Here are some tips on how to add tasks to a timeline in SharePoint, and steps to change the appearance of the timeline to a preferred manner. Learn how to indent or outdent tasks, and how to move tasks in the timeline.
How to add tasks to a timeline in SharePoint
- After adding tasks to a project, go to Tasks page and select the task you want to add.
- From the Tasks tab, click on Add to timeline option in the Actions
- You can also perform this action by clicking on the (…) placed next to each task.
- Choose Add to timeline from the box that appears.
Steps to change the appearance of the timeline.
- Select the timeline by clicking on the title.
- Change the size, font face, color, and format from the Timeline tab in the Font group by clicking on the bar.
- Click on the bar or diamond and from the Font group on the Timeline tab, choose Highlight color to change the fill color.
- To change the background color for the timeline, click on free space in the timeline and go to Font group in the Timeline
- Choose Highlight color to pick the desired color.
How to indent or outdent tasks in the task list
- Click the space to the left of the checkbox for the task you want to indent or outdent.
- You can also select multiple tasks by pressing Ctrl and clicking the space left to the checkboxes near as much as tasks you want.
- You can then choose Indent or Outdent from Tasks tab in the Hierarchy group.
- Alt+Shift+Right Arrow is the keyboard shortcut to indent, whereas Alt+Shift+Left Arrow outdents a selected task.
How to move tasks up and down in a task list
- Select the task by clicking on the space to the left of the checkbox.
- Drag the task to the desired position in the timeline.
- This method works only when the tasks list is open for editing.
- Alt+Shift+Up Arrow is the keyboard shortcut to move the task up and Alt+Shift+Down Arrow moves the task down.
Written by Alex K Joseph, Digital Marketing Strategist, Dock 365
Alex K Joseph is a digital marketing strategist at Dock 365 with deep expertise in content marketing and Microsoft technologies. His published work covers SharePoint administration, Microsoft Teams, Power Automate, Microsoft 365 admin workflows, and Dynamics 365, the underlying platform that Dock 365's contract management software is built on. He has been writing for Dock 365 since 2021, producing technical content that helps SharePoint and Microsoft 365 administrators evaluate CLM solutions in the context of their existing Microsoft stack.


