Step-by-step guide
How to make a Gantt chart in Jira
Jira's Timeline view displays epics across a date axis. Follow the steps below to add dates and dependencies, then see how the timeline handles a scheduling conflict.
We use the same six-week bakery-website plan as our worked examples, our Notion guide, and our Excel guide, so you can line them all up side by side.
before you start
Plan with epics and sprints
The setup differs from a PowerPoint Gantt chart or a spreadsheet one because Jira displays issue records. Like Notion's Timeline view, it uses dates stored with the work. Where a general schedule might use tasks and milestones, this example uses epics and sprints. Create an epic for each phase; its date range determines the bar.
The raw material is the same as every other method: one row per phase, with a start date and a due date — and its duration is just the distance between the two. In Jira, that row is an epic in your backlog:
| Epic | Start date | Due date | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design | Apr 1 | Apr 14 | 14d |
| Build | Apr 8 | Apr 25 | 18d |
| Copy | Apr 18 | Apr 24 | 7d |
| Photos | Apr 22 | May 1 | 10d |
| QA & fixes | May 2 | May 12 | 11d |
method 01 — the native way, free on every plan
The Timeline view, in five steps
Create an epic per phase and give each one a date range. Timeline view displays them as a Gantt chart: a list of epics on the left, bars on a date grid to the right, sprints marked across the top.
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Open the Timeline view
Open Timeline from the project sidebar. It displays the project issues along a date axis.
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Add an epic for each phase
Each bar on a Jira timeline is an epic — the closest thing Jira has to a Gantt "task group." Create one per phase of the plan: Design, Build, Copy, Photos, QA. Child issues nest underneath, but the phase-level bars are what read as the chart.
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Give every epic a start and a due date
A bar needs two ends. Drag an epic's edges on the timeline, or open it and set Start date and Due date. With no due date an epic has no width — it shows as a stub, which is Jira's way of saying "this has no end yet."
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Set the scale and switch on sprints
Use the Weeks / Months / Quarters switch at the top right to fit the plan on screen. Turn on Sprints and Releases in the view settings to show those dates on the axis.
The list and the bars are the same epics, seen two ways. Drag a bar and its dates change on the issue; edit the dates and the bar moves. Both views use the same issue dates.
the part that surprises people
Jira flags a slip — it won't fix it
You can draw dependencies on the timeline: hover the edge of a bar until a dot appears and drag a line to the epic that waits on it — Build waits on Design, most links finish-to-start. When a date slips, the single-project Timeline does not move the dependent epic for you. It turns the dependency red to say the dates now conflict, and leaves the bar exactly where you put it.
the plan as agreed
Build is timed to start the day Design ends. The dependency dates are consistent.
Design slips 5 days → Build turns red, but stays put
Build now starts before Design finishes. Jira flags the clash — and waits for you to drag Build yourself.
That's the exact opposite of Notion's Timeline, which shifts everything downstream on its own, and of a tool like ganttchart.ai, where a slip reflows the whole critical path. Jira's Premium tier (Jira Plans, formerly Advanced Roadmaps) adds an explicit auto-schedule button that can push dependents in one pass — but you need to run it explicitly. On the single-project timeline, update affected dates yourself.
the paid tier — when one project isn't enough
Jira Plans (Advanced Roadmaps), and what it does and doesn't add
The free Timeline draws one project. When you need to see many projects and teams on a single plan — with capacity, cross-project dependencies, and that auto-schedule pass — that's Jira Plans, included with Premium and Enterprise (it used to be called Advanced Roadmaps). It's a genuine step up for planning a whole portfolio.
The features to check separately include a milestone marker, critical-path highlighting, and a baseline for comparing the current plan with the original schedule. Check the available Marketplace add-ons if you need those features, including any separate subscription cost.
Limitations
Where Jira's timeline stops
Timeline view is useful when the team already manages work in Jira. Check these scheduling limits before choosing it for a new project:
- It flags, it doesn't fix. A slipped date lights up the dependency red but never reschedules the work waiting on it. Keeping the plan honest after a change is manual — the reverse of a tool built to reflow.
- The setup uses epics and sprints. The bars are epics, the columns are sprints. If your plan isn't shaped like agile delivery — a launch, a renovation, an event — consider whether that structure fits the work.
- No milestones, critical path, or baselines. Not on free, not on Premium. The three things people most associate with a Gantt chart all live behind a Marketplace add-on you pay for separately.
- Consider the setup for a new team. Jira is convenient when the work is already tracked as issues. For a new team, compare the project setup with using a template or generating a chart from a project description.
Timeline view keeps the schedule in the same place as your Jira issues. If you need different milestone or rescheduling behavior, our head guide compares every route side by side.
Common questions
Jira Gantt charts, answered
Does Jira have a built-in Gantt chart?
Not under that name — Jira calls it the Timeline view (it was briefly "Roadmap"). Give each epic a start and a due date and Jira draws one horizontal bar per epic along a date axis: a Gantt chart in everything but the label, and available on every plan including the free tier. The difference from a spreadsheet is that the bars are your real issues, so they are dates, not pixels.
Do I need Jira Premium (Advanced Roadmaps / Plans) for a Gantt chart?
No — the single-project Timeline is free. Premium adds Jira Plans (formerly Advanced Roadmaps): the same idea stretched across many projects and teams, with capacity planning and auto-scheduling. It's worth it for planning a whole portfolio, but it still doesn't add milestones, a critical path, or baselines. For those you need a Marketplace add-on on top of Premium, which is a second bill.
Does a Jira timeline reschedule dependent issues when one slips?
No, and this is the part to plan around. Native Jira flags a dependency conflict — the badge on the dependency turns red — but it will not move the dependent issue for you. If Design overruns, Build stays exactly where you put it and simply lights up as conflicting. That's the opposite of a tool like Notion's Timeline, which shifts everything downstream automatically. Jira warns; it won't fix.
How do I add a milestone to a Jira timeline?
Natively, you fake it. Jira has no zero-width milestone diamond, so people use a Release marker on the axis, or a single-day issue named for the moment ("Launch," "Sign-off"). A true milestone marker — the kind that sits on the line as a diamond — only comes from a Gantt-chart Marketplace add-on.
What's the fastest way to make a Gantt chart?
ganttchart.ai generates a shareable chart from a project description. In Jira, create the epics, enter their dates, and link dependencies. Jira makes sense when the team already tracks the work there; compare setup time if you only need a chart.
New to the vocabulary? Every planning term on this page is defined in the plain-English glossary.
Generate a chart with dependencies
Describe your project in plain English and get a shareable, editable Gantt chart in seconds — dependencies and milestones included, and a slip reflows the whole plan instead of just turning red. No epics to wire up first.