Suppose that several days ago, you customized the Gantt Chart view by making a number of changes to the view. These changes include customizing the appearance of the Gantt Chart pane, adding several columns and removing several other columns in the Entry table, and applying cell background colors to several of the tasks in the view. For example, Figure 1 shows the Gantt Chart view after I made a number of significant changes to this view. Can you spot the changes that I made to this view?

Suppose that today you want to return the Gantt Chart view to its default settings, but that you cannot remember the default setup of this view. Is there any easy way to return this view to its default settings? You will be relieved to know that a number of years ago, Microsoft introduced new functionality in Microsoft Project 2010 that made it very easy to reset a view to its default settings. This functionality is maintained in the 2013, 2016, and 2019 versions of the software as well.

To reset any view to its default settings, click the Task tab to display the Task ribbon. In the View section of the Task ribbon, click the Gantt Chart pick list button and select the Reset to Default item on the menu, such as shown in Figure 2.

Microsoft Project displays the confirmation dialog shown in Figure 3. Click the Yes button in the confirmation dialog to reset the view to its default settings.

When you reset a view to its default settings, this means that Microsoft Project resets the view to the copy found in the Global.mpt file in your computer hard drive. This means that the software resets all customizations to the screen used in the right side of the view, resets all customizations to the timescale bar at the top of the screen, and resets the formatting of the rows in the table (such as applying cell background coloring to some of the rows), and resets the columns displayed in the table on the left side of the view. This action is a “one way” action for which there is no “undo” action.

Now let me paint you a second scenario. Again, suppose that you customized the Gantt Chart view by making a number of changes to the view. These changes include customizing the appearance of the Gantt Chart pane, adding several columns and removing several other columns in the Entry table, and applying cell background colors to several of the tasks in the view. And suppose that you do not want to reset the entire view; you only want to reset the columns shown in the Entry table. Is it possible to reset a table back to its default settings, but not to reset the entire view?

You will be relieved to know that in addition to resetting views, Microsoft Project also allows you to reset a table back to its default set of columns. To reset any table back to its default settings, click the View tab to display the View ribbon. In the Data section of the View ribbon, click the Tables pick list button and select the Reset to Default item on the menu, such as shown in Figure 4.

Microsoft Project immediately resets the table to its default set of columns, and resets each column to its default column width. The software does not display a warning dialog before these actions. The software does not reset any of the customizations made to the view, such as customizing the appearance of the Gantt Chart pane or formatting applied to individual rows in the Entry table.

I personally love this functionality and was overjoyed when it was introduced in Microsoft Project 2010. I hope you love this feature as well!