Step-by-step guide
How to make a Gantt chart in Notion
Notion's Timeline view displays task dates as horizontal bars. This guide covers the database setup and dependency settings that let you adjust a schedule when dates change.
We use the same six-week bakery-website plan as our worked examples, our Excel guide, and our PowerPoint guide, so you can line them all up side by side.
before you start
Start with a task database
The database setup takes more work than drawing a PowerPoint Gantt chart or building a spreadsheet one, but it lets you keep task details and the chart together. Edit a date in the database and the corresponding bar moves in Timeline view.
The raw material is the same as every other method: one row per task, with a start date and an end date. In Notion that pair lives in a single "Date" property with its end date switched on — and its duration is just the distance between the two:
| Aa Name | ◷ Timeline (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
The Timeline view, in five steps
Create a database, select its date property, and add Timeline view to display it as a Gantt chart: a table of tasks on the left, bars on a date grid to the right.
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Make a task database
Type /database and pick Table view, either inline or full-page. Add one row per task. You will use the same database for Timeline view.
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Add a Date property with an end date
Add a property of type Date, name it "Timeline", and turn on "End date" in its options. Now each task can hold a start and a finish — a range, which is what a bar needs to have width.
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Switch the view to Timeline
Click the view name → + Add view → Timeline. Notion draws one horizontal bar per task along a date axis. If a task only shows a dot, it is missing its end date — go back and fill it in.
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Set the time scale and open the table
Use the scale switch (top-right of the view) to pick Week or Month so the whole plan fits. Then open the "«" panel on the left to show a table of properties beside the bars — the two-axis Gantt layout.
The table and the bars are the same rows, seen two ways. Drag a bar and its dates change in the table; edit the dates and the bar moves. Both views update the same data.
method 02 — the part that earns its keep
Turn on dependencies so the plan reflows
With dependencies enabled, Notion can shift linked tasks when you move a date. This saves the manual edits needed by the spreadsheet and slide methods in these guides.
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Open Dependencies on the view
In the Timeline view, open the ••• menu → Dependencies. Notion walks you through creating two relation properties — a "Blocking" and a "Blocked by" — that let one task point at another.
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Draw the links
Hover the right edge of a bar until a dot appears, then drag a line to the task that waits on it: Build waits on Design, QA waits on Build. Most links are finish-to-start.
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Set it to shift automatically
In Dependencies settings, choose "Shift dates" (rather than "Preserve"). Now when Design overruns, dragging its bar pushes Build, Copy, Photos and QA along with it — the plan re-dates itself instead of quietly going stale.
the plan as agreed
Design finishes on day 14; everything downstream is timed to it.
Design slips 5 days → everything moves
You dragged one bar. Notion re-dated the other four.
Once dependencies are configured, Notion can recalculate linked task dates after a change.
Limitations
Where Notion's timeline stops
Before using Timeline view for a project, check whether these limitations matter to your team:
- No critical path. Dependencies shift the bars, but Notion won't tell you which chain actually sets your end date. Finding the critical path is still on you.
- Milestones need a workaround. There's no zero-width milestone marker. Use a single-day task or a coloured tag to distinguish milestones.
- Allow time for setup. You need a task database, a date property, and relation properties for dependencies before the schedule is ready to use.
- Consider how your team will access it. Keeping the plan beside your notes is useful if the team already works in Notion. Otherwise, check whether a shared chart link would be easier for readers.
Timeline view is a practical choice when the team already uses a Notion database for its work. If you only need a chart, our head guide compares every route side by side.
Common questions
Notion Gantt charts, answered
Does Notion have a built-in Gantt chart?
Notion calls it Timeline view. Give a task database a Date property with an end date, then add a Timeline view to display one horizontal bar per task. The table and timeline use the same task dates.
Can a Notion Gantt chart show dependencies?
Yes, and this is where it beats a spreadsheet. In a Timeline view, open the ••• menu → Dependencies and set it up with two relation properties (a "Blocking" and a "Blocked by"). Once tasks are linked, dragging one bar shifts the tasks that depend on it — the plan reflows instead of going stale. Notion won't tell you which chain is the critical path, but it will keep the dates honest.
How do I add a milestone to a Notion timeline?
Notion has no zero-width milestone marker, so you fake it. The tidy way is a single-day task named for the moment — "Launch," "Sign-off" — which shows as a short bar or a dot you can colour or tag. Many people add a Select property called "Type" with a Milestone option and colour those rows so they stand out from the work bars.
Is a Notion timeline better than making a Gantt chart in Excel?
For a plan that keeps moving, yes — because Notion stores real dates and, with dependencies on, reflows itself. A spreadsheet Gantt chart is a stacked-bar picture that has to be re-typed by hand whenever a date slips. The catch is the reverse: Notion only pays off if your work already lives there. If you just want the chart and nothing else, the setup is overhead a spreadsheet skips.
What's the fastest way to make a Gantt chart?
ganttchart.ai generates a shareable chart from a project description. A Notion timeline takes more setup: create the database, add dates, and configure dependency relations. Use the method that fits where your team manages the work.
New to the vocabulary? Every planning term on this page is defined in the plain-English glossary.
Skip the database assembly
Describe your project in plain English and get a shareable, editable Gantt chart in seconds — dependencies and milestones included, no properties to wire up. Then embed it in Notion if that's where the work lives.