How to Build Organizational Charts in Excel

Building organizational charts in Excel is perfect for fast one-off tasks. In this tutorial, readers will learn how to build hierarchical org charts by hand or by importing employee data from an Excel org chart template.

How to Build an Organizational Chart in Excel

  1. Click SmartArt

    Choose the Insert option in the top ribbon, then click on the SmartArt button.

    Click SmartArt
  2. Click on Organization Chart in hierarchy fly-out

    In the SmartArt drop down menu, hover over the Hierarchy option, then choose the organization chart layout you prefer to generate a simple org chart.

    Click on Organization Chart in hierarchy fly-out
  3. Add text to org chart shapes

    When your org chart is generated, edit text directly in each of the boxes or in the SmartArt Text box. If you have multiple data points for employees, hit enter to skip down a line within the SmartArt shapes.

    Add text to org chart shapes
  4. Add or remove shapes in organization structure

    Add shapes in your org chart by either right clicking (control + click) and choosing where to add a shape, or by clicking the “+” symbol in the SmartArt text box.

    Add or remove shapes in organization structure
  5. Update org chart format

    You can choose from a wide variety of colors, shapes, and fonts to make unique org charts in Excel. To change the color of your org chart shapes, click on the SmartArt Design tab in the top ribbon while you are working within your SmartArt text box. If you want to update the org chart’s shapes or font styling, click on the Format tab in the upper ribbon while working in the SmartArt text box.

    Update org chart format

Create an org chart that updates automatically

Build Org Chart in Pingboard

Create an Organizational Chart in Excel from a List of Employees

  1. Download the organizational chart template for Excel

    This file will contain all of the common data points found in org charts. You will be able to quickly add your staff info to this template and edit the information displayed in your org chart.

  2. Add employees to the org chart template

    Add data points for employees like first name, last name, and title. This org chart template can serve as the master document for your employee database.

    Add employees to the org chart template
  3. Copy/paste employee data into the org chart

    Copy all of the data you’d like to display in your org chart, then clear the information in the SmartArt text box and paste in your employee data.

    If there’s data in the employee database that you don’t want, you can hide columns before copying the data; this will exclude any unwanted employee data points.

    Copy/paste employee data into the org chart
  4. Style employee data in the org chart

    The information copied over from the org chart template will be in one long line. Click into each shape where the employee data was pasted and organize the information into separate lines.

    To get your organizational structure to line up like the example below, start with the employee on the far right—or the most junior employee—and demote people until they're under their manager

    Style employee data in the org chart

Free org chart templates for Excel

Looking for more ways to structure your business or org chart? Download templates for restaurant and manufacturing org charts.

Looking for an easier way to build your org chart?