How to make a flowchart in Excel

Excel wants rows and columns. A decision wants space on both sides. People shrink the diamonds until the question is unreadable, then hide the arrows behind a filter. The chart becomes a decoration on a model.

Use the sheet for the numbers the decision depends on. Use a diagram for the order of the work. If the only content is the order, you do not need a workbook.

Put the PNG on the sheet people already open, near the table it explains. Name the picture in the alt text with the process name. Do not float it on a hidden sheet that nobody on the team opens.

When a step changes, replace the picture. Do not edit the PNG by drawing another shape on top of it in Excel. That second shape will not match the next export.

A formula is not a flowchart. If the workbook already computes the answer, a chart that repeats the formula in boxes adds nothing. Draw the chart only where a person must choose.

The decision-tree template is the shape of that choice. The algorithm template is a loop over a list, which is closer to a search than to a spreadsheet.

1. Insert shapes. On the Insert tab, open Shapes. Place a rectangle for each step and a diamond for each question.
2. Ignore the cells. Do not merge cells to fake a box. A shape can sit across cells. The cells are not the chart.
3. Connect the shapes. Draw arrows. Label Yes and No. Leave enough space that an arrow is not hidden under a later column.
4. Move a real chart onto the sheet. Export PNG from FlowSimp and insert it on the sheet that already holds the numbers. The chart and the table stay separate.

• Text to flowchart
• Decision tree template
• Open the editor
• All guides
• Flowchart templates