Creating Reports in Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project desktop includes built-in reports for project progress, cost, workload, and task status, and lets you customize an existing report or build one of your own. Reports use the project’s current data, so they update as the plan changes.
Start with a built-in report
Section titled “Start with a built-in report”Open the Report tab and choose a report category, then select a report. For example, Report > Dashboards > Project Overview summarizes progress, upcoming milestones, and late tasks. Other report categories cover resources, costs, and work in progress. Choose a report that answers the audience’s question before adding more detail.1
Project Plan 365 organizes this differently: Report > Visual Reports > Project Status opens its high-level status report. For more tailored or AI-assisted reporting in Project Plan 365, use its custom reports or AI Status Report.
Customize a report
Section titled “Customize a report”Select a chart or table and use the Field List to choose the project fields to show or filter. You can also change the outline level for task data. To adjust the appearance, use the report design controls to change styles or add elements such as charts, tables, text, shapes, or images.
Create a custom report
Section titled “Create a custom report”Choose Report > New Report, select Blank, Chart, Table, or Comparison, and then choose Select. Name the report and add the information you need. Blank gives you a canvas; the other choices provide a starting layout. After saving, find the report under Report > Custom for reuse in the project.
For comparisons of completed and remaining work or tasks against the plan, the built-in Burndown dashboard includes both a work burndown and a task burndown. It is most useful when task or work progress has been recorded and a baseline is available for comparison. In task burndown, Project counts a task as complete only when it is 100% complete.
Share a report
Section titled “Share a report”To print a report to PDF, choose File > Export > Create PDF/XPS, set the file name and publish options, then select Publish. Use File > Print to review or adjust the page layout before exporting.