orgchartlive

Make an org chart from a spreadsheet

If you have a list of people and who they report to, you have an org chart — it just hasn't been drawn yet. This is exactly what the file needs, and what we'll fix for you when it isn't perfect. No file yet? Start from one of the example structures.

Try it with your file Download the template

Four steps

  1. Export your people to a spreadsheet

    Any CSV or Excel file with one row per person. Two columns are enough: who they are, and who they report to.

  2. Drop the file in

    Open orgchart.live, start a chart, and choose Import. The file is read in your browser.

  3. Check what was decided for you

    Every guess — a healed manager name, a merged duplicate — is listed before anything is applied.

  4. Get your chart

    The layout runs automatically. Move people by dragging, then export to PNG, PDF, SVG or PowerPoint.

The columns we read

Only the first two matter. Headers are matched loosely, so capitals, spaces and underscores make no difference — Reports To, reports_to and reportsto are the same column.

ColumnNeededHeader names we acceptWhat it does
Name Required namefullnameemployeeemployeenamepersonstaffnamewhodisplaynameworker The person. "Last, First" is understood and turned round.
Manager Required managermanagernamereportstosupervisorleadbossreportingtomanagerfullnamelinemanagerdirectmanagerreporttomanages The manager's name, as written elsewhere in the Name column.
Job title Optional titlejobtitlerolepositionjobdesignation Shown under the name on every card.
Department Optional departmentdeptteamfunctiongroupdivisionorgunitbusinessunitarea Gets a colour, and groups people in the side panel.
Email Optional emailemailaddressmailworkemaile-mail Used to match people exactly when two share a name.
Manager ID Optional manageridsupervisoridreportstoidmanagersemployeeidmanageremployeeid Matched against the ID column. More reliable than a name.
Dotted line Optional dottedlinedottedlinemanagersecondarymanageralsoreportstodottedmatrixmanager A second, non-reporting line drawn as a dashed curve.
Employment type Optional typeemploymenttypestatusemploymentworkertypeemployeetypecontract Employee, contractor, intern, or open. Open roles draw as vacancies.
Assistant Optional staffisstaffassistantsupportstaff Yes puts the person beside their manager instead of below.
Level Optional levelgradebandseniority Grade or band. Carried through, not drawn.
Employee ID Optional employeeididempidpersonidworkeridemployeenumber Lets managers be matched by ID rather than by name.

No header row at all? The first four columns are read as name, title, department and manager, and you're told that's what happened.

What we fix without asking

Real exports are messy. These are handled automatically, and every one is written down and shown to you before it is applied.

  • Names written backwards

    OKAFOR, Daniel becomes Daniel Okafor. Suffixes like Jr and PhD are left where they belong.

  • Half a manager's name

    A manager written as just Whitcombe matches Marcus Whitcombe, as long as only one person has that surname.

  • Misspelled managers

    Priya Ramen matches Priya Raman. Close matches are reported with how confident we are, and a near-tie is never guessed.

  • The same person twice

    Duplicate rows with the same name, title and department are merged into one card.

  • SHOUTING

    Words in full capitals are put back into normal case, while short ones like MD, II and TBD are left alone.

  • Managers who aren't listed

    Someone whose manager isn't in the file becomes a top-level person rather than being dropped.

Nothing to install, nothing to pay

Building the chart is free, at any size. You only pay when you want a clean file out of it. Excel files work the same way as CSV — the first sheet is used.

Start a chart, free See pricing