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Top Project Management Excel Templates For 2025 Smartsheet

Leo Migdal
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top project management excel templates for 2025 smartsheet

By Kate Eby | January 3, 2020 (updated April 29, 2025) Use this project tracker template to monitor task progress, deadlines, and team assignments across projects of any size. It’s perfect for project managers who need to quickly spot delays and keep projects on track. With a clear task list, status updates, and visual progress indicators, this template helps you stay in control. The built-in layout also supports filtering by owner, priority, or due date. Use the Project Tracking and Rollup template in Smartsheet to quickly monitor milestones, flag at-risk tasks, map out processes, and generate a real-time dashboard—all with built-in automation and collaboration you won’t get from a...

Try the Smartsheet Project Tracking and Rollup Template Perfect for laying out your roadmap before a project begins, this project plan template helps you define key phases, tasks, and timelines in one place. It is well-suited for any team preparing a structured kickoff. You'll be able to organize milestones, assign owners, and forecast durations with clarity. The format helps create a shared vision that keeps everyone focused on execution from day one. Project managers are known for their decisiveness and time management.

A project’s success depends on how a project manager identifies, plans, and employs the resources available for any given project (especially the timespan). If you, too, have a complicated project ahead of you that requires sophisticated planning – don’t sail all the way along alone. 😃 Bringing you the best templates, Excel consistently provides a solution for everything. It offers a wide variety of project management templates that make your job all the easier. To learn what these templates are and how you may use them, continue reading.

Still using spreadsheets to manage your projects? Revolutionize how you manage your projects with ProjectManager. Plan, track and report with automated tools. Before you can manage a project, you need the right project tools to collect the necessary data to formulate a strategy—and project management Excel templates are a great place to begin. Employees and team members are often familiar with Microsoft Excel, since there are 1.1 to 1.5 billion Excel users worldwide, so it can be a comfortable starting software for project management. Whether you need to plan a project, track progress, run a status report or balance a budget, you’ll find a project management template for Excel in this list that suits your needs.

Microsoft Excel does a lot of things well: mathematics, analysis and organization. But, it’s not intuitive for project management due to its blank spreadsheet format. So, without using pre-built project management templates or spreadsheets, it’s hard to execute project management on Excel, especially as a team. Think of all the things you have to process along the way to a successful project—scheduling, resource planning, defining tasks and milestones, etc. The days of Post-It notes and notebooks filled with scraps of paper are long gone. Thankfully, today project managers can use Microsoft Excel templates for project management—or better yet, project management software.

Juggling tasks, deadlines, and team members can quickly become overwhelming without a structured system. Effective project management relies on clear visibility and seamless organization, which is precisely where a high-quality template makes a critical difference. Instead of spending valuable time building a tracking system from scratch, you can leverage expertly designed project management tracking templates to gain immediate control over your workflow. These pre-built frameworks provide the structure needed to monitor progress, manage resources, and keep stakeholders informed. This guide eliminates the guesswork by curating the definitive list of the best sources for these templates in 2025. We will dive deep into powerful and versatile options from platforms like Microsoft Create, Smartsheet, Notion, and more.

Whether you need a simple task list in Google Sheets, a complex Gantt chart in Excel, or a fully integrated dashboard in ClickUp, you'll find a solution tailored to your specific needs. Each entry in our roundup includes a detailed breakdown of its key features, practical applications, and the ideal user it's designed for. To make your decision even easier, we've included screenshots for a visual preview and direct links to get you started immediately. Our goal is to provide a straightforward, actionable resource that helps you select the perfect tool to keep your projects on track, on time, and within budget. Forget the chaos of disorganized projects; let's find the template that transforms your management process from reactive to proactive. For teams deeply embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, Microsoft Create offers an unparalleled starting point for project management.

This official hub provides a curated collection of free, high-quality project management tracking templates designed to work seamlessly within Excel. Instead of building from scratch, managers can instantly download robust Gantt charts, project timelines, and task trackers that feel immediately familiar, eliminating any learning curve. The platform’s core strength lies in its simplicity and integration. Each template can be opened directly in Excel with a single click, enabling immediate customization. This native environment allows for easy co-authoring and sharing via OneDrive, making it a practical choice for collaborative teams. Thousands of professionals use project management Excel templates and spreadsheets to plan their projects, and I never understood why — until I tried playing the “what does this formula do” game.

The sheer flexibility of Excel lets you create a completely custom workflow, plan projects, track tasks, and manage resources, risks, and reports in any way you want. But creating these workflows takes skill and a lot of time, and — for project managers — time is a precious resource. So, here are 16 amazing free Excel project management templates that will save you time and make your job easier. Some, like the project status report template, are simple tables you have to manually update. Others, like the Gantt chart, WBS, timeline, risk, budget tracker templates, and so on, are fully automated with conditional formulas, filtering, automatic calculations, charts, and other interesting features. Feel free to download them and try them out for free, no email required.

NOTE: Please make sure to read the instructions provided in this guide for every template you download. Some of the more complicated templates also contain further instructions for use and customization in a separate tab within the Excel template that you can refer to. While complex project management software has its place, the simple, powerful framework of a well-designed Excel template remains unbeatable for many teams. An effective template project planner excel provides the structure you need without the steep learning curve, empowering you to track tasks, manage timelines, and monitor budgets with a tool you already know and use. This guide cuts through the noise to bring you the 12 most practical and powerful Excel project planners available today. We will analyse each option based on real-world use cases, highlighting their unique strengths and honest limitations.

Each entry includes screenshots and direct download links to help you get started immediately. Beyond just tracking tasks, successful project management also hinges on clear stakeholder updates. For guidance on structuring this vital aspect, consider leveraging a free project communication plan template alongside your chosen planner. Whether you're an IT director managing a software rollout, a consultant handling multiple clients, or a team lead organising a complex build, you will find the perfect template here. This resource is organised to help you find a planner that brings immediate clarity, control, and efficiency to your workflow, without the overhead of dedicated PM software. For those seeking a reliable and straightforward starting point, Microsoft's own official gallery is the most logical first stop.

This platform offers a curated collection of free project management templates designed by the creators of Excel itself. It stands out by guaranteeing perfect compatibility across all versions of the software, from the desktop application to Excel for the web, ensuring a seamless experience without any formatting or formula errors that can... This makes it an ideal choice for teams collaborating within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The user experience is incredibly simple: navigate to the gallery, select a template project planner excel file like the Gantt project planner or project tracker, and click "Use template". It opens directly in your browser or desktop app, ready for immediate use. While the designs are basic and lack the visual flair of premium options, their functionality is solid for foundational project management.

They are particularly useful for small to medium-sized projects where advanced features like automated resource levelling are not critical. Using these templates effectively can greatly improve your workflow, which helps you find balance and be more productive. Managing a project involves many moving parts, no matter if the project is large or small. To help organize your next undertaking without creating documents from scratch, check out these project management templates for Excel. With everything from Gantt charts to budgets to timelines, there’s bound to be at least a couple Excel templates on this list that can help you keep your project on track. A Gantt chart is a solid tool for tracking most any type of project.

This premium Date Tracking Gantt Chart from Microsoft gives you the basics you need. Select one of the tabs to create your chart in green, blue, or purple. Then, enter the task, assignee, progress percentage, start date, and duration in days. You’ll see the Gantt chart on the right update to reflect your project details. You can choose the milestone marker you want to use and include those in your chart as well. With the scroll bar or scrolling increment feature at the top, you can easily move through the chart while still seeing the task table on the left.

By Kate Eby | November 2, 2023 (updated October 13, 2025) Use this template to map out tasks across the entire project lifecycle and keep work organized. A visual timeline helps you track progress on medium- to large-scale projects. The template groups tasks by phase, automatically calculates task duration, and features a Gantt chart for clear scheduling. Color-coded status indicators highlight progress, flag delays, and make dependencies easy to spot. For a more collaborative and automated version, try the Smartsheet Simple Project Plan Template.

This template lets you assign tasks, track status in real time, set alerts and reminders, and view the same plan as a Gantt chart, grid, card, or calendar. This template helps users create a detailed plan for projects that require cross-functional coordination, executive approval, or comprehensive stakeholder communication. It includes sections for recording project scope, milestones, cost baseline, risk management, and success metrics. It also provides structured tables for assigning roles, documenting approvals, and tracking project evaluation criteria. To explore best practices and expert tips for building stronger project plans, visit our guide on how to create a project plan to learn how to structure timelines, define milestones, and keep projects on...

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By Kate Eby | January 3, 2020 (updated April 29,

By Kate Eby | January 3, 2020 (updated April 29, 2025) Use this project tracker template to monitor task progress, deadlines, and team assignments across projects of any size. It’s perfect for project managers who need to quickly spot delays and keep projects on track. With a clear task list, status updates, and visual progress indicators, this template helps you stay in control. The built-in layo...

Try The Smartsheet Project Tracking And Rollup Template Perfect For

Try the Smartsheet Project Tracking and Rollup Template Perfect for laying out your roadmap before a project begins, this project plan template helps you define key phases, tasks, and timelines in one place. It is well-suited for any team preparing a structured kickoff. You'll be able to organize milestones, assign owners, and forecast durations with clarity. The format helps create a shared visio...

A Project’s Success Depends On How A Project Manager Identifies,

A project’s success depends on how a project manager identifies, plans, and employs the resources available for any given project (especially the timespan). If you, too, have a complicated project ahead of you that requires sophisticated planning – don’t sail all the way along alone. 😃 Bringing you the best templates, Excel consistently provides a solution for everything. It offers a wide variety...

Still Using Spreadsheets To Manage Your Projects? Revolutionize How You

Still using spreadsheets to manage your projects? Revolutionize how you manage your projects with ProjectManager. Plan, track and report with automated tools. Before you can manage a project, you need the right project tools to collect the necessary data to formulate a strategy—and project management Excel templates are a great place to begin. Employees and team members are often familiar with Mic...

Microsoft Excel Does A Lot Of Things Well: Mathematics, Analysis

Microsoft Excel does a lot of things well: mathematics, analysis and organization. But, it’s not intuitive for project management due to its blank spreadsheet format. So, without using pre-built project management templates or spreadsheets, it’s hard to execute project management on Excel, especially as a team. Think of all the things you have to process along the way to a successful project—sched...