How to Add Templates in Microsoft Word

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.

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Templates make it easy to create stylish documents Microsoft Word without having to add your own formatting. It's easy to search Microsoft's massive online template database using both the Microsoft Word desktop app and their official template download site. This wikiHow teaches you how to find, download, and use Microsoft Word templates, as well as how to create and save your own custom template.

Downloading a Template in Word

• If Word was already open, click the File menu and select New (or New from Template on a Mac) now.

• Some other template search ideas are business cards, brochure, letter, resume, and labels.
• If you have a certain type of paper that requires a specific template, such as a label sticker sheet, search for the manufacturer's name. There are free Word templates for all of the major label sheet manufacturers.

• If the template is made to work with a certain type or size of paper, that information will be in the description. For example, if you're looking at template for address.

Create your document from the template. Templates nearly always come with some pre-filled information that you can erase and type over. You can also customize other aspects of the template as needed using any tool in Word.

• Saving your file will not make changes to the original template. You can always create a new file from the same blank template at any time.
• If you do want to save over the original template because you've made changes to it that you'll want to keep in the template permanently, see the Creating a Template method.

Downloading from the Web

• While there are other places to download templates online, it is generally not recommended to do so, as they can contain macro viruses. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source Stick to Microsoft's templates, which are vetted by Microsoft, to stay protected from viruses.
• Using the web version of the Templates database also lets you quickly open the template in the web-based version of Word (if supported by the template).

• Click SEE ALL CATEGORIES below the popular categories to expand the entire category list. Then, click a category to see the templates.

• Some templates are "Premium" templates, which are only available to people with a subscription to Microsoft 365. If you're using an earlier version of Word, you won't be able to install a premium template.

• You may have to click Save or OK to start the download.
• If you want to use the template in the web-based version of Word, click Edit in Browser—this button only appears if the template can be used in your browser. This will open the template in Word online automatically.

• Word opens the template in Protected View for your protection, just in case you downloaded the template from somewhere other than Microsoft.

Click Enable Editing to edit the template. You'll only have to do this if you see a bar at the top of the file that displays this button. This allows you to edit the template.

Create your document from the template. Templates nearly always come with some pre-filled information that you can erase and type over. You can also customize other aspects of the template as needed using any tool in Word.

• Saving your file will not make changes to the original template. You can always create a new file from the same blank template at any time.
• If you do want to save over the original template because you've made changes to it that you'll want to keep in the template permanently, see the Creating a Template method.

Creating a Custom Template

Create a new Microsoft Word document. You can create a custom Microsoft Word template from any document. If you want to start from scratch, select Blank when opening word, or click File > New and select Blank to open a blank file.

• Windows:
  • Click the File tab and select Save as.
  • Double-click Computer (Microsoft 365 or 2019) or This PC (Office 2016). [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
  • Type a name for your template into the File Name field.
  • Select Word template (*.dotx) as the "Save as type" if your template will not contain macros, or Word Macro-Enabled Template (*.dotm) if it contains macros. Word will now switch to the default templates folder so you can save your template to the right place.
  • Click Save.
  • Click the File tab and select Save as Template.
  • Type a name for your template into the File Name field.
  • Select Microsoft Word template (*.dotx) from the "File Format" menu if your template doesn't contain macros, or Microsoft Word Macro-Enabled Template (*.dotm) if you plan to put macros in the template. Word will now switch to the default template saving location.
  • Click Save.

  

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  Set up the file with everything you want in the template. Include your desired fonts, borders, default text, clip art, margins, and any other aspect you want to include.

  

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  Save your template after you're finished editing it. Since you've already saved your file as a template, just click File and select Save to save your changes before you close Word.

  

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  • Windows: Click the File menu and select New if you have a document open. On the New window, click the CUSTOM tab (Office 2019 and later) or the Personal tab (Office 2016 and earlier) to display your custom templates, and then click the template to open it.
  • macOS: Click the File menu and select New from Template if you have a document open, and then click your template.
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