How to Use Templates in Google Drive

What is a template?: Templates are premade, designed, and formatted documents that are ready for you and others to use and alter over and over again. Templates can be submitted by the users in the organization so that you can create similar documents without having to create the basics (such as title, header, footer) each time.

1. How to access the template gallery:

From Google Docs / Sheets / Slides

• From the Google Docs / Sheets / Slides home screen find and click Template Gallery along the top of the page

• Once you click this you will be taken to your organization's template gallery

• The left, where is says your organization's name, are templates that have been submitted by users within your organization
• The right, where it says General, are general, Google-made templates
  • Like project proposal, brochure, sales quote
• Select one of these to toggle between the two

From Google Drive:

• From the Google Drive homepage find and click the big + New button in the top left corner of the page

• Select the app in which you want to make a document from a template and hover over the arrow on the right
• Select From a template

• This will take you to the template gallery for whichever app you were selecting

2. How to use a template:

• Once you are in a template gallery, simply click on the template you want to use
• This will open up a copy of the template in the tab you are currently in
• This document will automatically be created in your "My Drive"
• You can rename this document to make it specific to what you are creating it for
• You can now edit this document as its own document. Any changes you make will not affect the template

3. How to submit a template:

• First, you need a document you want to submit as a template
• Create a document you want to be used as a template or use an existing document
  • Make it as generic or specific as you need but ideally users won't have to alter too much when they go to use it
  • Remember that once you submit this template it will be visible to others in your organization

• Select a document > choose a document from your Drive
• Click checkbox to Submit a copy of the file
  • If you want to keep the original document private to yourself for future use, submit a copy
  • You will be asked to name the copy you are creating
• Leave box unchecked to submit original file you created
• Once you select a document, click the category dropdown to pick where to place your template
  • Account administrator can create different categories
• Select category, click Submit

4. How to edit a template:

• Once a template has been uploaded to the gallery, it can be edited by clicking the 3-dot menu underneath the template
• from here select to Edit the template, Remove the template from the gallery, or move the template to another category (by clicking Update Info)
• Whenever you are editing a document that is in the template gallery, you will see a label at the top of the document:

• Changes will be saved automatically and applied next time the template is opened
  • Changes may not automatically update in the small preview of the document in the template gallery