How to Set Holidays in Microsoft Project

Quick summary

Setting holidays in Microsoft Project ensures your project schedule automatically accounts for non-working days, preventing task conflicts. You do this through the Change Working Time dialog by adding named exceptions to the Standard calendar.

Steps

1. Launch Microsoft Project and open the Project tab in the top ribbon menu.
2. Click Change Working Time to open the calendar settings dialog.
3. Confirm that Standard is selected in the For calendar dropdown menu.
4. Navigate to the Exceptions tab at the bottom of the calendar view.
5. Enter a descriptive name for your holiday, then set the start and finish dates.
6. Click the Details button to further customize your holiday settings.
7. In the Details dialog, select the appropriate working time option.
8. Click OK on all open dialogs to save your holiday settings and return to your project.