---
title: "Using Swim Lanes"
slug: "using-swim-lanes"
tags: ["Flow Designer", "Swim Lanes", "Best Practices"]
updated: 2025-06-23T19:47:08Z
published: 2025-06-23T19:47:08Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.decisions.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Using Swim Lanes

## Overview

A **Swim lane** is an element used in Flows to distinguish job sharing and responsibilities for a business process visually. Swim lanes are organized and divided into sections labeled as Lanes, with each Lane representing a person, group, or subprocess in a Flow.

---

## Adding Swim lanes

1. From a **Designer Project**click **CREATE FLOW**and [create a new Flow.](/v9/docs/create-flows)
2. In the **Properties** panel for the Flow, expand the **Advanced > Swim lanes** categories.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h37_08.png)
3. Under **Swim lanes Type**, select **Vertica****l**from the dropdown menu. Below is a breakdown of the different options available for a Swim lane.

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| None | Disables Swim lanes from appearing in a**Flow**. |
| Vertical | Creates Swim lanes in a vertical layout. |
| Horizontal | Creates Swim lanes in a horizontal layout. |
4. The Swim lane will appear. Additional swim lanes can be added by hovering over the label for the control and select the plus icon. Additional Swim lanes can also be added through the **Layout** **> Swim lanes** section in the **Properties** panel.  
![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h38_27.png)

---

## Editing Swim lanes

Once Swim lanes have been enabled, each lane's size, color, and name can be adjusted.

1. In the**Properties** panel for the **Flow**, expand the **Layout** category.  
![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h39_55.png)
2. Under **Swim lanes**, hover over and select the pencil icon next to the lane that needs to be adjusted. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h42_40.png)
3. The **Edit Swim lanes** menu will appear. Edit the Label, Background, and Size, then click OK.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h45_18.png)
4. The Swim lane will reflect the changes.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2025-06-23_15h46_21.png)

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For further information on Flows, visit the [Decisions Forum](https://community.decisions.com/categories/Flows).