Capture and compare baselines

A baseline is a frozen snapshot of the project at a moment in time: its tasks, dates, and progress as they stood when you captured it. Once the plan starts moving, the baseline is your honest reference for the question every status meeting asks: how far have we drifted from what we committed to?

Capture a baseline

1. Open the project and select the Baseline tab in the Plan section.

2. Select Save Baseline and give the snapshot a name. Naming it after the event helps later: “Approved plan”, “After scope change”, “Q3 replan”.

3. The snapshot appears in the list with its capture date and who took it. Capture as many as you need; each is independent.

Capturing a baseline requires an Owner or Manager role on the project. This keeps the reference plan an explicit act by someone accountable for the schedule, not something that shifts casually.

Tip

Capture the first baseline the moment the plan is approved, before any work starts. A baseline taken after three weeks of slippage can only ever tell you about drift from an already-late plan.

Compare on the Baseline tab

Select any snapshot in the list to open the variance report next to it. It compares the baseline against the live schedule, including how far the projected project end has slipped and how individual tasks have moved against their planned dates.

Overlay on the Gantt chart

On the Gantt tab, tick the Baseline checkbox and pick which snapshot to show. Each task gets a grey ghost bar underneath its live bar, showing where it was planned to sit when the baseline was taken. Hovering a ghost bar labels it as the planned schedule, and the legend carries a matching swatch.

The ghost bars are read-only: you cannot drag them, and rescheduling live tasks never alters a captured baseline.

Note that the Gantt chart itself is a Pro plan feature, so the overlay view requires Pro. See Plan on the Gantt chart.

FAQs

Can I edit a baseline after capturing it? No, and that is the point. A baseline is immutable evidence of what was planned. If the plan legitimately changes, capture a new baseline and name it after the change.

How many baselines should I keep? One per planning event works well: initial approval, each major scope change, each replan. You can delete snapshots that no longer matter from the Baseline tab.

Do baselines need the Pro plan? Capturing baselines and comparing them on the Baseline tab work on every plan. The ghost-bar overlay lives on the Gantt chart, which is a Pro feature.