In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a Filter for Critical Milestones in Microsoft Project. While Microsoft Project offers a filter for critical tasks and milestone tasks individually, it doesn’t provide a built-in filter for critical milestones – those milestones which are on the Critical Path. So, let’s dive into how to create this custom filter.

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What Are Critical Milestones?

Before we begin, let’s define what we’re targeting. Critical milestones are key project events or tasks that are both milestones and on the Critical Path. In other words, they’re the tasks that CANNOT be delayed without impacting your project’s Finish date.

Creating a Custom Filter for Critical Milestones

1. Click the View tab to open the View ribbon.
2. Click the “Filter” pick list button and choose “New Filter” from the options.
3. In the Filter Definition dialog, enter a name for the custom filter. I recommend naming it “_Critical Milestones” (the underscore character pushes it to the top of your filter list alphabetically).
4. In the Filter Definition dialog, create a two-row filter using the following criteria:

• Milestone Equals Yes
• Critical Equals Yes

1. In the Filter Definition dialog, select the “Show related summary rows” checkbox to include summary tasks for each identified milestone.
2. Click the “Save” button to save your new filter.

Testing Your New Custom Filter

Complete the following steps to test your new custom _Critical Milestones filter:

1. In the View ribbon, click the “Filter” pick list button again.
2. Your new filter should appear at the top of the list in the Custom section. Select your custom filter to apply it.
3. You should now see only the critical milestones in your project.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You’ve successfully created a custom filter that displays only critical milestones in Microsoft Project. This is a handy tool for quickly identifying key tasks that are both milestones and on the Critical Path.

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If you would like to have a formal class on using Microsoft Project, here is a link for my classes.