Before your project gets rolling, you will probably want to mark its major goals with milestones.  

 

Create a milestone with zero duration

The quickest way to create a milestone is to add a task with no duration to your project plan.

  1. Select Task > Gantt Chart.

    Task Views group on the View tab.

  2. Type the milestone name in the first empty row or pick a task you want to turn into a milestone.

  3. Type 0 in the Duration field, and then press Enter.

The milestone symbol is now part of your Gantt Chart.

Image of milestone symbol on a Gantt Chart

Add a milestone with a duration

Sometimes a milestone takes time. For example, the approval process at the end of a phase might take a week, so that milestone would need to take place over time like a normal task.

  1. Select Task > Gantt Chart.

    Task Views group on the View tab.

  2. Type the milestone name in the first empty row or pick a task you want to turn into a milestone.

  3. Select the milestone, and then select Task. In the Properties group, select Task Information.

    Task Information button image

  4. Select the Advanced tab, and then type the milestone duration in the Duration box.

  5. Check Mark task as milestone, and then select OK.

On the Gantt Chart, the milestone symbol appears on the last day of the task. It doesn’t appear as a bar, even though it has duration.

Image of milestone with duration on a Gantt chart.

Add an external milestone

Sometimes you might need a milestone to track a task that’s outside the scope of your project.

  • If the milestone depends on a project that is beyond your control, such as software that is being developed by another company, create a milestone using the steps in the previous section. You’ll have to keep an eye on the external task and update it manually.

  • If the milestone is part of a project in your organization, you can track it with a cross-project link.

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Create a milestone with Project for the web

The quickest way to create a milestone is to add a task with no duration to your project.

  1. Go to Project (project.microsoft.com) and select Timeline.

    Add a task to timeline.

  2. Select + Add new task, and then type a task name.

  3. Hover over the task name and select the Open details icon.

    Open details

  4. Type 0 in the Duration field, and then select Add dependency.

    Add dependency to task

  5. The milestone symbol Milestone is now part of your timeline.

    Milestone symbol

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