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Change the timescale in a Project view in Project desktop

Most views in Project have a timescale that shows, well, time. You can adjust the timescale to show smaller or greater time units, from hours all the way up to years. For example, you may want to show time in fiscal, not calendar years, or you may want to show Gantt bars across months, not days. You can also customize the timescale in the Calendar view to meet your needs.

Change the units shown on the timescale

  1. Display a view with a timescale, such as the Gantt Chart.

  2. Click View > Timescale box arrow.

    Timescale box on the View tab

  3. Pick the time units you want to show on the bottom tier of the timescale. Project automatically adjusts the top and middle tier.

    Timescale Units

Customize the timescale

You can show up to three timescale tiers in each timescale view, and format each tier individually. Here's how:

  1. Display a view with a timescale, such as the Gantt Chart.

  2. Click View > Timescale box arrow.

    Timescale box on the View tab

  3. Click Timescale.

    Timescale

  4. In the Timescale box, pick the options you want, and view any changes you make in the Preview box.

    Timescale dialog box

    • In the Show list, pick the number of tiers you want the timescale to show.

    • In the Units box, pick the time unit for the timescale tier of the selected tab in the Timescale box.

    • In the Label list, pick the label format for the selected time units.

    • In the Count box, specify a number to indicate the frequency of unit labels on the timescale tier.

      For example, if the unit is weeks, and you enter 2, the timescale tier will show 2-week segments.

    • In the Align list, pick Left, Center, or Right to align the label.

    • Check or uncheck the Tick Lines box to show or hide vertical lines between unit labels.

    • Check or uncheck the Use fiscal year box to base the timescale on fiscal or calendar years.

    • In the Size box, enter a percentage to reduce or enlarge the spacing between units on the timescale tier.

    • Check or uncheck the Scale separator box to show or hide horizontal lines between timescale tiers.

Quick ways to zoom the timescale

Try this

Where is it?

Zoom Slider

The zoom slider appears near the bottom of the Project window.
zoom slider image

Keyboard shortcut

Press CTRL + / (slash on the numeric keypad) to show smaller time units, and CTRL + * (asterisk on the numeric keypad) to show larger time units.

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Change the timescale in the Calendar view

  1. Right-click in the Calendar view, and then click Timescale in the menu that appears.

  2. In the Timescale dialog box, click the Week Headings tab.

  3. In the Monthly titles, Daily titles, and Weekly titles boxes, choose the date formats that you want to use for the Calendar view.

  4. Under Display, choose 7 days to display a 7-day week or 5 days to display a 5-day week.

  5. To add miniature calendars for the next and previous months, select the Display month pane check box.

  6. To show the beginning and end dates for the range of time you have chosen to view, select the Display monthly titles beginning and end dates.

  7. On the Date Boxes tab, under Top row and Bottom row, select the information that you want to display in the left and right portions of each row, and then select the patterns and colors you want.

    Notes: 

    • To change the appearance of working and nonworking days in the Calendar view, right-click anywhere in the Calendar view, and then click Timescale in the menu that appears. In the Timescale dialog box, click the Date Shading tab, and then click the name of the calendar that you want to change in the Show working time for box. In the Exception type list, click the type of date box you want to change, and then select a pattern and color.

    • To change the column width, drag any vertical line between two date boxes to the left to decrease column width or to the right to increase column width. To fit the displayed columns exactly to the width of the calendar area, double-click any vertical line between two date boxes.

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