Creating a flowchart in Excel is quick and easy

The 'Shapes' or 'SmartArt' tools are ideal for creating a flowchart in Excel. While the first option gives you a lot of creative leeway, the second option is useful for creating flowcharts on the fly in Excel.

You can insert a variety of graphic objects into your Excel spreadsheet. These include circles and rectangles as well as arrows, which are essential to a flowchart. To insert a new shape into your worksheet, select it from the list, drag your mouse until the shape is the size you want it to be, and then release your mouse.

To align each symbol as accurately as possible, use a grid of rows and columns. Once you’ve created a shape, the 'Format' tab will appear on the ribbon. This tab is primarily for customising your graphic, but if you want to create a precise design, you can also use the lines of the Excel grid as guides. When you do this, the edges of your object snap to the lines of the cells. You can enable this feature by selecting 'Align' and choosing 'Snap to grid'.

You can use drawing tools to customise the appearance of the objects. For example, you can change the colour, fill or thickness of the outline. You can apply further visual effects using 'Shape effects' to add shading or soft edges. If you want to add multiple objects of the same type to your flowchart, you should use copy and paste. This will ensure that the symbols all have the same look and identical dimensions.

Use lines or arrows to connect the individual symbols. When you add lines, you’ll notice that there are points connecting to the shapes you created earlier. You can snap the beginning and end of the lines and arrows to these connection points. That way, you don’t have to worry about making perfect connections on your own.

Finally, your flowchart will need different labels. You can use text boxes for this, which you can create via the 'Insert' tab. Alternatively, you can label the object directly, but then you won’t have an extra element. Here too, you can use the drawing tools to customise the appearance of the box. You can also use the standard text formatting options.

The 'SmartArt' feature in Excel helps you to create sophisticated graphics more quickly by providing a variety of layouts to choose from. For example, you can use this graphics wizard to create lists, organisational charts, or even process flow diagrams. The tool provides a little information for each layout. This can be helpful if you don’t know exactly which option to choose. Keep in mind, however, that the preview doesn’t have to match the finished flowchart. You can still customise many parts of the layout after you’ve created it.

Once you’ve chosen a layout, click 'OK' to confirm your selection. You’ll see that Excel has already created text boxes for you. You can fill in the text using the helpful text box, which you can open or close by clicking the arrow on the left side of the graphic. You can use the box to add text to your chart or insert new elements by creating a new bullet point.

Alternatively, you can use the 'Add shape' function on the 'Design' tab in the SmartArt tools section of the ribbon. You can use this function to specify whether to insert the new element before or after the element you just selected.

You can also use SmartArt to customise the look of the flowchart, not just its contents. For example, you can change colours or apply other visual effects (or by right-clicking the graphic).