How to Create Flowcharts in Excel Series -
Re-Routing Flowchart Connectors (Flow Lines) the Easy Way
By Nicholas Hebb
Excel Flowchart Maker
FlowBreeze - a flowchart generator for Excel that makes flowcharts from text. Risk-free, 30-day trial.
Using the Re-Route Connector Toolbar Function
When you move flowchart symbols (aka autoshapes) in an Microsoft Excel drawing, the flow lines (connectors) have a tendency to get all messed up. Lets say you have the two flowchart shapes shown in the picture below - Shape 1 and Shape 2.
Moving Shape 1 to the other side of Shape 2 creates the most inefficient flowchart connector routing
possible. Instead of dragging the start and end points of the connector to fix it, you can just select the
connector and click the Reroute Connectors button.
Let Microsoft Excel do the work for you. It also works just as well when selecting multiple lines.
The one caveat is that sometimes this function will route flow lines behind other flowchart shapes - especially if you use the elbow connector. It can also cause the flowchart connectors to overlap, making it harder to determine the actual flow. If the reroute connectors function does a really bad job, you can always click the Undo button. But most of the time, you can use it as a first step to the majority of the flow line re-routing and then manually adjust any flow lines that are out of place.
About the Author
Nicholas Hebb is the founder of BreezeTree Software, maker of FlowBreeze Flowchart Software.