Lay out the shapes in your organization chart

After you use Microsoft Office Visio to create an organization chart (org chart), there are a number of ways to rearrange the shapes. For example, you might want to space the shapes farther apart, hide subordinate shapes, or change the layout of shapes.

In this article

Change the layout of shapes

Show or hide subordinates

Change the spacing between shapes

Lay out the shapes automatically

Change the layout of shapes

You can use the Arrange Subordinates command to choose the layout for each reporting structure. For example, you might want the executive to appear at the top, the managers to be lined up horizontally below, and the subordinate positions to be lined up vertically below the managers, as in the following figure.

1. Open the organization chart that has the shapes that you want to arrange.

2. Click a superior shape, and then, on the Organization Chart toolbar, click one of the layout buttons.

   Tip: To open the toolbar, right-click any open toolbar, and then click Organization Chart on the shortcut menu.

3. Click one of the alignment options.

   The subordinate shapes under the selected shape are arranged accordingly.

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Show or hide subordinates

1. Click the superior shape of the shapes that you want to show or hide.

2. On the Organization menu, click either Hide Subordinates or Show Subordinates.

   All of the subordinates and any shapes under them are shown or hidden.

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Change the spacing between shapes

You can bring shapes closer together or spread them out.

1. On the Organization Chart menu, click Change Spacing.

2. In the Spacing dialog box, select the spacing that you want, and then select which shapes or pages you want to apply that spacing to.

3. Select Custom, and then click Values to specify the spacing more precisely.

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Lay out the shapes automatically

If you want Visio to choose the best layout for your shapes, click the Re-layout command.

Note: The Re-layout command maintains any layout options that you applied (such as Vertical Layout) and then creates the best arrangement that it can without changing those settings.

1. Open the page with the organization chart that you want to lay out.

2. On the Organization Chart menu, click Re-layout.

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