Visual Reports in Microsoft Project 2013

Visual Reports in Microsoft Project 2013: Video

This video is about creating visual reports in Microsoft Project 2013. Need more Project training? Click here for the complete tutorial.

Visual Reports in Microsoft Project 2013: Overview

Project allows you to create “visual reports” that compile data from your project and then display the results in a visual report within another application, such as Microsoft Excel or Visio. Note that to use visual report templates, you must have either or both Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Visio installed in conjunction with Microsoft Project on the same machine. If you do, then you can create visual reports within Microsoft Project.

If using Microsoft Project 2013, click the “Visual Reports” button within the “Export” button group on the “Report” tab within the Ribbon. If using Microsoft Project 2010, click the “Visual Reports” button within the “Reports” group on the “Project” tab within the Ribbon.

At this point, in all versions of Project, the “Visual Reports” dialog box will appear. Note that you must have the “Microsoft Excel” and/or the “Microsoft Visio” checkboxes checked at the top of this dialog box to show templates from Excel and Visio within the dialog box.

You can then see any available reports displayed within the tabs in this dialog box. Each tab represents a category of visual reports. You can click the various tabs shown to switch the reports displayed.

To view a report, click on the name of the visual report to display within the desired tab. Then use the “Select level of usage data to include in the report” drop-down to select the level of detail to display. The default choice is “Weeks,” but you can also select a different time increment from this drop-down. After making your selection, click the “View” button at the bottom of this dialog box. The report will then display in a separate application window using either Excel or Visio, depending upon the type of report you selected. You can then print it within that application, as needed.

When you are finished viewing the report, you can choose to use the “Save As” command to save a copy if you wish. You can then exit the application to close it and return to Project. You can click the “Close” button within the “Visual Reports” dialog box to close it when you are finished generating visual reports.