Add, Edit, and Delete Activities
Add activities
- Add row. Type in the row at the bottom of the grid ("Add activity — Enter · paste rows · right-click") and press Enter. New activities get a 3-day duration.
- Insert key. Adds "New activity" directly below the selected row.
- Right-click a row for Insert below and Duplicate.
- Paste from Excel. See Paste activities from Excel.
Edit in the grid
Click a cell to edit it. Enter saves and moves down, and Tab moves right.
| Column | Editable? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Activity | Yes | The activity name |
| Preds | Yes | Predecessors, like 12FS+2, 14SS. See Link activities |
| Dur | Yes | Whole working days. Milestones have none |
| Start | Yes | Planned start date |
| Constraint | Yes | See Constraints |
| Cal | Yes | Calendar override for this activity |
| Cost, AC | Yes | Fixed cost and actual cost |
| Codes | Yes | Activity codes as Type:Value |
| % | Yes | Percent complete, 0 to 100 |
| Finish, TF, FF | No | Calculated by CPM |
When you change a duration or start date in the grid, a Review activity dates dialog may open. Click Preview impact to see how the change moves the finish date and the critical path, then Save dates. Nothing is saved until you confirm.
Edit on the Gantt
- Drag a bar sideways to change its planned start. It snaps to whole days.
- Drag the right edge to change the duration.
- Drag the left edge to move the start while keeping the finish.
- Arrow keys: ← and → nudge the start a day. Shift+← and Shift+→ change the duration.
On very large schedules, bars may not be draggable. Edit the dates in the grid instead.
Milestones, splits, and structure
Right-click a row for:
- Toggle milestone. Makes it a zero-duration event, shown as a diamond.
- Split activity. Splits it into two at the midpoint.
- Indent / Outdent. Builds the WBS. The row above becomes a summary with this activity as its child. Shortcuts: Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[.
- Delete.
Row badges: CP means critical, MS means milestone, and ↻ means the activity belongs to a recurring series.
Reorder rows
Drag the ⋮⋮ grip at the left of a row to move it among its siblings under the same parent. To move it under a different parent, use More editing → Move activity. Dragging rows isn't available while the grid is sorted, grouped, or filtered.
Edit many activities at once
Select rows with Ctrl+click or Shift+click, then:
- More editing → Edit selected activities to change a field on all of them.
- Ctrl+D in a cell copies its value down to every row below.
- Delete removes them all after confirming.
Delete
Click the × on the row or press Delete. You'll be asked to confirm. If you delete something by mistake, check Undo in the toolbar. Not every action can be undone, so look before confirming a large delete.