Vertical Timeline in Word for Mac?

For any future readers who use Word for Windows, everything in this thread applies there as well (except that there is no Advanced tab in the Layout dialog reached from the Rotation button, so no chance to make a mess). This is what it looks like in Word from Microsoft 365 on Windows.

Hi Gary,

When I followed the directions provided by Support I was led to a dialog box that had an "Advanced" tab that had a rotation setting. I changed that rotation setting and got a huge mess! One of the text boxes went upside down. The shape itself didn't rotate, but the shape elements went all over the place. Bob is right! Rotating a SmartArt is interesting.

Then I took a different approach. I right-clicked on the border of the SmartArt and chose Format Object from the menu. This time a side panel opened and I went to the 3-D Rotation section. The Z Rotation setting successfully rotated the SmartArt object without turning it into a huge mess.

BTW - you can drag those side panels by their name at the top and they will float, as shown below.

That sounds about right but the information you were give by whatever Microsoft Support you contacted is all wrong. You've confirmed that what I wrote originally is true although there was some corruption in that reply. I've edited it accordingly.

Thanks so much for replying. Microsoft Support sent me directions for changing the orientation:

To change a horizontal timeline created using the SmartArt Design function in Word for Mac to a vertical layout, you can follow these steps:

• Open your Word document containing the timeline.
• Select the SmartArt timeline graphic by clicking on it.
• In the ribbon at the top of the Word window, go to the "Format" tab, which appears when the SmartArt graphic is selected.
• In the "Format" tab, locate the "Arrange" group and click on the "Rotate" button. It looks like a circle arrow.
• A dropdown menu will appear. Choose the "Rotate Right 90°" option to rotate the timeline from horizontal to vertical.
• Your SmartArt timeline should now be displayed vertically instead of horizontally. You can adjust the size and position of the SmartArt graphic as needed to fit within your document.

However, the "Rotate" options are all grayed out, so I can't apply any of them. I think you're saying that even if I were able to get into those options, the effects would be less than desirable. Does that sound about right?

Individual shapes in the object can be rotated but the SmartArt object cannot. SmartArt is pre-constructed as a convenience & attempts to make significant custom alterations usually have unexpected & unpleasant consequences.