How to Make a Flowchart in PowerPoint? 2 Easy Methods
(Note: This tutorial on how to make a flowchart in PowerPoint is suitable for PowerPoint 2013 and later versions including Office 365)
Imagine you are dealing with hefty information which includes a lot of steps and procedures. Additionally, the information has sub-elements that act as a connecting feature between multiple headings. In such cases, presenting information through words might not be a wise choice.
Flowcharts are a very crucial piece of representation that helps connect information. They help split your information into smaller steps and collectively portray a whole picture. Mainly, they help provide connecting links for chronological processes.
PowerPoint is especially useful when it comes to elegantly portraying information. In addition to that, you can add flowcharts in PowerPoint to make them even more graceful.
In this article, I will show you how to make a flowchart in PowerPoint in 2 easy ways.
You’ll Learn
Watch this short video on How to Make a Flowchart in PowerPoint
Using the SmartArt Option
This is a relatively easy way to create a flowchart. This option offers you a template to build your flowchart presentation on. All you have to do is select a template and customize it
To create a flowchart using the SmartArt option, open PowerPoint.
Go to Insert under Illustrations, and click on SmartArt.
This opens up a new dialog box asking you to choose a SmartArt Graphic.
Once you select the flowchart the description of the layout appears to the right of the dialog box.
Click OK. This adds the selected template to the slide.
Now, you can change the text of the flowchart and customize it based on your preferences.
Customize your SmartArt Flowchart
The basic way to customize the elements of the flowchart is by moving the elements and adding the text based on your preferences. To move any flowchart element, just click on them and drag the elements to move them manually.
If you want to add any text to the flowchart, click on the “Add Text” button. The text bar shows the cursor where you can add the text as per your preferences.
However, you can add in-depth customization to the flowchart using the SmartArt Design and Format options.
Let me explain the features in detail.
SmartArt Design
The SmartArt Design option offers a series of customization options from layouts, graphics, and styles.
The Create Graphic option provides a series of choices to customize the text, add depth to the flowchart elements, and move them about in the slide.
The Layouts option is used to change the layout of the flowchart while editing them. Changing the layout in the middle of editing retains all the changes made to the original layout.
The SmartArt Styles option is used to add effects to the flowchart. You can change the opacity and dimensions, add shadows, and even change the color of the flowchart blocks.
The Reset option has two elements. The Reset Graphic option is used to revert the flowchart to its original template irrespective of the edits made. The Convert option converts the flowchart into shapes or text.
Format
The Format menu also has similar options to the SmartArt Design menu. You can customize the shapes, change word art styles, and arrange them on the slide.
The Shapes option is used to change the shape of the flowchart block. It makes the block larger or smaller.
The Shape Styles option is used to add effects like changing the color of the outline, changing the shape and size, and changing the shape effect according to your preferences. This will make the flowchart more aesthetic and appealing to the eye.
The WordArt styles option is exclusively used to change the style of the text in the flowchart. You can change the color of the text and its outline using this option.
Another additional feature in the Format menu, under Accessibility, is you can add “Alt text” to the flowchart elements. That is you can add a description of the object for the user to understand the image even better.
The Arrange option has features to rotate, arrange, group, or ungroup the elements. It can also show or hide the elements in the flowchart.
Finally, the Size option is used to manually resize the block elements or the whole chart by specifying dimensions.
By Creating Flowchart Manually
In some cases, you might not be able to find the template that might suit your needs. In such instances, you can create the flowchart manually. And like the SmartArt option, you can also customize the elements according to your preferences.
To create your flowchart from scratch, first, delete the “Click to add title” and “Click to add text” in the slide. However, they cannot be deleted by just clicking on delete or backspace. A workaround is to click on the textbox, press the Esc key, and now click Delete. Do the same for another field.
You can add gridlines to help you align the shapes and lines. Right-click on the slide and select Grid and Guides.
This opens up a dialog box. Enter the grid spacing as per your preference and check “Display grid on screen”. Click OK.
Navigate to Home. Under Drawing, choose the shape you want to add to the flowchart. Select the preferred shape. Then, drag and draw the shape in the slide with the grid lines as reference.
To add text, go to Shape Format. Click on the Text Box option to add text. Click on the place where you want to add the text and start typing.
Choose the connecting lines from the shapes and connect the block elements.
Now, the two integral parts of the flowchart are done.
Customize Your Flowchart
Just like choosing a SmartArt design and customizing them, you can also customize the flowchart that you created manually.
In the Home menu under Shapes, you can find various options to customize your flowchart elements. You can fill colors, change the colors of the blocks, change the color of the outlines, and also add certain effects. Additionally, if there are multiple blocks, you can use the Arrange option to position them accordingly based on your preference.
The Shape Format option is similar to the Format option in SmartArt. This option contains similar features like inserting shapes, changing shape styles and WordArt, arranging the elements, and resizing them.
Closing Thoughts
Flowcharts are an integral part of PowerPoint presentations because of their aesthetic and easy-to-understand nature.
In this guide, we saw how to create a flowchart using two easy methods. You can either choose a SmartArt template and customize them, or you can build a flowchart from scratch. Choose the method which suits you the best.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
