Power BI Gets a Native Gantt Chart

Key insights

• The video shows a Gantt chart built with native Power BI features.
• It avoids a custom visual or heavy workaround.
• The chart includes milestones, status, owners, grouped phases, and a zoom slider.
• The time axis can move from months down to individual days.

How to Power BI recently published a video showing a project Gantt chart built in Power BI with native features only. The takeaway is simple: you can now build a timeline-style project report without relying on a custom visual or a heavy workaround. The demo focuses on a report that includes milestones, status tracking, owners, grouped phases, and a zoom slider that moves from months down to individual days.

What's new

The main change shown in the video is the move from a custom Gantt component to a native Power BI approach. According to the material, this means the chart is built using only built-in features rather than an AppSource visual or a separate package. That matters because it places the Gantt chart inside the standard Power BI experience instead of treating it as an add-on.

The research notes describe this as a Microsoft-provided core visual that is available in preview. They also say the chart supports task duration bars, progress formatting, milestones, extra information columns such as owner and status, category-based colors, and configurable axis settings. In the video description itself, the creator highlights milestones, owners, grouped phases, status tracking, and zooming across time scales.

Why it matters

This is most useful for Power BI report authors and analysts who build project dashboards. Instead of stitching together a schedule view from custom visuals or workarounds, they can keep the reporting model and the visual in one place. That can simplify maintenance and reduce the risk that a third-party visual becomes unavailable or changes behavior.

For admins and teams with tighter governance, a native visual is easier to standardize than a separate component. For makers, the report becomes easier to combine with other Power BI visuals, so a project schedule can sit next to budget, status, or delivery metrics in the same page. For readers of the report, the benefit is clearer project communication: they can see what is happening, who owns it, and where milestones fall on the timeline.

The source material does not state licensing details or general availability. It does say the visual is in preview in the research notes, so readers should treat it as something to validate before depending on it in production reporting.

How it works

The material does not provide a full build walkthrough, but it does show the core mechanics. The chart uses a timeline view where tasks are displayed as bars across time. Those bars represent the schedule, while the visual can also show progress and milestones to add context beyond start and end dates.

1. Set up the project fields needed for the visual, such as task dates and labels.
2. Use the native Gantt chart to display task duration across the timeline.
3. Add supporting fields such as owner, status, and grouped phases.
4. Use milestones to mark key events like approvals or go-live points.
5. Adjust the zoom slider or time axis to move from broad month views to day-level detail.

The research notes also say the axis can be configured for date range, date format, and time units, and that conditional formatting can be used for category-based colors. The result is a timeline that can work both as a high-level portfolio view and as a more detailed delivery tracker.

Limitations and open questions

The source material is thin on implementation details. It does not list the exact fields needed, the precise steps in the report canvas, or any limitations of the preview feature. It also does not confirm whether the visual is available to all tenants or whether there are licensing or rollout constraints.

The research notes mention that the visual is in preview, which suggests it may still change. They also describe it as a core visual, but the source material does not explain how it is enabled in the product or whether any tenant settings are required. Because the video description is brief, we can confirm the outcome shown, but not every configuration choice behind it.

Sources

• How to Power BI video: Power BI finally has a Gantt chart
• How to Power BI website

Frequently asked questions

Is this a custom visual or a native Power BI feature?

The video says the chart is built using only native Power BI features and does not need a custom visual or heavy workaround.

What can the Gantt chart show?

The source material says it can show milestones, status tracking, owners, grouped phases, and a zoom slider. The research notes also mention progress formatting and category-based colors.

Is the feature generally available?

The material does not confirm general availability. The research notes describe it as preview, so readers should verify the current status in their environment.

Does the video explain how to build it step by step?

Only at a high level. The source material shows the outcome and the main capabilities, but it does not provide a full build guide.