Flowchart glossary
Short definitions of the flowchart symbols and terms you will meet in process flowcharts, each linking to a full entry: what it means, how to label it, and the mistakes people make with it. New to flowcharts? Start with the first group; the rest are the specialist symbols you can look up when you meet them.
Make your flowchart now, no signup required
Open the editor and type your steps one per row. The flowchart draws itself as you type. Your work is saved automatically in your browser.
Create Your Flowchart FreeThe core symbols
Four symbols carry almost every business process flowchart. Learn these and you can read most charts without a legend.
Data, documents and systems
Symbols for the information a process uses and produces.
- Input/output: the parallelogram, data entering or leaving
- Manual input: the slanted-top box, data a person enters by hand
- Document: the wavy-bottomed box, a document created or used (stacked: multiple documents)
- Database: the cylinder, data in a system of record (and the stored data symbol)
- Display: information shown to a person on a screen
Structure, timing and flow control
Symbols that organize a chart: sub-processes, setup, waits, loops, and jumps across the page.
- Predefined process: the double-barred box, a subprocess charted elsewhere
- Preparation: the hexagon, a setup step
- Manual operation: the trapezoid, a task done by hand
- Delay: the D shape, a wait where time passes
- Loop limit: the clipped-corner pair around a repeated section
- Merge and extract: the triangles, sets combined or split out
- Connector: the circle (on-page) and pentagon (off-page) that continue a flow elsewhere
Flowchart terms
The diagrams themselves.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basic flowchart symbols?
The terminator (oval: start and end), the process (rectangle: an action), the decision (diamond: a question with labeled answers) and the flow line (arrow: what happens next). Most business process flowcharts need only these four.
Who defines the standard flowchart symbols?
ISO 5807 (1985) is the international standard; it grew out of the earlier ANSI X3.5 set. Business flowcharts use a small part of it, and most diagram tools draw the shapes the same way.
Do all flowchart tools use the same symbols?
For the core shapes, yes: oval, rectangle, diamond and arrow mean the same thing everywhere. The specialist symbols vary more between tools, so add a legend if your chart relies on them.
Ready to chart your first process?
The editor opens with a starter flowchart. Type your steps one per row, and the chart rebuilds itself as you type. No signup required to get started.
Create Your Flowchart Free