How to format your spreadsheet
One row per task, with a header row on top. Column names don’t need to match exactly — the tool guesses them, and you can change any guess from the dropdowns after upload.
- Task (required): the label shown on the bar. “Name”, “Title” or “Activity” work too.
- Start (required): a date such as 2027-01-04, 01/04/2027, or 4 Jan 2027. Real Excel date cells are read as dates.
- End: the finish date. Leave it blank, or the same as Start, for a one-day item.
- Group: a phase, team or workstream. Tasks with the same group are drawn together.
- Milestone: put “yes” to show the row as a milestone marker. Rows whose start and end dates match are treated as milestones too.
Not sure? Start from the sample CSV: ten tasks across four phases with three milestones. Open it in Excel, replace the rows with your plan, save, and drop it back in.
Keep the slide readable: a board or steering-committee slide works best with 8–25 rows. If your plan has hundreds of subtasks, group them into phases first. When dates move, update the spreadsheet and download again instead of nudging shapes by hand. For more layouts, browse the timeline template gallery.
FAQ
- Is it really free without an account?
- Yes. Upload, preview, restyle and download without signing up. Free downloads are 1280px wide with a small “Made with Tymepath” watermark.
- Is my spreadsheet uploaded anywhere?
- No. Your file is read and turned into a slide inside your browser. The current timeline is kept only in this browser’s storage for up to 7 days so a refresh doesn’t lose it.
- Can I edit the bars inside PowerPoint?
- No. The .pptx file contains the slide as one high-resolution image, not editable shapes. To change dates, edit them here (or in your spreadsheet) and download again — it takes seconds.
- What does the $9 Deck Pass include?
- Seven days of watermark-free, full-resolution PNG and PowerPoint downloads from this tool. It’s a one-time payment, not a subscription. Pro ($12/month billed annually) adds clean exports across the whole app, saved projects and AI timeline generation.
- Does it work with Google Sheets or Smartsheet?
- Yes. Download your sheet as CSV or Excel, or copy the cells (including the header row) and use “Paste rows”.