Microsoft Project Top Ten Tips

A new departure this week, the first in our series of Hints and Tips for Microsoft Project. Except where indicated, all these tips work with every version of Microsoft Project.

1. To hide a column in a Gantt Chart Table or indeed any table, click the right hand edge of the column header and drag it over to the left until it disappears from view. It is now a zero width column. To display the column, click to the right of the column separator bar where the column used to be. Then drag over to the right. 


2. To link or unlink tasks that are not on consecutive rows, click on one task then hold down the CTRL key and click on another task. Hold down the key to select other tasks. 


3. To change information for a number of tasks at once, select the tasks (use the method described above for non-adjacent tasks) and click the Task Information button. Enter the common information in one of the fields displayed in the Multiple Task Information dialog box.


4. If a task does not reschedule when it is based on a dependency, it may because it contains a "fixed" date of some kind. A fixed date could be an Actual Start or a constraint such as Must Start On or Start No Earlier Than. Use the Tasks with Fixed Dates Filter to view only those tasks in a plan that contain fixed dates. You can then determine if these tasks should have these types of fixed dates. 


5. Press ALT+Home in the Gantt chart to position the chart on the start of the project.


6. Use the INSERT key on your keyboard to insert rows and columns. In the Gantt chart, click on a row and press the INSERT key to insert a blank row above the selected row. Click on a column header to highlight a column and press INSERT to insert a column to the left of the selected column. 


7. To move multiple task boxes in the Network Diagram (PERT Chart) select any number of boxes and then click on the border of a box and drag the entire selection of boxes to a new location. In Project 2000, 2002 and 2003 you must first choose the Format menu, Layout and then Manual Box Positioning to enable this action.


8. In Project 2000, 2002 and 2003, to prevent an item from appearing in the legend for the Gantt chart, choose the Format menu, Bar Styles and place an asterisk (*) before the name of the item that you do not want to appear.


9. To split the screen and place a specific View into the lower pane, hold down the SHIFT key when selecting an item from the View menu. You can also split the screen by selecting Split from the Window menu or doubleclick the small horizontal split bar in the lower right corner of the screen. Double click again to remove the split (or choose Remove Split from the Windows menu).


10. To change the field in a column, double click on the column header and select the new field from the Field Name list. While in the Field Name list, press the first letter of the desired field to go to that field.