# Planner: set task dependencies without Premium

> For the full documentation index, see https://250highstreet.com/llms.txt

> Planner task dependencies and the basic plan: what Microsoft's feature table says, and three simple ways to show "this waits for that" without Premium.

Short answer: task dependencies are a premium feature. Microsoft's feature table lists Dependencies as "View Only" for Office 365 licenses and "Yes" for Planner Plan 1, Plan 3 and Plan 5, and Advanced Dependencies as "View only" for Plan 1 and "Yes" for Plan 3 and Plan 5. A dependency says "task B cannot start until task A is done." With only the basic plan, you can still show the order of work: name tasks in order, use a "Waiting on" label, or track the links in a SharePoint list.

Disclosure first: I build on Microsoft 365, so I lean toward Microsoft tools. This guide prints no prices. It also does not repeat the full basic versus premium comparison. For that, see "[Planner Premium or basic Planner for a 10 person team](/guides/planner-premium-vs-basic-small-team/)".

## What Microsoft says about dependencies

Microsoft publishes a feature table in the Project for the web service description. In it, Dependencies reads "View Only" for Office 365 licenses and "Yes" for Plan 1, Plan 3 and Plan 5. Advanced Dependencies reads "View only" for Office 365 licenses and Plan 1, and "Yes" for Plan 3 and Plan 5. Microsoft adds: "This table may change without notice."

Microsoft's trial page for Planner premium lists dependencies as a premium feature and describes them this way: "Link tasks that depend on each other, so that you can see the impact of delays or changes on your plan."

Microsoft's licensing text for the Planner app in Teams says: "Users with a Microsoft 365 license can continue to collaborate on premium plans but won't be able to use the premium features without a premium license."

Microsoft's pages say nothing on how to add a dependency inside a basic plan. Open a task in your own plan and look, and ask your admin what your license allows. Exact names may differ on your screen.

## What "View Only" can mean

"View Only" in the table is not the same as "No". Microsoft's table uses "No" for features such as Timeline view (Gantt chart) and Goals. For Dependencies it uses "View Only" for Office 365 licenses. A plausible reading is that a person with only that license can see dependencies on a premium plan but not change them. Microsoft's pages do not describe it in more words than the table, so treat that as a guess and confirm with your admin.

## Do you really need a dependency?

Sort your need into one of three kinds before you pick a tool:

- Sequence only: "A, then B, then C." People can follow this without any software enforcing it.
- Visible blocker: "B is stuck because A is late." Someone only needs to see the stuck state.
- Moving schedule: "A slips two days, so B and C slip too." This is the true dependency feature, and it is what the premium timeline covers.

The first two kinds may be met by the habits below. The third kind is where Microsoft's table points to a premium plan.

## Workaround 1. Order the tasks and name them

One way to start (this is our advice, not a Microsoft rule):

1.  Put the tasks of one job in one bucket.
2.  Start each task name with a step number, like "1 Order parts" and "2 Install parts".
3.  Put the earlier task's due date before the later task's due date.
4.  In the later task's notes, write one line: "Starts after 1 Order parts."

This costs nothing and works for short chains. It breaks when people reorder the board, so keep chains short.

## Workaround 2. Use a label and a checklist

Microsoft's feature table lists Labels and Checklists as "Yes" for Office 365 licenses (with a footnote about default and custom environments). Microsoft's Planner limits page lists "Maximum checklist items in a task" as 20.

One way to start (our advice, not a Microsoft rule):

1.  Make one label called "Waiting on another task".
2.  Put that label on any task that cannot start yet.
3.  In the task, add one checklist item: "Task 1 Order parts is done".
4.  When the earlier task is complete, the owner of the later task removes the label and ticks the item.
5.  Each Monday, filter the board by that label and ask who is blocked.

Keep checklist items short. Twenty is the limit per task, so use them for the blocking step only.

## Workaround 3. Track links in a SharePoint list

When one plan holds many tasks that wait on each other, a list can store those links more clearly than a board. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule. Here is a layout I would try:

1.  Create a list in Microsoft Lists. Rows are tasks, for example "Task 104 Order parts" and "Task 105 Install parts". Use the Title column for the task name, or rename it.
2.  Add a Choice column named Status with numbered values: 1 Open, 2 Working, 3 Closed. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: numbered values keep the choices in a clear order.
3.  Add a Lookup column named Blocked by that reads from the Title column of this same list, with multiple values allowed. A guide on filtering that column is "[Filter a view on a lookup column that allows several values](/guides/sharepoint-lookup-allow-multiple-values-filter/)".
4.  Add a Person column for the owner and a Date column for the due date.
5.  Save a view named "Open tasks" that shows only rows with Status 1 Open. Before anyone starts a row, they open it and check that every task in Blocked by shows 3 Closed. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule.

Limits of this list: it shows who waits on what, but it never moves a date, and nothing stops a person from starting a row early. A view is not a lock either. Anyone with access to the list can still read the rows in a hidden view.

To choose between a board and a list, read "[Microsoft Planner vs SharePoint List: Which Should Your Team Use?](/guides/planner-vs-sharepoint-list/)". To mark late rows, read "[Turn overdue rows red in a SharePoint list](/guides/highlight-overdue-rows-sharepoint-list/)".

## If you decide to use premium dependencies

Microsoft's service description sets two link limits for Project for the web: "Max. links (successor + predecessor) for a task" is 20, and "Max. total links (successor only) for the project" is 2000. The same page carries this note: "Microsoft Project for the web is retiring on August 1, 2025." The next sentence says you can keep using "most of the Project for the web capabilities in Microsoft Planner once it's rolled out to your organization." Confirm with your admin that these limits still hold in your Planner.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule, for a low-risk trial:

1.  Choose a live job that has at least five linked tasks.
2.  List the people who would need to edit links. Fewer editors means fewer licenses to buy.
3.  Ask your admin which license those editors need and whether a trial exists. Microsoft's trial page says you may "start the trial right away" or may "need to request approval from your administrator."
4.  Run that job for two weeks, then keep the paid feature only if the editors really used it.

## What to avoid

- Buying premium for the whole team to fix one tangled chain.
- Trusting task names alone on a long chain, since a board can be reshuffled by anyone.
- Leaving blocked work unmarked. A visible "Waiting on another task" label beats a silent late task.
- Following a video or blog's dependency steps without testing them in your own plan, because menus and features change.
- Assuming what a license includes. Ask your admin.
- Keeping the same chain in both a board and a list, since nobody can tell which copy is right.

## When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: \$5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "[What a SharePoint tracker costs to build](/guides/what-a-sharepoint-tracker-costs/)". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: [Tools I built](/portfolio/)

## FAQ

### Does Microsoft Planner have task dependencies?

Yes, as a premium feature. Microsoft's feature table shows Dependencies as "View Only" for Office 365 licenses and "Yes" for Planner Plan 1, Plan 3 and Plan 5. Its pages do not describe a dependency control for basic plans.

### Can Planner Plan 1 edit task dependencies?

Microsoft's table shows Dependencies as "Yes" for Plan 1, and Advanced Dependencies as "View only" for Plan 1. Editing Advanced Dependencies is "Yes" only for Plan 3 and Plan 5.

### What do premium dependencies do?

Microsoft describes them this way: "Link tasks that depend on each other, so that you can see the impact of delays or changes on your plan." Microsoft sets 20 links per task (successor plus predecessor) and 2000 successor links per project.

### What is Advanced Dependencies in Planner?

Microsoft's table lists it under Advanced Resource and Schedule management, as "View only" for Office 365 licenses and Plan 1 and "Yes" for Plan 3 and Plan 5. The table does not define the term in words.

### Can a task wait on a task in a different plan?

Microsoft's pages do not describe links between plans. If you need that, a SharePoint list that holds tasks from several plans is one way to start. That is our advice, not a Microsoft rule.

### Is the checklist workaround enough for a big project?

Probably not. Microsoft lists 20 checklist items per task, and a label does not move dates. For a big project with a schedule that must move, look at the premium timeline and test it on one job first.

### Can Power Automate warn someone when the earlier task is done?

Microsoft says basic Planner tasks can be managed using Microsoft Graph and the Power Automate connector. Whether a flow needs an extra license depends on the flow and your plan, so check with your admin. For a flow that makes tasks, see "[Create a Planner task automatically from a Forms response](/guides/power-automate-create-planner-task-from-form/)".

## Sources

- [Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Project for the web service description](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/project-online-service-description/project-web-service-description)
- [Microsoft Learn, Manage the Planner app for your organization in Microsoft Teams](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/manage-planner-app)
- [Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Planner limits](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/planner/planner-limits)
- [Microsoft Support, How to access a 30-day trial of Planner's premium features](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/planner/how-to-access-a-30-day-trial-of-planner-s-premium-features)
- [Microsoft Support, Use filtering to modify a SharePoint view](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-filtering-to-modify-a-sharepoint-view-3d8efc52-0808-4731-8f9b-3dfaeacea3d4)

## Related guides

- [Planner Premium or basic Planner for a 10 person team](/guides/planner-premium-vs-basic-small-team/)
- [Add custom fields in Planner](/guides/planner-custom-fields/)
- [Move a Planner task to another plan](/guides/planner-move-task-to-another-plan/)

Source: https://250highstreet.com/guides/planner-task-dependencies-basic-plan/