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You can link any two tasks in a project to show their relationship (also called a task dependency). Dependencies drive the project schedule — once you link the tasks, every change you make to the predecessor affects the successor, which affects the next one, and so on. Link tasks Insert a task between linked tasks Link tasks in a Network Diagram Link tasks in a Calendar Link manually scheduled tasks Other ways to link tasks Change or remove task dependencies Turn autolinking on or off Types of tasks Troubleshooting Choose View > Gantt Chart. Hold down Ctrl and select the two tasks you want to link (in the Task Name column). Choose Task > Link Tasks.
To remove a link, select the two linked tasks and then choose Task > Unlink Tasks . Project creates a simple finish-to-start task link by default, which means the first task (the predecessor) needs to finish before the second task (the successor) can start. If you are a Project Online subscriber, you can also select specific tasks to link to using a drop-down box from the Predecessors or Successors column.
Selecting links from the drop-down is especially useful if the task you want to link to is not located close to the task you're linking from. Insert a task between linked tasksYou can set up Project so that when you insert a new task between linked tasks, the new task is automatically linked to the surrounding tasks.
Link tasks in a Network Diagram
Link tasks in a Calendar
Link manually scheduled tasksWhen you link a manually scheduled task to another task, Project places the manually scheduled task relative to the other task. You can configure Project so that a manually scheduled task does not move when you link it to another task:
Learn more about manually and automatically scheduled tasks. Other ways to link tasks
Top of Page Change or remove task dependenciesAfter tasks are linked to create task dependencies, you can easily change or remove the dependencies, if needed, by doing any of the following: Change the link type of a task dependency By default, Project links tasks in a finish-to-start dependency. You can, however, easily change the type of task dependency on the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog box. To open the Task Information dialog box, double-click the name of the task whose link type you want to change. Note: Double-clicking a link to an external task opens the project containing the task, if the project is available. Externally linked tasks appear dimmed in the task list. If you want to modify the link type for an external task, double-click the externally linked task to open the project that contains the task, and then do the following to modify the linked task. For example, if you linked Task A in Project Z to Task 1 in Project 5, you can modify the link type in the task information for Task 1.
Link to a different task If you have a task that is currently linked to the wrong task, you can easily modify the link so that it reflects the correct dependency.
Remove all dependencies for a task If your task is no longer dependent on any other tasks, you can remove all of the task's dependencies at once.
Note: Removing a task link removes the dependency between two tasks, as indicated by the link lines between the tasks. If you want to change the hierarchical structure of a task or subtask as part of an outline structure for your project, then you need to outdent the task rather than remove the task link. Remove specific task dependencies If your task is linked to several tasks and you need to remove specific links while leaving some intact, you can choose which links to remove in the Task Information dialog box.
Turn autolinking on or offYou can configure Project so that when you insert a task among linked tasks, the new task is automatically linked to the surrounding tasks. This is called autolinking. For example, if you have three tasks with finish-to-start links and you add a new task between them, the new task will take on a finish-to-start link with the tasks above and below it. By default, autolinking is disabled. Follow these steps to turn autolinking on.
Types of tasksWhen you link tasks in Project, the default link type is finish-to-start. However, a finish-to-start link does not work in every situation. Project provides the following additional types of task links so that you can model your project realistically:
TroubleshootingIf you linked your tasks but the successor task doesn't move, there may be several causes:
Here are some possible resolutions:
These instructions are specific to Microsoft Project 2007. What do you want to do?
About linking tasksWhen you link tasks in Project, the default link type is finish-to-start. However, a finish-to-start link does not work in every situation. Project provides additional types of task links so you can model your project realistically.
When inserting a task among linked tasks, you can have a new task linked automatically or not link it at all.
Link tasks by using the Gantt Chart view
Link tasks by using the Network Diagram view
Link tasks by using the Calendar view
Turn autolinking on or offBy default, when you insert a task among linked tasks, the new task is automatically linked with the surrounding tasks. For example, if you have three tasks with finish-to-start links and you add a new task between them, the new task will take on a finish-to-start link with the tasks above and below it. You can easily turn this option off, so that inserting a new task does not automatically link it with the surrounding tasks. If autolinking is turned off, you can easily turn it back on.
Top of Page Change or remove task dependenciesAfter tasks are linked to create task dependencies, you can easily change or remove the dependencies, if needed, by doing any of the following: Change the link type of a task dependency By default, Project links tasks in a finish-to-start dependency. You can, however, easily change the type of task dependency on the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog box. To open the Task Information dialog box, double-click the name of the task whose link type you want to change. Note: Double-clicking a link to an external task opens the project containing the task, if the project is available. Externally linked tasks appear dimmed in the task list. If you want to modify the link type for an external task, double-click the externally linked task to open the project that contains the task, and then do the following to modify the linked task. For example, if you linked Task A in Project Z to Task 1 in Project 5, you can modify the link type in the task information for Task 1.
Link to a different task If you have a task that is currently linked to the wrong task, you can easily modify the link so that it reflects the correct dependency.
Remove all dependencies for a task If your task is no longer dependent on any other tasks, you can remove all of the task's dependencies at once.
Note: Removing a task link removes the dependency between two tasks, as indicated by the link lines between the tasks. If you want to change the hierarchical structure of a task or subtask as part of an outline structure for your project, then you need to outdent the task rather than remove the task link. Remove specific task dependencies If your task is linked to several tasks and you need to remove specific links while leaving some intact, you can choose which links to remove in the Task Information dialog box.
TroubleshootingIf you linked your tasks but the successor task doesn't move, there may be several causes:
Here are some possible resolutions:
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