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You are here: Home / Diagram Types / Process Flows / Moving Phases/Separators in Visio Cross-Functional Flowcharts?

Published on September 28, 2023 by David Parker

Moving Phases/Separators in Visio Cross-Functional Flowcharts?

I use Visio Cross-Functional Flowcharts a lot, but there is one thing that really bugs me … you can move function bands\swimlanes around, but you can’t move the phases\separators in the same way. The phases/separators are containers just like the function bands\swimlanes, so why can’t I move them? Actually, it is quite understandable when you realise what is actually going on … both are contained within the Cross-Functional Flowchart (CFF) shape, but there are list containers between each band and the parent CFF shape.

  • CFF Container shape
  • Function band\Swimlane List shape
  • Swimlane shape
  • Phase List shape
  • Phase\Separator shape

So, my workaround is to insert an empty Phase\Separator shapes in the position that you want to move a Phase\Separator to, and then select all of the contents and move them into the empty Phase\Separator shape. Here is a short video of me doing just that…

I do have a free add-in available, multiselect, that can assist in this selection:

I hope that helps 🙂

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Filed Under: Containers, Lists, Process Flows, Visio Tagged With: Flowcharts, Processes, Visio

About David Parker

David Parker has 25 years' experience of providing data visualization solutions to companies around the globe. He is a Microsoft MVP and Visio expert.

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