Calendar View in Microsoft Project – Tutorial

Calendar View in Microsoft Project: Video Lesson

            This video lesson, titled “The Calendar View,” shows you how to use the Calendar View in Microsoft Project. This video lesson is from our complete Project 2013 training, titled “Mastering Project Made Easy v.2013-2010.”

Calendar View in Microsoft Project: Overview

            The Calendar view in Microsoft Project displays the tasks within the project in a calendar style. The Calendar view in Microsoft Project can assist you in showing which tasks are scheduled for which days in a calendar layout. You can switch to this view of your project file by clicking the “Calendar” button within the “Task Views” button group on the “View” tab within the Ribbon. Within the Calendar view in Microsoft Project, each task is represented by a rectangle that contains the task name and its duration. You will also see the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab appear within the Ribbon. You can use the buttons within this tab to change visual aspects of this view.

            You can click the “Text Styles,” “Bar Styles,” and “Gridlines” buttons in the “Format” button group of the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon to change the appearance of categories of text, categories of bars, and the gridlines within the calendar view.

            You can click the dialog box launcher that appears in the lower-right corner of the “Layout” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon to open the “Layout” dialog box. Here you can choose the method to use for displaying the calendar and its tasks. You can select the option to “Use the current sort order” or “Attempt to fit as many tasks as possible” in the view. You can check or uncheck the checkbox to “Show bar splits” and use an “Automatic layout.” When finished, click the “OK” button to apply your settings.

Calendar View in Microsoft Project – Tutorial: A picture of the “Layout” dialog box within the Calendar view of a project file in Project 2013.

            You can click the “Layout Now” button in the “Layout” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon to apply the layout that you set if you change it. You can also click the “Adjust Week Height” to adjust the row height of weeks shown to only accommodate the height of the tasks that they contain. Note that to undo this action, you must click the “Undo” button or manually resize the week heights to return them to their default height. You can place your mouse pointer at the bottom of any week row shown, until it turns into a single horizontal line intersected by a vertical arrow, and then click and drag to manually adjust the height of the week rows shown.

            You can also click on a day shown in the Calendar view in Microsoft Project and then click the “Task List” button in the “Show/Hide” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon to display a dialog box that lists the tasks that are occurring on that day. You can click the “Close” button within the dialog box to close the dialog box when finished viewing it. You can check the “Project Summary Task” checkbox to display a line for the project summary task within the Calendar view in Microsoft Project.

Calendar View in Microsoft Project: Instructions

1. To switch to the Calendar view of your project file, click the “Calendar” button within the “Task Views” button group on the “View” tab within the Ribbon.
2. Each task within this view is represented by a rectangle that contains the task name and its duration.
3. To change visual aspects of this view, use the buttons found within the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon.
4. To change the appearance of categories of text, categories of bars, and the gridlines within the calendar view, click the “Text Styles,” “Bar Styles,” and “Gridlines” buttons in the “Format” button group of the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon.
5. To open the “Layout” dialog box, click the dialog box launcher in the lower-right corner of the “Layout” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon.
6. To choose the method to use for displaying the calendar and its tasks, select either the option to “Use the current sort order” or “Attempt to fit as many tasks as possible” in the view.
7. You can check or uncheck the checkbox to “Show bar splits” and use an “Automatic layout.”
8. To apply your settings when finished, click the “OK” button.
9. To apply the layout that you set, if you change it, click the “Layout Now” button in the “Layout” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon.
10. To adjust the row height of weeks shown to only accommodate the height of the tasks that they contain, click the “Adjust Week Height”.
11. To undo this action, click the “Undo” button or manually resize the week heights to return them to their default height.
12. To manually adjust the height of the week rows shown, place your mouse pointer at the bottom of any week row shown, until it turns into a single horizontal line intersected by a vertical arrow, and then click and drag.
13. To display a dialog box that lists the tasks that are occurring on a day, click on a day shown in the calendar view and then click the “Task List” button in the “Show/Hide” button group on the “Format” tab of the “Calendar Tools” contextual tab within the Ribbon.
14. Click the “Close” button within the dialog box to close the dialog box when finished viewing it.
15. To display a line for the project summary task within the calendar view, check the “Project Summary Task” checkbox.