each text box and type your event information.

To add more events, you can use the SmartArt text utility by typing on the "Enter" button for a new line or the "+" button.

Step 3: Format Your Timeline

Customize your timeline using the SmartArt Design tab. You can change the colors, apply SmartArt styles, or change the layout.

For detailed formatting, select individual text boxes and use the Format tab to change fill colors, borders, or text properties.

How to Create a Timeline in Word?

Word provides SmartArt graphics for creating basic timelines in your documents. This method works in Word desktop applications (not Word Online).

Step 1: Insert SmartArt

On the Word application, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. Select the SmartArt option.
3. Then select "Process". You will see many options to describe a process, including timeline layouts.
4. Choose the one that works for you, but for this tutorial, we will use "Basic process".

Step 2: Add Your Events

A timeline graphic will appear with text placeholders. Click on each text box and type your event information - include both the event name and date.

To add more events, click the SmartArt border, then click the SmartArt Design tab > Add Shape. New boxes appear on your timeline.

To remove events, click a box and press Delete.

Step 3: Format Your Timeline

Customize your timeline using the SmartArt Design tab. You can change the colors, apply SmartArt styles, or change the layout.

For detailed formatting, select individual text boxes and use the Format tab to change fill colors, borders, or text properties.

How to Create a Timeline in Google Docs

Google Docs doesn't have a built-in timeline feature. You can create a timeline in Google Sheets using Timeline view, then add it to your document as an image.

Note: Timeline view is only available for Google Workspace accounts (Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, Education editions). Free Google accounts do not have access to this feature.

Step 1: Prepare Your Data in Google Sheets

Create a new Google Sheet and set up your timeline data in columns:

Card Title,Start Date,End Date,Card Detail Research & Planning,1/15/2025,2/1/2025,Initial research phase Design Phase,2/15/2025,3/15/2025,UI/UX design Development,4/15/2025,6/15/2025,Build features Testing,6/15/2025,7/1/2025,QA and bug fixes Launch,7/15/2025,7/15/2025,Product launch 

Enter your dates in a standard format like 1/15/2025 or 01/15/2025. Google Sheets recognizes these as dates automatically and right-aligns them in the cells.

Step 2: Insert Timeline View

In your Google Sheet, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Insert menu.
2. Click Timeline.

1. Select your data range, including all columns with headers.

1. Click Ok after validating the selection.

Google Sheets creates an interactive timeline view showing your tasks as cards on a horizontal timeline.

On the right panel, you can customize the timeline by modifying the card title, the card color, or the display.

Step 4: Embed in Google Docs

Google Docs doesn't support embedding timelines directly from Google Sheets. To add your timeline to a document:

1. In Google Sheets, click File -> Download -> PDF Document.
2. Convert the PDF to an image using a tool like pdf2png.com or CloudConvert.
3. In Google Docs, click Insert -> Image -> Upload from computer.
4. Select your converted timeline image.

How to Create a Timeline in Preceden?

Preceden is a dedicated timeline software explicitly designed for creating professional timelines. The free plan lets you create timelines manually, while paid plans allow you to import spreadsheet data for faster timeline creation.

Step 1: Create a new timeline

Visit preceden.com and sign up for an account. On the dashboard, click the "+Create Manually" button.

Enter a name for your timeline and click "Create Timeline →".

Step 2: Add events to your timeline

Preceden displays your blank timeline. Click the "+ Add Event" button.

Enter your event details, such as:

• Event name.
• Start date.
• End date (optional for milestone events).

Click Save. Your event appears on the timeline immediately.

Repeat this process to add more events. Alternatively, click "Bulk Add" to enter multiple events at once using a spreadsheet-style interface.

Step 3: Use the timeline

Preceden allows you to export the timeline in many formats, such as PDF or Images, or embed it if you need to display the chart on a website.

How to Create a Timeline in JavaScript

Creating timelines in web applications requires a JavaScript library that handles rendering, interactivity, and data management. While you could build a timeline from scratch using HTML canvas or SVG, production-quality timelines need features like drag-and-drop, zoom controls, and responsive design.

For this guide, you will learn how to create a timeline using the Bryntum Scheduler Pro component, which has easy setup and provides complete timeline functionality. Bryntum offers trial packages so you can test the library before purchasing. If you're interested in other JavaScript timeline options, you can also check vis-timeline (open source) and Timeline.js (free for storytelling timelines).

Prerequisites

Before creating your timeline, you need:

• Node.js and npm are installed on your computer.
• A Bryntum account (free trial available).

Step 1: Initialize your project

Create a new project directory and initialize an npm project:

mkdir timeline-project cd timeline-project npm init -y 

Step 2: Set up npm authentication

Bryntum packages require authentication. Follow the npm repository login guide to authenticate your npm client.

Then configure npm to access Bryntum packages by following the npm configuration guide.

Step 3: Install Bryntum Scheduler

Install Bryntum Scheduler. You can use the trial version or purchase a license. Follow the installation guide for your chosen version.

For the trial version:

npm install @bryntum/scheduler@npm:@bryntum/scheduler-trial@6.3.3 

Step 4: Create your HTML file

Inside the project directory, create an index.html file with the timeline container:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>Timeline Chart</title>  <link rel="stylesheet" href="node_modules/@bryntum/scheduler/scheduler.stockholm.css"> <style> body { font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; margin: 20px; background: #f5f5f5; } #timeline-container { height: 500px; background: white; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); } </style> </head> <body> <div id="timeline-container"></div>  <script type="module" src="app.js"></script> </body> </html> 

Step 5: Create your JavaScript timeline

Create an app,js file with the following timeline configuration:

import { Scheduler, DateHelper } from './node_modules/@bryntum/scheduler/scheduler.module.js'; // Define your timeline events const events = [ { id: 1, name: 'Research & Planning', startDate: new Date(2025, 0, 15), endDate: new Date(2025, 1, 1), resourceId: 1 }, { id: 2, name: 'Design Phase', startDate: new Date(2025, 1, 15), endDate: new Date(2025, 2, 15), resourceId: 1 }, { id: 3, name: 'Development', startDate: new Date(2025, 3, 15), endDate: new Date(2025, 5, 15), resourceId: 1 }, { id: 4, name: 'Testing', startDate: new Date(2025, 5, 15), endDate: new Date(2025, 6, 1), resourceId: 1 }, { id: 5, name: 'Launch', startDate: new Date(2025, 6, 15), endDate: new Date(2025, 6, 15), resourceId: 1 } ]; // Create a single resource (timeline row) const resources = [ { id: 1, name: 'Project Timeline' } ]; // Initialize the timeline const scheduler = new Scheduler({ appendTo: 'timeline-container', resources: resources, events: events, startDate: new Date(2025, 0, 1), endDate: new Date(2025, 7, 1), viewPreset: 'weekAndMonth', columns: [ { text: 'Timeline', field: 'name', width: 150 } ], features: { eventDrag: true, eventResize: true, eventEdit: true, eventTooltip: true }, rowHeight: 60, barMargin: 10 }); 

Step 6: Run your timeline

Open index.html in a web browser.

You'll see an interactive timeline where you can:

• Drag events to change their dates.
• Resize events to adjust duration.
• Click events to edit details.
• Hover over events to see tooltips.

Conclusion

This guide showed you how to create timelines in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs, Preceden, and JavaScript using Bryntum Scheduler Pro.

Google Sheets and Preceden offer the best experience because they use your spreadsheet data directly and let you easily customize colors. Microsoft tools use SmartArt, which is simple to use but requires manual updates for each event.

For occasional timelines in documents or presentations, SmartArt works fine. For professional timelines with many events or frequent updates, use Preceden. And if you're a developer building a dashboard or tool that needs embedded timelines, use Bryntum Scheduler Pro for complete control over appearance and functionality.