How to Make a Flowchart in Word

Flowcharts are a great way to demonstrate or plan out any sort of process. Flowcharts are a series of shapes that describe decisions and stages of the process, all joined together by arrows showing the direction of progress.

Before you make a flowchart, it’s important to know that certain shapes have generally understood meanings. Helpfully in Word, all of the symbols for flowcharts come with a label describing what they’re used for. The three most important symbols are the oval block, rectangle, and rhombus.

The oval block is used to signify the start or end of a process. The rectangle is used to define a step in the process, such as “Print the document”. The rhombus is used to define decisions, such as “Didi the product pass quality control”.

Tip: Most entries in a flow chart only have one possible result, which leads to the next stage. The decision rhombus is different and can have multiple outputs for different outcomes; some outcomes can progress the process further while others can take the process back as many steps as needed.

How to make a flowchart in Word

To use these symbols in Word, you need to switch to the “Insert” tab in the top bar, then click on “Shapes”. In the list of shapes are two sets of important shapes: “Lines” and “Flowchart”. “Flowchart” includes all of the shapes used for flowcharts, while “Lines” contains the arrows that are used to draw the connections between the stages of the flowchart.

If you’ve already inserted a shape and are editing it, a new tab will appear in the top bar, “Shape format”. You can insert new shapes from this tab by using the “Insert Shapes” section. To view the full list of shapes as before, click the “More” arrow at the bottom right of the “Insert Shapes” box.