Microsoft Project: “Highlight” Menu — What Each Option Does
The Highlight dropdown visually emphasizes tasks that match a rule. It’s perfect for reviewing critical, late, milestones, and more—without changing your schedule.
Built-In Pre-made highlight rules from Microsoft Project ›
Built-In is a category header. It means the items below are Microsoft Project’s default highlight filters.
[No Highlight] Turns highlighting off (normal view) ›
What it does
Removes any current highlighting and returns the view to standard formatting.
Use it when
You’re done reviewing a group and want the schedule to look normal again.
Active Tasks Highlights tasks that are currently active (not inactive) ›
Highlights tasks that are considered active (still part of the plan and not “inactive”). This often aligns with tasks that are still relevant and not fully finished.
- Good for seeing what’s still “live” in your schedule.
- Helpful when your file has some tasks set to Inactive.
Completed Tasks Highlights tasks that are 100% complete ›
Highlights tasks marked as 100% complete.
Critical Highlights critical path tasks (zero/low float) ›
Highlights tasks on the critical path—tasks that cannot slip without affecting the project finish date.
Why it matters
Critical tasks usually have Total Slack = 0 (or within your critical slack threshold). Delay = project delay.
Use it when
You want to protect completion date, focus resources, and control project risk.
Date Range… Highlights tasks inside a date window you choose ›
Prompts you to choose a start date and finish date, then highlights tasks that fall within that window.
- Perfect for “work this week” or “this month” planning.
- Helpful for site weekly meetings and look-ahead schedules.
Incomplete Tasks Highlights tasks not yet finished (% Complete < 100%) ›
Highlights all tasks that are not complete (typically % Complete < 100%).
Late Tasks Highlights tasks behind schedule (depends on Status Date/baseline) ›
Highlights tasks that are considered late or behind. This often depends on your Status Date and/or baseline comparison.
Best practice
Set a Status Date for accurate “late” detection in updates.
Use it when
You need a fast “delay control” view for meetings and recovery planning.
Milestones Highlights key milestone tasks (often 0 duration) ›
Highlights milestones—commonly tasks with 0 duration or marked “Milestone = Yes.”
- Great for approvals, inspections, handover, payments.
- Use to confirm milestone dates quickly.
Summary Tasks Highlights parent (WBS) summary rows ›
Highlights summary tasks (the parent tasks that contain subtasks). Useful for reviewing your WBS structure.
Task Range… Highlights tasks by ID range (e.g., 20–40) ›
Prompts you to enter a task ID From and ID To, then highlights only that range.
Tasks With Estimated Durations Highlights tasks with “?” estimated durations ›
Highlights tasks that use estimated durations (often shown as 5d?). These tasks are “guesses” and can weaken schedule reliability.
- Use it to find tasks needing real site-based duration data.
- Helps improve accuracy before baseline and reporting.
Using Resource… Highlights tasks assigned to a chosen resource ›
Prompts you to select a resource (crew, machine, subcontractor), then highlights all tasks where that resource is assigned.
Construction use
See all tasks using “Excavator”, “Formwork Team”, “Steel Fixers”, etc. Great for resource planning.
Good for
Finding overloads, checking crew sequence, and planning weekly equipment use.
Clear Highlight Clears the current highlight quickly ›
Clears highlighting (same idea as [No Highlight]), just a quick command.
New Highlight Filter… Create your own custom highlight rule ›
Creates a custom highlight filter (example: highlight tasks where Cost > 10,000, or Name contains “Concrete”, or Duration > 7d).
Example ideas
- Highlight tasks with Total Slack < 2 days
- Highlight tasks assigned to Concrete team
- Highlight tasks with Finish > Baseline Finish
More Highlight Filters… Manage/edit existing highlight filters ›
Opens the highlight filters manager so you can edit, copy, rename, or organize your highlight rules.
Quick Workflow (Best Practical Use)
For daily/weekly control: use Late Tasks + Critical + Date Range…. For team planning: use Using Resource…. For cleaning schedule quality: use Tasks With Estimated Durations.