Google Docs offers an astonishing variety of templates to handle every need of users. Instead of working hard to create a new document, you can use one of these customized, ready-to-use templates. All of them are free to edit and accessible from your Google Docs web interface. Let’s take a look at how you can use Google Docs templates to organize your life better as well as a selection of the best.
Google Docs Templates: An Overview
Apart from the blank design of a new document, Google Docs has a predefined set of templates for commonly used documents. To access them, you only have to sign in to Google Docs with any Google account. Alternatively, you can open Google Docs from Gmail’s Google Apps widget on the top right.
There are four options: Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. Choose any one and go to the “template gallery” on the top right. From there you can view several built-in templates for all four options.
These templates comprise everything from resumés, cover letters, business cards, flyers, brochures, photo albums, wedding planners, recipe books, portfolios, and so much more.
To save any online template to your Google Dive account, go to “File -> Make a Copy” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C. The new template will be saved to your Google Docs templates gallery.
The Google Docs default templates may be adequate for you, but if you need more choices, use one of our free template recommendations below. These are open-source documents and absolutely free to edit as you please.
1. Resumé
If you really want your resumé to stand out, you’ll want your achievements to speak for themselves without the distraction of a flashy design. This Harvard Black and White resumé template by Resume Writer Direct is minimal, professional and viewer-friendly. The uncluttered text spacing allows you to present details in a logical order and provides a smooth transition from one paragraph to the next. Whether you are highly experienced or a newer professional, a classic resumé like this will never go out of fashion.
2. Cover Letter
While it’s a good idea to leave your resumé in black and white, there’s nothing wrong with adding a little color to a cover letter. This beautiful template by GeckoandFly has everything you need to draw the recruiter’s attention toward your application. Your photograph, full name, address, phone, email, and website are prominently displayed in their respective panels. You only have to focus on the Garamond-style message which looks very elegant, clear and brief.
3. Invoice
Creating an invoice on a blank document requires many fields to be entered and isn’t everyone’s forté. We, therefore, recommend this fully customizable invoice document from Waveapps, which makes it very easy to quickly add and delete items. The rows and columns are easily resizable, and the chosen font is easy on the eye. The header on top gives a professional appearance to your invoice with an option to add a logo and company details. You can also change the background and modify the footer.
4. Calendar
A good online calendar should have the flexibility to add as much information as needed for each given date, have space for smart scheduling, and allow everything to be viewable on a single screen. CalendarLabs fulfills these requirements with visually attractive calendar planners for both 2021 and 2022.
Thanks to the portrait layout, you can view all your activities without scrolling too much. Each date can accommodate as much or as little information as you want. There is a large notes area to capture any remaining events or follow-ups.
5. Brochure
While you can find many free brochure templates online, it’s more helpful to go for a trifold design (“three column layout”), as it will get you the maximum value for your brochure printing costs. This simple yet detailed trifold by GooDocs neatly packs a lot of decent features: attractive headings, legible font size, black and red colors, and a customizable front and back.
By merging the columns, you can convert the trifold design to a double-sided brochure. This flexible template can be used for multiple purposes, including restaurant menu, product advertisement, or event invitations. The brochure is free to use, but some attribution to GooDocs may be needed for commercial purposes.
6. Flyer
To attract someone’s attention with a flyer, you need the valuable information, such as numbers and statistics, to leap out and be prominently visible. GooDocs has a customizable vegan food flyer which has been created by professional designers. You can edit the numbers and photographs for any kind of data, including pie charts, survey results, and restaurant menu items. The green color combinations are very soothing to the eye. There’s also space at the bottom for QR codes and contact details.
7. Newsletter
Like flyers, newsletters aim to be informative and appealing because it takes less than a split second to grab the attention of a reader. This beautiful dark orange corporate newsletter has a somewhat wicked touch. It won’t fail to focus the reader’s attention on the contents with its sleek design. The neatly divided panels can hold enough text, pictures, and data to be truly instructive in detail. Although it looks very attractive, you can easily modify the black/orange color scheme in Google Docs.
8. Business Card
If you want your contacts to keep your business card for future reference, it should definitely stand out from the others. GooDocs offers a creative business card with beautiful bold colors and a dash of personality, thanks to the cube blocks. There is enough space in the template to add your own touch of personalization, be it a photograph, logo, or idea/quote. The fact that this business card was designed by talented designers is another strong suit, as it helps cement your reputation for promotional needs.
9. Lesson Plan
If you’re a teacher, you want the classroom lesson plans to be detailed and informative, yet easily editable. This no-frills Google Sheets-based lesson plan template can be used for any subject, as a lot of classroom study information has been provided You only have to edit the cells and customize the sheet according to your own subject criteria. included are instructional sequences, notes, questions, evaluation of understanding, and closing activities pertaining to a subject.
10. Recipe Book
Would you like to put together a cookbook? It isn’t easy to find a Google Docs-compatible free recipe book online. Most are premium, and the free ones don’t have good aesthetics. An exception is this beautiful recipe book by GooDocs with its pleasant summer-green background, highlighted ingredients and directions. You can easily add any other food-related pictures. Whatever recipe you write, you can continue to add extra lines to have a complete set of instructions.
11. Project Plan Proposal
To manage projects in any discipline, you need a proper resource timesheet which gives the hours allocated for each task as well as other advanced resource management functions. This comprehensive project book for Google Sheets is free to edit and has much preexisting criteria sprinkled within the document. These include resource billability, resource budget percentage, non-billing hours, hours spent in meetings, and other activities. With a proper resource planning in place, you can achieve the project goals with ease.
12. Expense Tracker
To manage household or other kinds of expenses, it’s good to have a weekly expense tracker. This handy weekly budget sheet by Reddit covers all expenses: credit card bills, groceries, gas, online subscriptions, car repair, pet care, medical expenses, insurance, travel, and anything else you want to add. The weekly sheet is stretchable to the full extent of the calendar. You can add more rows, weeks, and columns for the future. You can also combine the weekly budget figures into an annual expenses tally.
13. Travel Planner
Planning your travel, especially in a post-COVID world, would require you to check many essential criteria, including vaccinations, entry/exit criteria of various countries, insurance, flight schedules, and accommodation planning.
The travel website LifeHacker has shared this travel info sheet which organizes all your travel-related concerns in a Google Sheets document. You can modify the cells easily and add as many rows as needed for your specific travel requirements. If you are systematic with a document like this, it will put all your travel information on your device, making it accessible on the go.
14. Wedding and Party Planner
Whether you’re planning a wedding or a big party, there are many items that need to be finalized. The Slides option in Google Docs allows you to stretch your imagination with creative designs to help manage every small aspect of your event. This wedding planner by GooDocs gives an elegant summary of your wedding/party itinerary. The floral design can be replicated across multiple slides and pages to add more items in the itinerary. This theme is attractive enough to be used in wedding invitation cards and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are Google Docs templates free?
All the templates in this list are absolutely free and ready-to-use. However, you can find many paid templates online which have more variety in design and choice. The built-in templates in Google Docs are always free.
2. How do I get more free templates for Google Docs?
If you’re looking for free templates, you can find a variety in Google Docs itself, across all our above categories. This website is an excellent repository of free templates that were created by professional designers. If you follow the social media feeds of template design companies online, such as Canva, they often share their latest designs for free, including in Google Docs.
3. Should I use Google Docs or Word?
Both Google Docs and Microsoft Word have their finer points, and each has many rich templates to work with. Word is preferred for offline use because it has more advanced features and has been around much longer. Google Docs is really very convenient to use online, as it integrates very well with your cloud accounts and is supported by everyone who uses Gmail.
Furthermore, you can easily convert Google Docs to Word and vice versa. We also have a keyboards shortcuts cheatsheet for Google Docs, which will save you much time.
Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.
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