Free Project Tracker Template
A plain project tracker: set up, plan, do, review and close, 15 tasks in all, and three columns on every row for the questions a tracker answers each week: what state is it in, who has it, and how far along is it. Every row starts at Not started, no owner and 0 percent, ready for your names.
No credit card. Import the spreadsheet as a new project on the Free plan.
The spreadsheet is a 15-task plan with phases, durations and milestones, plus Status, Owner and % complete columns on every row, ready for Excel or Google Sheets. It carries no dates, so set your own start, or paste it into the Gantt chart generator to have the schedule built for you. Want to compare the plans side by side first? Every one of them is on the project plan template page, with the rows shown before you download.
What’s inside
All 15 tasks are below, from naming the project owner to recording the lessons, each with its description, duration and priority. In the spreadsheet every one of them also carries Status, Owner and % complete.
15
Scheduled tasks
5
Phases
4
Milestones
~8
Weeks end to end
A plan says what, a tracker says where it stands
Most project plans stop at the task list. A tracker adds the three columns people actually read in a weekly meeting: Status, Owner and % complete. This template puts them on every row, after the phase, task, duration, priority and notes, so the same file is the plan on day one and the progress report every week after it.
The phases are deliberately plain, because a tracker is for the projects that do not need a methodology: set up, plan, do, review and close. Two of the tasks are the tracking itself. Giving every task an owner happens in planning, before any work starts, and updating status and % complete is a task that runs the whole length of the work, because a tracker nobody updates is a list of good intentions.
The file is a CSV, so it has no dropdowns, formulas or colours: Status is plain text and % complete a number. Excel opens it directly and Google Sheets imports it, and a filter on the Status column is all most weekly reviews need. It has no start or finish dates until you pick a start; paste it into the free Gantt chart generator and the chart is built from the durations, with the % complete column read as each bar's progress.
The plan, phase by phase
Set Up3 tasks
Name the project and its owner
One line on what the project delivers and the one person accountable for it.
Agree what done looks like
The few results that mean the project is finished, written down so the review can check them.
List who needs progress updates
The sponsor, the team and anyone affected, and how often each of them wants to hear.
Plan3 tasks
Break the work into tasks
Small enough that each one has a single owner and finishes inside two weeks.
Give every task an owner
One name in the Owner column of every row, agreed with that person before the work starts.
Agree the status values and update day
Not started, In progress, Blocked and Done, and the day each week every owner updates their rows.
Do4 tasks
Work the first group of tasks
Rename it for your first piece of work. Status moves to Done only when the result is accepted.
Work the second group of tasks
Rename it for your second piece of work, and add rows until the list matches your project.
Update status and % complete every week
Each owner updates their own rows on the agreed day, so the tracker is never more than a week old.
Log blockers as they appear
Set the row to Blocked, write what is in the way in its notes, and name who can clear it.
Review3 tasks
Review progress with the sponsor
Walk through the tracker row by row, starting with anything Blocked or behind.
Check the results against what done looks like
Each result agreed in set up, checked and marked met or not met.
Fix what the review found
One row per gap, each with an owner, until every result is met.
Close2 tasks
Hand over the results
To the people who will use or run them, with the notes they need to do it.
Record what to do differently
What slowed the project down and what helped, kept with the tracker for the next one.
Milestones
Four milestones: the plan agreed, the work complete, the review signed off and the project closed. In the spreadsheet they are rows like the tasks, with a status of their own.
Plan agreed
Day 13 of the plan
Work complete
Day 41 of the plan
Review signed off
Day 52 of the plan
Project closed
Day 56 of the plan
Frequently asked
What is in the download?
A CSV file with eight columns: Phase, Task, Duration (days), Priority, Notes, Status, Owner and % complete. It holds the 15 tasks and the four milestones as zero-day rows, each starting at Not started, no owner and 0. Excel opens it directly and Google Sheets imports it.
Why are there no start and finish dates?
Because a template has none until you choose a start, and dates baked into a download would be wrong the day after you saved it. Add your own, or paste the file into the Gantt chart generator, which builds the dates from the durations.
Does the Status column have a dropdown?
No. A CSV file carries values only, with no dropdowns, formulas or colours, so Status is plain text. The plan suggests four values, Not started, In progress, Blocked and Done; keep to them and a filter on the column shows what needs attention.
How do I keep it up to date?
Pick one day a week and have each owner update their own rows: the status, the percent complete and a note on anything blocked. When the team outgrows passing a file around, import it into a free Onplana project, where each owner updates their own tasks and the Gantt chart moves with them.
Start with the plan already built
Import the Project Tracker spreadsheet into a free Onplana project and your phases, tasks, and milestones are scheduled from the start date you pick. No credit card, no time limit.