Free Gantt Chart Template for Excel
Last updated June 2026
A task table on the left — Task, Start, Duration, End — and a day-by-day calendar strip across the top: that's the whole Gantt sheet. Give each task a start date and a duration; the end date calculates itself and a green bar fills every active day. Project timelines in one free .xlsx, with no chart objects to wrestle.
Free Gantt Chart Template for Excel
gantt-chart.xlsx · free · no signup
Works in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, and Google Sheets (File → Import).
SHA-256: 06b9384cdf9f5f5634972cbbe6b73a7c48c31a909b2d0f4bfd02fc0f57ccfa68
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task | Start | Duration (days) | End |
| Kickoff | 7/6/2026 | 2 | 7/7/2026 |
| Research | 7/8/2026 | 5 | 7/12/2026 |
| Design | 7/13/2026 | 7 | 7/19/2026 |
| Build | 7/20/2026 | 10 | 7/29/2026 |
| Review | 7/30/2026 | 4 | 8/2/2026 |
| Launch | 8/4/2026 | 2 | 8/5/2026 |
What's inside
Sheets
GanttOne sheet does everything: the Task/Start/Duration/End table in columns A–D, a 46-day calendar strip from column F to AY, and the conditional-format bars that draw your timeline.
Columns
- TaskThe name of each piece of work — one row per task.
- StartThe date the task begins, formatted
m/d/yyyy. Change it and the bar slides along the strip. - Duration (days)How many days the task runs. A whole-number validation rejects fractions, so the bar always lands on clean day boundaries.
- EndCalculated for you from Start and Duration — never type it. The first day counts, so a 2-day task starting 7/6 ends 7/7.
Formulas that do the work
The End column. It adds Duration to Start and subtracts one so the start day is counted, and stays blank until you fill in a Start date. Copied down rows 4–18.
The calendar strip. F2 holds the literal date 7/6/2026; every cell to its right adds one day across to AY2, giving 46 numbered day columns.
The conditional-formatting rule behind the bars, found under Home → Conditional Formatting → Manage Rules. A strip cell turns solid green when its day falls on or after the task's Start and on or before its End.
How to use it
Replace the sample tasks
On the
Ganttsheet, type over the six sample rows (Kickoff through Launch) in column A with your own task names. Add more by copying row 18 downward.Set each Start date
Put a start date in column B for every task, formatted
m/d/yyyy. The calendar strip already runs from 7/6/2026 — dragF2to your project's first day to re-anchor it.Enter the duration in days
Type a whole number in Duration (days). The End column fills in automatically, and a green bar draws across the strip for every day the task is active.
Read the timeline
Each green bar spans Start through End. Overlapping bars show parallel work; gaps show slack. The frozen header and task columns stay put as you scroll the strip right.
Extend the calendar if needed
If your plan runs past column AY, select the last day cell
AY2, then drag its fill handle further right to add more=AY2+1-style day columns.
Compatibility
- Microsoft Excel. Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2016 and later (Windows and Mac).
- LibreOffice Calc. Opens directly — formulas, validation lists, and formatting carry over.
- Google Sheets. Upload via File → Import → Upload, or drag the file into Drive and open with Sheets.
The green timeline bars are conditional formatting, so they survive a Google Sheets import — open File → Import → Upload, then confirm a bar appears on each task row before editing.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this Gantt chart template really free?
- Yes — and there is no paywalled "Pro" edition hiding behind it. The file you download is the full template: the date-driven bars, the End-date formulas, and the duration validation are all included, for personal and commercial projects alike.
- How do the green bars work without an Excel chart?
- They are conditional formatting, not a chart. A formula rule fills each day cell green when that date falls between a task's Start and End, so the bars redraw instantly when you change a date. View or edit it at Home → Conditional Formatting → Manage Rules.
- How do I add more tasks than the six samples?
- Click row 18, copy it, then paste into the rows below. That carries the End formula, the duration validation, and the bar formatting down to your new task rows.
- Why does the End date subtract one day?
- Because the start day counts as day one. A 2-day task starting 7/6 runs 7/6 and 7/7, so
=IF(B4="","",B4+C4-1)ends it on 7/7 rather than 7/8. - Do the Gantt bars render in Google Sheets?
- They do, because the bars are conditional-formatting rules rather than an Excel chart object. After importing the file with File → Import → Upload, changing any Start date or Duration redraws the green timeline immediately, exactly as it does in Excel.