These Are the 5 Best Gantt Chart Templates for Excel and Google Sheets

Gantt charts are one of my favorite ways to gain visual project overviews. Whether you use Google Sheets or Excel, you can enjoy using several beginner-friendly templates for work, studying, and personal projects. Here are some of my top choices.

1 Smartsheet’s Gantt Chart Template

Smartsheet’s Gantt chart template lets you input the dates for each assignment and choose their completion percentage. When you increase the percent completed, the shade of green turns darker. As a result, you’ll have a much better understanding of what needs to be worked on (and what is done).

While you can assign tasks to others, I don’t use this column as I only use this Gantt chart for personal projects. Nonetheless, I think that it’s a fantastic option if you don’t want to work from Excel; add other people’s email addresses and let them collaborate/update in real-time.

Smartsheet’s Gantt chart template will also show you how many days you have to complete a task from the initial point. You can also break down your tasks into research and implementation phases, making it easier to see what’s going on.

How to Get Smartsheet’s Gantt Chart Template for Excel

To use the Excel version, you must download it from the Smartsheet website.

Here’s how to get the template:

1. Go to Smartsheet’s Gantt Template Gallery.
2. Select Basic Project With Gantt and then Use Template on the next page.
3. Enter your email address and complete the remaining questions, before selecting Try Smartsheet for Free.
4. Verify your email address and create an account password.
5. Customize your sheet by answering the initial questions and adding your projects.
6. Go to File > Export > Export to Microsoft Excel. Save any changes if you haven’t already.
7. Double-click on the XLS file to open your Gantt chart in Excel. Here, you can customize it further.

2 Team Gantt’s Google Sheets Template

Despite its name, you can use this template on Excel and Google Sheets—you’ll need to download it for the former and make a copy if you use the latter. Like Smartsheet’s Gantt chart template, you simply need to enter your project details and the sheet will automatically update.

I recommend using this template if you have multiple projects or assignments, and it’s a great option if you’re a freelancer or student in particular. Compared to Smartsheet’s Gantt chart template, I found that Team Gantt’s Google Sheets template was less prone to formatting errors (learning how to format values in Google Sheets can also help if problems come up).

Another thing I really like about this template is how good it looks. However, if you don’t like its base colors, you can easily customize them.

How to Get Team Gantt’s Google Sheets Template for Excel

Since the steps differ to get this template for Google Sheets and Excel, I’ll break them into different sections.

Here’s how to download it for Excel:

1. Go to this page on TeamGantt’s website and select Download template under Boring Google Sheets template.
2. Navigate to File > Download > Microsoft Excel.
3. Wait for the Excel file to download and open it in Excel, then you can customize it.

How to Get Team Gantt’s Google Sheets Template for Google Sheets

Start by following Step 1 in the previous section, then follow the steps below:

1. Go to File > Make a copy.
2. Select Make a copy when the pop-up window appears.
3. Allow access to all formulas and customize the Gantt chart.

3 Vertex42’s Simple Gantt Chart

If you’re looking for a Gantt chart that requires no external downloads, look no further than Vertex42’s Simple Gantt Chart. It looks a bit outdated at first, but you can customize the fonts and such. Beyond that, customizing the sheet with your project goals is very straightforward.

I tried numerous other Gantt chart templates before finding this one, and I didn’t like how bad they were at making real-time adjustments. This one, however, is much better in that respect. You can also refer to the About tab if you need more information on how the chart works.

To get this template, search for “Gantt chart” in Excel and select Simple Gantt chart when you see the list of options. You might want to combine this template with some of the most powerful Excel project management templates.

4 Date Tracker Gantt Chart

Another Gantt chart that you’ll find in Excel (and is worth using) is this simple date-tracking one. All you have to do is enter your project start and finish dates in Tasks, and you’ll see a full overview of when you should expect everything to be completed by going to Gantt Chart. I particularly like the base colors in this chart; they make it very easy to see what’s going on.

The downside is that you don’t get a comprehensive overview like some of the other charts on this list. Nonetheless, if you just want a quick way to see when different tasks are due for completion, this is a fantastic option.

Like the Simple Gantt Chart, you’ll find this by searching for “Gantt charts” in Excel and then picking Date Tracker Gantt chart. If these kinds of charts don’t take your fancy, there are plenty of project management alternatives to Gantt charts.

5 Zapier’s Google Sheets Template

I love using Zapier for its automation functionalities, and its Google Sheets template is an easy way to look at all of your projects in one place. You can change the color based on whether a project is on track or will potentially be delayed, and the sheet will automatically update as you change your task overviews.

Unlike some of the other Gantt charts I’ve used, Zapier’s will show you where you are in terms of current assignments based on the current date. You can then change dates to move things around (if needed). When you click on a task, you’ll get a full overview.

To change your project timelines fully, go to the first tab and edit these here. It’s called “Winston campaigns” by default, but you can rename it.

To download this spreadsheet, go to this Zapier article and scroll down to Make a copy before confirming your choice.

You’ll find plenty of Gantt chart templates for Google Sheets and Excel, many of which are interchangeable between the two apps. I tried dozens when putting together this guide, but many were difficult to use if you’re a total beginner. So, you can have full confidence that these ones will help you track your projects without a huge learning curve.