Quick summary
Setting a baseline in Microsoft Project captures a snapshot of your original plan so you can track schedule variance and compare planned versus actual progress over time. Microsoft Project supports up to 11 baselines per project, making it easy to monitor changes across multiple project phases.
Steps
- Click on the Project tab at the top of your screen to access baseline options.
- In the Schedule group, select Set Baseline to capture a snapshot of your current plan for future comparison.
- From the dropdown menu, click Set Baseline... to open the baseline options dialog box.
- Choose which baseline number you want to use from the dropdown — Microsoft Project allows up to 11 baselines per project.
- Select the Entire project option to apply the baseline to all tasks in your schedule.
- Click OK to save your baseline.
- Navigate to your Gantt Chart view to see gray bars for the baseline and blue or red bars for the current schedule.
