From Ted French,
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The simple flow chart template for Excel is one of the templates offered free of charge by Microsoft. This template works in all versions of Excel from Excel 97 on.

A. The simple flow chart template allows you to quickly and easily add a flow chart to your Excel spreadsheet.

A flow chart shows graphically the steps that need to be followed to achieve a specific result, such as the steps to follow when assembling a product.

This article provides step by step instructions for downloading and using the simple flow chart template for Excel.

Downloading the flow chart template

You have two choices for downloading the template from Microsoft:

• Download the template from Microsoft’s template site using a web browser.
• Download the template through Excel.

Downloading the Flow Chart Template using Excel 2003

1. Choose Help > Microsoft Excel Help from the menu.
2. Type flow chart in the search box – be sure to be searching Microsoft Office Online.
3. Click on the top entry “Simple flowchart”.
4. A template preview window will open showing you the flow chart template.
5. Click on the Download button to download the template.
6. When it finishes downloading, the template will open in Excel.

Using the template

For either method of downloading, once the template is open, there will be a sample flow chart and instructions for using the template on the worksheet.

You can modify the sample – by clicking on the individual boxes and replacing the sample text with your own, or delete the sample and create your own from scratch. To create your own flow chart, add shapes to the worksheet and join these shapes together with the connector lines.

The different shapes in a flow chart are used for specific purposes. Help on using these shapes can be found in the article basic flow chart symbols.

Flow chart toolbars

Included with the template are two toolbars to help you create flow charts – the Flow Connectors and Flow Shapes toolbars. To display these toolbars:

• Choose View > Toolbars > Flow Connectors from the menu.
• Choose View > Toolbars > Flow Shapes from the menu.

To Add Flow Chart Shapes:

1. Click on a shape on the Flow Shapes toolbar.
2. Click in the worksheet where you want to add the shape. The shape will be created on the worksheet. it can be resized or moved to a new location.

To Add Connectors Between the Shapes

1. Click on a connector line on the Flow Connectors toolbar.
2. Move your mouse pointer over the first shape you want to join.
3. Small blue dots appear around the shape indicating the possible connection points on the shape.
4. Click the connection point you want.
5. Move your mouse pointer over the second shape to see the connection points.
6. Click on a connection site on the second shape.

Once the flow chart has been created, it can be edited as needed to keep it up to date.