Project management templates for Excel
12 ready-made project plans, each one a spreadsheet file you can open in Excel straight away. Every file lists its phases, tasks, durations, priorities and milestones, with a real description on every row.
The files are CSV, the plain spreadsheet format Excel opens directly. Download one, open it, and save it as an .xlsx if you want to keep your formatting. No sign-up, no email.
Every file has the same five columns: Phase, Task, Duration (days), Priority, Notes.
The 12 files
Each name opens the template's own page, with every task, the reasoning behind the plan and the option to open it as a project.
- Download for Excel
14 rows: 12 tasks across 3 phases (Discovery, Build, Launch), then 2 milestones as zero-day rows.
software-product-launch-project-plan.csv, 1.4 KB about 9 weeks - Download for Excel
11 rows: 10 tasks across 4 phases (Strategy, Creative, Launch, Measure), then 1 milestone as zero-day rows.
marketing-campaign-project-plan.csv, 1.2 KB about 6 weeks - Download for Excel
15 rows: 14 tasks across 5 phases (Venue, Speakers, Marketing, Logistics, Day-of), then 1 milestone as zero-day rows.
event-planning-project-plan.csv, 1.6 KB about 13 weeks - Download for Excel
12 rows: 10 tasks across 5 phases (Audit, Data Prep, Import, Validation, Cutover), then 2 milestones as zero-day rows.
microsoft-project-migration-project-plan.csv, 1.3 KB about 4 weeks - Download for Excel
18 rows: 14 tasks across 5 phases (Discovery, Design, Pilot, Waves, Cutover), then 4 milestones as zero-day rows.
data-migration-cutover-project-plan.csv, 2.6 KB about 9 weeks - Download for Excel
9 rows: 8 tasks across 4 phases (Set goals, Align teams, Track, Review), then 1 milestone as zero-day rows.
okr-quarterly-planning-project-plan.csv, 985 bytes about 13 weeks - Download for Excel
16 rows: 13 tasks across 4 phases (Scope & contract, Discovery, Delivery, Handover & close), then 3 milestones as zero-day rows.
client-engagement-project-plan.csv, 2.1 KB about 9 weeks - Download for Excel
19 rows: 14 tasks across 5 phases (Concept, Feasibility, Development, Validation, Launch), then 5 milestones as zero-day rows.
phase-gate-npd-project-plan.csv, 2.5 KB about 26 weeks - Download for Excel
28 rows: 22 tasks across 8 phases (Stage 0, Strategic Definition, Stage 1, Preparation and Briefing, Stage 2, Concept Design, Stage 3, Spatial Coordination, Stage 4, Technical Design, Stage 5, Manufacturing and Construction, Stage 6, Handover, Stage 7, Use), then 6 milestones as zero-day rows.
riba-plan-of-work-project-plan.csv, 4.3 KB about 60 weeks - Download for Excel
23 rows: 17 tasks across 5 phases (Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Bidding and Negotiation, Construction Administration), then 6 milestones as zero-day rows.
aia-design-phases-project-plan.csv, 3.3 KB about 57 weeks - Download for Excel
23 rows: 18 tasks across 6 phases (Construction Documents Issue, Preconstruction, Construction Administration, Substantial Completion, Closeout Documents, Final Completion and Payment), then 5 milestones as zero-day rows.
construction-closeout-project-plan.csv, 4.2 KB about 38 weeks - Download for Excel
29 rows: 24 tasks across 8 phases (Customer portal refresh, Finance system upgrade, Data and reporting platform, Security hardening, New market launch, Process automation, Office consolidation, Skills and training programme), then 5 milestones as zero-day rows.
annual-portfolio-plan-project-plan.csv, 3.6 KB about 57 weeks
Open a template in Excel
- Download the file. It saves as
<template>-project-plan.csv. - Double-click it, and Excel opens it as a sheet. Or, in Excel, choose Data > From Text/CSV, pick the file and choose Load.
- Choose File > Save As and pick Excel Workbook (.xlsx), so the widths and formulas you add are kept.
- Rename tasks, change durations, add an Owner or a Start column. It is your file.
Excel warns that some features may be lost if you save back to CSV. That is expected: CSV keeps only the values, so save as .xlsx to keep anything else.
What is in every file
- Phase: the stage of the plan the task belongs to, or Milestone for the checkpoint rows.
- Task: the work, named as you would write it on a plan.
- Duration (days): how long the task takes. Milestones are 0.
- Priority: Low, Medium, High or Critical. Milestones leave it blank.
- Notes: a real description of the task, and for a milestone the day of the plan it targets.
There are no dates in the files, because a template has none until you pick a start. Paste a file into the Gantt chart generator and it schedules the plan from the durations. Want to read the rows before you download? The project plan template tool shows each plan row by row.
Need a Microsoft Project file instead?
10 of these plans also download as a Microsoft Project file (.xml) from their template page, with every task already dated. Microsoft Project opens it, and so does Onplana Schedule, the free desktop app that edits Project files without Microsoft Project.
Working in the other spreadsheet app? The same files are listed for Google Sheets, with the steps for that app.
Frequently asked
Is the file an Excel workbook (.xlsx)?
No. Each plan is a CSV file, plain rows and columns, which Excel opens like any workbook. We ship CSV so the file stays small and opens everywhere. Once it is open, save it as an Excel Workbook (.xlsx) if you want to keep column widths, colours or formulas you add.
Are these Excel templates free, and is there a sign-up?
Free, and no sign-up. Each download is a static file on this page: no email, no account, no trial.
Why are there no start and finish dates?
A template has no dates until you pick a start. Each task carries a duration in days instead. Add your own Start column in Excel, or paste the file into the free Gantt chart generator, which schedules the whole plan from the durations.
Does it work in older versions of Excel, or on a Mac?
Yes. Every version of Excel on Windows and Mac opens a CSV file, and so do LibreOffice, Numbers and Google Sheets.
Can I manage the whole project in Excel?
For a short plan one person tracks, yes. A grid starts to hurt once tasks depend on each other: move one date and nothing downstream moves with it, there is no critical path, and progress does not roll up to the phase. That is the point where the same plan is worth opening in a scheduler.
When the spreadsheet gets crowded
Every one of these plans also opens as a real project in Onplana, with dependencies, a Gantt chart and the critical path, on the Free plan. No credit card.