Updating Task Progress
Keep a Microsoft Project schedule current by recording what has actually happened and revising estimates for unfinished work. Actual progress and remaining work are different: actual values describe completed work or dates, while remaining values describe the current forecast.
Choose what to update
Section titled “Choose what to update”- Actual start or finish: In the Gantt Chart, select the task and choose Task > Mark on Track > Update Tasks. Enter the reported dates under Actual. Setting an actual finish marks the task 100% complete; updating actual dates does not change the baseline.
- Actual or remaining duration: Choose View > Other Views > Task Sheet, then View > Tables > Tracking. Update Act. Dur. for the duration already worked or Rem. Dur. for the time still expected. Project recalculates the related duration and Percent Complete values.
- Actual or remaining work: In the Task Sheet, choose View > Tables > Work. Enter Actual work performed, or revise Remaining work if the estimate of effort still needed has changed. Project updates the related work-progress values.
- Percentage complete: Use the appropriate progress measure for the update. See Percent Complete and Percent Work Complete for the difference between duration-based and work-based progress and where to enter each value.
Use values that reflect the latest report: changing remaining duration or work revises the forecast, not the record of work already performed. Actual dates and work may cause Project to recalculate related progress fields, while baseline dates remain the original comparison plan.¹
For cross-project visibility, Project Plan 365’s My Tasks and All Assignments bring together assignments from projects saved in Drive 365 with a Business subscription. These are assignment-overview views, not progress-entry methods; see My Tasks.
Check the status date
Section titled “Check the status date”When you enter Percent Complete or actual work to date, Project uses the status date to guide where actual work is placed and where remaining work is scheduled. Before reporting progress, confirm that the status date matches the reporting period. Tracking options can also leave actual and remaining work in their originally scheduled positions.²