How to Make a Timeline in Microsoft Word

There are times when you need to create a timeline while working with Microsoft Word for visual presentation to display data or unique events in a sequence over a defined period of time. 

You can create a timeline to use on your business or school presentation which could only be done by Adobe or any other software back in the days. 

In this article, we will learn how to make a timeline in Microsoft Word.

How to Make a Timeline in Microsoft Word?

Before you make a timeline in Microsoft Word, please change the orientation of your document to landscape mode from the portrait mode. 

Please follow the below steps to make a timeline in Microsoft Word for your school or business presentation. 

Change the Page Orientation

• Open the Microsoft Word App and Create a New Blank Document or open the existing document by pressing Ctrl + O. 
• Go to Layout > Orientation and select “Landscape” mode and switch from the portrait mode of your Word Document.

As you have changed the orientation of the page to Landscape, you can follow the below steps to insert a timeline on your page. 

• Go to Insert Tab and Click on SmartArt under the Illustrations Section. 

• Go to Process Category. You will find multiple options to create a timeline. Select one as per your requirement and what suits you best. Every design will give you a similar functionality and click on Ok. 

Add your Data to Timeline Events

Since you have created a basic timeline template in your Microsoft Word Document, it’s time that you add your data to timeline events. 

All you need to do is edit the text area and insert your timeline events by opening the Text Pane. 

Click on the arrow section of the timeline to open the Text Pane. 

Please add your events as per the sequence to every portion of the timeline. 

Moreover, if you want to add more events into your timeline, just click Enter at the end of the last event. A new event will be created automatically as soon as you click Enter. 

Please be noted that the more event you add to the timeline, the smaller the text will appear. 

It is not advised to add more than 7 events in your timeline as it goes hard to read. 

However, if you want to add time or date to your event below the text, you can press Shift + Enter to create a line break. The same method applies if you want to add a date above the time. 

Note: Microsoft Word doesn’t automatically calculate the time between two events. It means the distance between the two events will be the same regardless of the time when they took place.