Creating a project plan from scratch can feel overwhelming, and that’s when templates help. There are many free project plan templates available online that you can customize according to your needs and use whenever necessary.

With these templates, you can see where your work stands, identify next steps, and take action quickly to stay on track. They’ll help make sense of how the pieces of your project fit together and get real-time insight into the state of your team’s work—all in one place.

In this article, we have listed down 11 such templates and the formats in which they’re available.

11 Ready to Use Free Project Plan Templates

1. Timeline Focused Project Plan Template From Office Timeline

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One of the key components of every project plan is the timeline. This template from Office Timeline provides a large list of tasks that help focus on a range of daily activities and their completion dates. You can utilize it to keep your team activities on track or to give presentations to stakeholders.

Download: Office Timeline (Free, available as a PowerPoint file)

2. Task Focused Project Plan Template From Analysis Tab

Rather than the outputs or deadlines, this project plan template concentrates on tasks. It lets you visualize your project progress through its Gantt chart.

This template is ideal for smaller projects that involve a few tasks and dependencies. It includes a sample dashboard and a project tracker.

Download: Analysis Tab (Free, available as an Excel file)

3. Project Timeline Template by Office

This project timeline template by Office will help you track answers to the most common questions related to your project like, “How is the project coming along?” and “Are the deadlines being met?”.

You can utilize this template to track project deadlines and status. It is a complete four-week project timeline template that lets you add the project start date, team members’ names, and their assignments.

Download: Office (Free, available as an Excel file)

Related: How to Make Your Project a Success with Excel Templates

4. Document Based Project Plan Template by Filestage

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Filestage's document-based project plan uses different colors to identify several essential elements for an effective project plan. The document is divided into different sections like project goal, scope, task scheduling, communication, resources, and more.

Each section comprises key questions where you can fill in answers related to your project objective, tasks, subtasks, mode of communication, deadlines, etc.

Download: Filestage (Free, available as a Word document)

5. Schedule Focused Project Plan Template by Vertex 24

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This project schedule template allows you to create a simple timeline for your project without all the bells and whistles of a Gantt chart. This project template divides your entire project into numerous phases.

Each phase is further subdivided into several tasks to provide you with a comprehensive picture of the project's development. It includes blank weekly and monthly schedule worksheets that you can customize according to your needs.

Download: Vertex 24 (Free, available as an Excel file)

6. Gantt-Chart Focused Project Plan by Template Lab

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Template Lab provides a plethora of ready-to-use Gantt chart templates. They can be used for planning a project for which you will require time estimations. They include a detailed list of activities and tasks that are related to them.

If you are planning any sort of time-driven or collaborative project, these templates will help you see what needs to be done and when. This will enable you to offer a clear outline of upcoming work to cross-functional teams and stakeholders and align everyone on your strategy.

Download: Template Lab (Free, available as Word document, Excel sheet, PPT, and PDF)

Related: Free Project Management Templates Anyone Can Use for Planning

7. Action Plan Template by Project Manager

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As the name suggests, a project action plan is a plan of action that describes the approach needed to complete a project successfully. This template will help you describe the team, time, and resources needed for the project.

It contains a timetable that helps organize work, their priority, and team members accountable for completing those tasks. The template is broken down into three sections—actions steps, timeline, and resources.

Download: Project Manager (Free, available as an Excel file)

8. Project Plan Template by Atlassian

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This simple and easy project plan template by Atlassian includes all the necessary and essential elements. This is a suitable template for small or individual projects that don’t need to be too detailed. In the first section, you can enter details of the players involved in the project.

After that, you can enter the due date for the entire project, key outcomes and success metrics you’ll be monitoring, and the project’s status. It also helps map out your project scope, plan deadlines, and include reference materials.

Download: Atlassian (Free)

9. Milestone chart template by Smart Sheet

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This template by Smart Sheet makes sure you track and achieve all targets so that your project runs well. Highlight the essential milestones for your project, specify the owners of each target, and state the time you estimate every milestone to take in days, weeks, or months. This way, before you begin and go on with the tasks, you will have completely planned your project.

Download: Smart Sheet (Free, available as a Word document)

10. Word WBS template by MyWord Templates

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Looking for a basic WBS template without Excel's complexity? Then this is the perfect template for you. It is made in Microsoft Word, where you can simply edit and add your own deliverables. It will help you create a detailed step plan for project execution, lets team members schedule the duration for tasks, and helps the top management to keep accountability of team members. The only drawback of this template is that it only supports three levels of deliverables.

Download: MyWord Templates (Free, available as a Word document)

11. Project Gantt Chart Template by Spreadsheet123

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If you are a project manager in charge of large-scale projects, this Gantt chart template is made just for you. It consists of detailed task lists and has a neutral design—making it ideal for managing big projects with a long list of tasks.

Download: Spreadsheet123 (Free, available as an Excel file)

Related: Powerful Excel Project Management Templates for Tracking Anything

Get More Done With a Project Plan Template

It's almost never easy to organize a project. Luckily, the above project plan templates can help lift some of that load. By using them, you will be able to easily identify the project's scope, goals, milestones, and deliverables.

Simply download the template that suits your requirements, and you will be on your way to creating an impressive and effective project plan!