Office Timeline Pro+ is here!

Align programs and projects on one slide with multi-level Swimlanes.

  • Task Management
  • Task Management Templates

Free Task Management Templates

Use free task tracker templates for Excel and PowerPoint to simplify your work and manage project tasks more efficiently.

Free Task Management Templates

Using templates for task management and tracking

Project managers and team leaders working on small to mid-size projects can use pre-built templates to manage their team's tasks manage their team's tasks more easily. Task management templates provide a starting point that can be used again and again, saving you from having to reinvent the wheel every time you need to create a plan, track task progress, or report status to clients and execs.

On this page, we have collected a series of free task tracker templates for Excel and PowerPoint to help professionals get started faster. Browse through all of them or use the links below to jump straight to the template category that suits your needs best.

Free task management templates for Excel

With its handy grid format, formulas, and data filters, Excel is commonly used for making schedules, analyzing data, and tracking task status. Although not ideal for advanced project management, task management spreadsheets provide a good framework for planning and monitoring small projects. They're compatible with other applications outside the Microsoft Office suite, which makes them easy to share and synchronize across task manager apps .

Below you can find a few Excel task tracker templates, from simple list-type spreadsheets to more complex visual tracking frameworks.

Project Management Task List Template

With so many variables in a project, a simple task list such as the one below can help professionals organize their work, prioritize it, and see at a glance when each individual task is due. The free project management task list template allows users to assign a status to each task, sort assignments into multiple categories, and see exactly who's responsible for what. It also calculates the tasks' planned and actual durations automatically, enabling teams to easily make comparisons and see if work is progressing as scheduled.

Project Management Task List in Excel

Excel Task Tracker Template

This Excel task tracker template was designed for project or task managers who wish to apply Scrum principles when planning and monitoring their team's tasks. The free task tracker spreadsheet splits tasks into short sprints for easier management and allows users to define priorities, see task status at a glance, and track assignments as they are completed. It also includes a simple  Gantt chart  that auto-updates whenever the data in the task list changes.

Excel Task Tracker Template

Task Management Spreadsheet Template

Effective task management requires precise knowledge of all assignments and the time remaining for completing them. A task management spreadsheet like the one below can help teams track their tasks by the hour and organize their work more efficiently. The template automatically calculates the hours left for finishing each task, shows the percentage of work already completed, and highlights the tasks that are overdue. In addition, this task tracker spreadsheet also estimates the assignments' start and end dates and displays them on a Gantt chart, providing an overview of the whole project.

Task Management Spreadsheet in Excel

Free task management templates for PowerPoint

Excel task tracker spreadsheets are good for ensuring clarity and alignment within the team, but, when communicating to high-level audiences such as clients or upper management, professionals may find that they need something more graphical. In such cases, PowerPoint task management templates might prove more efficient, as they can show summarized data on a single visual slide, in a manner that's easy to digest. Below you can find a few such templates to get you started.

Free Task Planner Template

This free task planner was built for professionals who need create an executive-level view of their project tasks for client meetings or project proposals. Designed as a simple Plan-on-a-Page, it is a  Gantt chart   that uses color codes to group tasks by categories or departments, making it easy to see key data at a glance. Download the free task planner template file and edit it manually in PowerPoint or use the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in to automate the process and update it effortlessly.

Free Task Planner

PowerPoint Task Tracker Template

Clients and execs usually don't have the time to read lengthy documents or untangle complicated task management spreadsheets to see how a project is progressing. To efficiently communicate task status to high-level audiences, project managers and team leaders can use a more familiar PowerPoint slide such as the one below. This task tracker template keeps things simple by providing only essential tracking information such as the due dates of key tasks, percentage complete, or important events along the way. The free task tracker can be downloaded and edited in PowerPoint and updated easily as plans change.

Task Tracker Template

Agile Task Management Template

Agile task management is an iterative, incremental approach to managing projects, often used in software development. The methodology focuses on delivering work fast and in small increments, while incorporating feedback from customers in each iteration. This allows the team to easily adapt to changing requirements and ultimately deliver higher quality products that satisfy customers’ needs better. This agile task management template is ideal for team and client communications, allowing you to effortlessly keep track of your project’s tasks. Built directly in Microsoft PowerPoint, the template can be edited and shared easily with anyone who has the popular presentation tool installed.

Agile task management Template

PowerPoint Task Manager App

For client and executive communications, managers and team leaders can use a free task tracker to manage their plans and schedules as PowerPoint visuals. The Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in integrates with Excel to import existing task data and convert it into easy-to-understand timeline and Gantt chart slides.

Free Task Manager App

Vertex42.com - The Guide to Excel in Everything

Task List Templates

The Excel task list templates on this page demonstrate some of the many ways that you can track tasks using a spreadsheet, from simple to do lists to more advanced Gantt charts. These templates demonstrate using icon sets to display priorities, using conditional formatting to display a progress bar, creating a gantt using using a stacked bar chart, and using a check mark to cross out tasks when they've been completed.

Tell me what you think about these templates: Leave a comment on the related blog article " Add Cool Features to Your To Do Lists ."

This Page (contents):

Task Checklist Template

Printable task list templates, project task list template.

Project Task List Template

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

Description

This spreadsheet demonstrates the use of conditional formatting to highlight the Priority column, to add a progress bar to the % Complete column, and to create a functioning check box via data validation. It also includes columns for entering budget and hours spent on each task.

Update 9/23/2019: Added the Google Sheets version - replaced the icon sets with in-cell checkboxes. Google Sheets does not yet have in-cell data bars (for the % Complete column).

Simple Task Tracker Template

Screenshot of the Task Tracker Template in Excel

This task tracker template demonstrates the use of custom icon sets via conditional formatting to show a priority rating of 1-4 with different color circles. It uses a similar technique for the checkbox in the Done column.

Project Task List with Gantt Chart

Project Task List Template with Gantt Chart

A gantt chart can be created from a task list using a stacked bar chart in Excel. This is a functional template that can be used for real project management tasks, but the primary purpose is to demonstrate how the data table is set up to create the gantt chart.

Screenshot of the Task Checklist in Excel

This task list template demonstrates how to create a checkbox using a data validation drop-down and how to use simple conditional formatting conditions to display HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW priority values. It also uses conditional formatting to change fonts to a gray strike-through when the checkbox is checked.

► How to Insert a Check Mark in Excel (on youtube)!

More Templates For Tracking Tasks

Thumbnail - Action Items Template

Follow Us On ...

Related templates.

Thumbnail - Action Items Template

Project Management

20 Must-Have Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets

ProjectManager

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 plan your project, you have to have the right tools to collect the data you need in order to formulate a strategy—and project management Excel templates are a great place to start.

Using Excel for Project Management

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.

Microsoft Excel does a lot of things well: mathematics, analysis, organization. But, it’s not intuitive for project management due to its blank spreadsheet format. So, without using pre-built project management spreadsheets or templates, it’s hard to execute project management on Excel.

Best Project Management Templates & Spreadsheets for Excel

Visit our templates page and you’ll find Excel and Word templates for creating all the project documents you need to manage your project. But, if you just need free Excel project management templates and spreadsheets, then look no further.

Here are 20 essential project management Excel templates you can download and use right now. Transform your bland Excel spreadsheets into expertly-designed project management templates, and take your project management Excel processes to the next level.

1. Gantt Chart Template

A Gantt chart is a visual tool that helps you see at-a-glance the scheduling of tasks and their dependencies over the project timeline. That makes it a great project planner template.

ProjectManager's Gantt Chart template

While it’s true a Gantt chart can be overly complex in Excel spreadsheets, especially when you are in need of more advanced scheduling features like task dependencies and resource allocation, they remain a vital part of any project manager’s toolkit. That’s why we recommend using  online Gantt chart software to help plan tasks and projects collaboratively with your team.

Online Gantt chart tools integrate into project management & planning software, so it can update in real time. This allows for easy drag-and-drop changes and can be color-coded to customize as you need. ProjectManager is a project management software that does all that and more. Try it for yourself today!

ProjectManager's free Gantt chart template

But to quickly make a Gantt chart from your task lists, download this free Gantt chart Excel template for an easy way to create a project schedule. Just add tasks and deadlines to this Excel spreadsheet and visualize how long your project will take.

2. Project Status Report Template

The need for a project status report is obvious. If you don’t have good intel on what is happening in the project, then you are managing blind. You have no idea if you’re on track or if resources are being blocked.

Project Status Report Template for Excel

With this free Excel project status report template, you have a tool to greatly improve your project communications, both with stakeholders when you’re delivering a presentation, but also with team members.

It’s up to you to decide on the frequency of the reports. But with a project status report template a lot of the busy work that can pull you away from a project is already done, giving you greater access to the information you need.

3. Work Breakdown Structure Template

A project is made up of deliverables and those deliverables are created by tasks. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a way to visualize the project deliverables, the tasks, and the subtasks, which are necessary to make them.

Work Breakdown Structure Diagram Template

ProjectManager has a free WBS template that structures the process of breaking down the large project into smaller and smaller tasks, in a hierarchical visual that allows you to see the entire scope of the project work.

This is a key element of project planning, but it is also critical to estimating project costs and setting up a realistic schedule. Better still, because our WBS free template is an Excel spreadsheet, it can then be uploaded into the ProjectManager software to initiate a project, assign tasks to team members and monitor and track progress once the project is executed.

4. Action Plan Template

A project is initiated to complete the realization of a goal. But to achieve that objective requires a strategy and then the steps to implement that strategy successfully. In short, an action plan .

Free download Action Plan Template

Projects are pragmatic and the action plan is a framework to collect your thoughts about executing the project plan in an effective and efficient way. With our free action plan template, you can just fill in the blanks to make sure that you’ve covered all bases and make your project start on the right foot. It’s a great companion template to an overall project plan and project charter.

From prioritizing tasks to assigning and noting the status, timeline and resources, we have you covered. And, again, the action plan can be uploaded seamlessly into ProjectManager, so you can then use all our great features to visualize workflow with kanban boards and monitor progress with our real-time dashboard.

5. Project Tracker & Task List Template

Tracking the project is crucial to ensure that it remains on schedule. That means also keeping tabs on the work at a task-level.

Task Tracking Template

This project tracker & task list template can help as a task to-do list, and it includes columns for the planned and actual duration of the project in order to know what’s working and what needs more attention.

Once you integrate your project and task tracking template into a project management software system, you can then produce Gantt charts to get a clear visual on the project timeline, as well as get that data delivered to your dashboard to note project progress in real time. And, of course, you can import your Excel and Microsoft Project files seamlessly into ProjectManager. Our software can transform your static Excel files into stunning, dynamic project management tools.

project tracking dashboard

6. Risk Register Template

Risk is a part of managing a project. The job involves being able to anticipate what risks are likely to occur and then formulating a response to get the project back on track. That’s where this free Excel risk tracking template comes in.

risk tracking template

First, it allows you to list all the possible risks you believe may happen over the course of the project. Next you can define how it will impact the project. You determine level of the risk and assign it an owner, so that someone is responsible to keep an eye out for it.

Now you have a plan in place to resolve that risk quickly, and a document that can be shared so risk is never given a chance to blindside a project.

7. Issue Tracker Template

Issues are when something is happening right now in your project. So, what do you do when this happens? You track those issues and resolve them with the help of this free issue tracker template.

Excel issue tracking template

The first thing, of course, is identifying those issues as they occur. This is the document in which you can collect that information. The issue tracking template serves you by making sure every step of the way, from identifying to resolving the issue, is documented.

Of course you will want to share the issue tracker template, and you can with this free Excel template, but only as a static document. In a project management software program, that information is easy to collect and share, as well as edit in real time.

8. Change Request Form Template

One thing that’s constant in any project is change. Those changes, however, must be managed. That’s where the change request form comes in.

Free downloadable Change Request Form Template

Our free change request form template gives you the structure to identify, track and resolve those changes when they arise in a project. The free template has space to note what the change is, give a team member ownership to lead the task of resolving it and then get it signed off on.

When used in conjunction with ProjectManager, the change request form is more dynamic. It can act as a collaborative platform in which team members can communicate and attach relevant documents, even hand-offs and sign-offs. Keeping everything under one roof is something you’ll not want to change.

Related: How to Run MS Project on your Mac step by step!

9. Project Budget Template

A project can have a great plan, but without the financial backing to pay for it nothing can happen. That’s why a project budget, as tedious as it might be, is one of the most important phases of getting a project on track to a successful completion.

image of project budget template

With this free Excel project budget template you can literally see when you’re in the red, because it’s color-coded. And this document, more than just one that is crucial to the start of a project, is also a way to track that budget across the lifecycle of the project.

This template has room to cover all your costs, from easy ones to collect — such as labor and materials — to ones that change or carry over from project to project. Budgets are estimates, but with this free template those numbers will be more accurate.

10. Project Timesheet Spreadsheet

Team members need to have a way to track their work through the tasks they are assigned, and a simple timesheet can provide an easy way to keep them on schedule as well as give you the needed information to know where they are in their tasks.

free timesheet template for Excel

The free Excel timesheet can calculate cost per hour and includes vacation and overtime columns, to accurately note the time spent on and off the project. But project timesheets are useful for a number of different purposes, so this is a handy tool.

When you manage timesheets with online project management software , then the rubber hits the road. You’ll be able to filter columns and customize reports, easily share in an email, PDF or Excel and CSV file. Plus your team can submit timesheets based on actual tasks in the system, and you’ll get alerted by email when they do.

11. Project Dashboard Template

The project dashboard is what keeps you in the driver seat as you travel through the lifecycle of the project. It allows for you to monitor the project, tracking the task status, budget and more in one place.

Project Management Dashboard Template featuring tasks, workload, task lengths and costs

From this free project management dashboard for Excel, you create graphs and charts that give you a visual and easily digestible look at your task and workload management, as well as cost. It’s a sure way to stay on top of a project generally and know where you have to drill down into specifics.

You can add more power to your PM dashboards when you use online project management software. That way, when team members are updating statuses on tasks, the dashboards are populating with real-time data.

12. Project Plan Template

A project plan template has everything you need to map out your project once it’s been approved. It has space for you to define your project goals, activities, tasks as well as all the resources you’ll need to execute the work. You can begin to schedule your activities , tasks and the duration of each across a project timeline. There’s even a place to identify task dependencies.

free project plan template for project management

Project plans are tailored around your project and no two are the same. That’s why this project management template has a place to add appendices.  Here is where you can attach a scope, cost and schedule management plan or a work breakdown structure (WBS) as well as your business case, feasibility study and project charter.. The more detailed your project plan, the more you position yourself and team for success when the project is executed.

13. Project Estimate Template

This free project estimate template for Excel will help you forecast a more accurate budget and realistic schedule. Before you can plan a project, you need to identify all the costs that will be associated with it. This free project management spreadsheet allows you to do a more detailed collection of what you’ll need to spend on your labor, materials and project resources.

free project estimate template for Microsoft Excel

From a job description to estimate details, this project template is a great way not only to figure out your budget but collect the various vendors and contractors you’ll be employing to help you execute the project. Create as many project phases as you require. Each is subtotaled and those subtotals are then tallied automatically for a final sum. Change is impossible to avoid when managing a project, but the more accurate your estimate, the more likely you’ll deliver on time and within budget.

14. RACI Matrix Template

Using a RACI matrix template is an essential tool for organizing projects. Projects can be confusing, and if people aren’t sure of their roles, problems are going to occur. The RACI template for Excel is a free tool to identify and define the various roles and responsibilities of everyone involved with the project.

Project management RACI matrix template for Microsoft Excel

This project management Excel template is broken up by project phase on the left and across the top all the various project positions are listed. Then in the corresponding box beneath the title is filled in with R, A, C or I to explain their relation to that specific point in the project. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, informed. Defining these roles with this Excel spreadsheet leads to smoother operations.

15. Change Log Spreadsheet

Try our free change log template for Excel and create a successful change management process. Change is going to happen in every project, whether requests from stakeholders or from external forces, such as weather or supply chain issues. Being prepared for change and how to respond to it is going to make or break your project.

Project Change Log Template for Microsoft Excel

This project management Excel spreadsheet allows you to number changes that you identify in the project to track them easier. There’s a place to capture when the change was first discovered, who owns it and is tasked with dealing with that change. There’s even space to note its status and set the priority so you know which changes should be dealt with first. Having a change log means you can manage change and not allow change to negatively impact your project.

16. Resource Plan Template

Resources are anything you need for a project. Our free resource plan template for Excel is the first step to managing your team and resources. You can use it to identify, list and organize all your project resources as well as figure out how much of each you’ll need and what that will cost. You can use this project Excel template to integrate with your schedule and budget to track costs as you execute the project.

project resource plan template for Excel - free download

While you’ll want to start your resource plan during the planning phase of your project, it should be a living document that is regularly updated as things change over the life cycle of the project. Once the project has been completed, you can save the template and use it when you are planning resources for future projects that are similar. Using this free project management template for Excel keeps everyone informed, which leads to a better running project.

17. Stakeholder Analysis Spreadsheet

Stakeholders are invested in the project and project managers have to keep them updated and manage their expectations. That’s where this free stakeholder analysis template for Excel comes in. It helps you identify and manage all the stakeholders in your project. This free template is a cornerstone of any thorough stakeholder management plan.

Free stakeholder analysis template in a spreadsheet format for Excel

The stakeholder analysis template gets you started with a project overview, which is followed by a list of all the stakeholders involved with the project. There’s a dropdown menu to note if that particular stakeholder is of high, medium or low influence. That means, how much power do they have to impact the project. That information is crucial to how to manage them. Then you identify each stakeholder in the spreadsheet as they relate to the project. Note the frequency you need to communicate with each stakeholder and more to manage them and keep the project moving forward.

18. Gap Analysis Template

If you’re looking to improve your business and stay innovative, then you need this gap analysis template for Excel. It’s one of the tools you can use to get a strategic analysis of where you are now and how to get to where you want to be in the future. This project management spreadsheet will help you devise an action plan to move you from your current state of affairs to wherever you plan to take your organization in the future, whether that’s an increase in marketshare or getting a product to market quickly.

Project gap analysis template for Microsoft Excel in a spreadsheet format

This free Excel template has everything you need to start meeting your goals, from general information and the current state of your business to the future state you’re aiming to achieve, what the gap percentage is and the actions necessary to close that gap. You can identify who in the organization can lead the initiative and even track the status. You have to start somewhere and a gap analysis is where it all comes together.

19. Cost Benefit Analysis Spreadsheet

Crunch the numbers to learn if your project is worth pursuing with our free cost benefit analysis template for Excel. You can see if the project can be delivered within a specific time frame and reasonable cost. This Microsoft Excel template allows you to compare what you expect to spend against the benefits or opportunity the project might provide. Therefore, from a cost perspective, you can see if the project is viable.

free cost benefit analysis template for project management

Whether a personal or professional project, our free cost benefit analysis template is a powerful and flexible tool. It can be used over and over again, collecting the project information, quantitative costs (indirect, intangible and opportunity) and then the quantitative benefits (direct benefits, indirect benefits, intangible benefits and competitive benefits). Adding up the three cost sections and the four benefits sections of the template provide a total cost to compare against total benefits. It’s an essential analysis to undertake before committing to any project.

20. Weekly Work Schedule Spreadsheet

If you need help handling your human resources, get our free weekly work schedule spreadsheet for Excel. You can use it to manage your team’s weekly work and the project’s workflow. Note the days your team can work and collect the rate of pay and hours they work on their tasks. This flexible employee work schedule can apply to the regular nine-to-five work week or a more hybrid model.

Weekly work schedule template for Microsoft Excel in a spreadsheet format

Use this project management template for Excel to get info on your team members and their work schedule. You can add their name, tasks assigned to them and the project they’re working on. There’s space to list all the days they’ll be working. This Excel template is a great place to capture data but it’s a static document. If you want to update it, you have to do that manually. It can take time and pull you away from managing the project and your team’s work.

Go Beyond Excel Templates & Spreadsheets with ProjectManager

Project management software can take you way further than Excel templates for project management ever could. ProjectManager , an award-winning project management software, is a comprehensive platform that lets you plan, track and report on your projects online. Because it’s an online tool, you get live visibility into your project team and their tasks.

Plan your projects from start to finish with our Gantt chart feature. This feature allows you to map out all of your project tasks in phases, and then assign them to team members. You can even create dependencies and set milestones. Plus, you can import Excel files and Microsoft Project files into the Gantt chart, bringing your static templates to life. In addition, ProjectManager integrates with over 1000 third-party apps such as Google Drive, Slack and Microsoft Office 365 so that you can share your project with everybody on your team.

imported template to make a gantt chart

Team members (and managers) can choose to manage their own tasks in either the task list or kanban view. The kanban view is a favorite for visual workers who have a lot of different projects going on. The customizable columns on a kanban board allow a user to easily see their progress, or sort their tasks by project or department. Of course every view, whether it’s the Gantt, List or Board, allows you to collaborate with other team members and get more work done than you ever thought possible. You’ll wonder why you ever did project management Excel processes.

ProjectManager's kanban boards make project management templates come to life

Get all the features of these Excel project management templates and more when you use ProjectManager . All of these tools are available in our award-winning project management software to help you plan, track and report on your project in real time. See what it can do for you by taking a free 30-day trial run .

Related Posts

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

10 Powerful Excel Project Management Templates for Tracking Anything

Want Microsoft Excel to manage your projects? Use these free Microsoft Excel spreadsheet templates for tracking any project!

​​​​​Project management templates are an essential ingredient in replicating successful projects. With Microsoft Excel's free templates, you can turn your simple spreadsheets into powerful project management tools.

In this article, you'll find some of the most useful and free Microsoft Excel project management and project tracking templates you'll want to use for your next project.

Microsoft Excel Project Timeline Templates

Let's have a look at the best Microsoft Excel project management templates.

Note: We cover both native and third-party templates here. To find the pre-installed Excel spreadsheet templates, open Excel and search for the respective keyword from the New document screen.

If you're already in Excel, go to File > New to bring up the template search. Check the Managing Microsoft Excel Templates section below for more details. Excel comes with several timelines and Gantt chart templates provided by Microsoft, but it also integrates templates from Vertex42, one of the most popular third-party resources for spreadsheets.

1. Work Plan Timeline

The Work Plan Timeline template is suitable for a basic project with multiple phases. When you enter your data into the worksheet, the roadmap will update automatically. This template comes pre-installed with Microsoft Excel 2016 and up.

2. Date Tracking Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are a staple in every project manager's toolset. They help you visualize the flow of your tasks and track progress.

With this template, you can create a comprehensive Gantt chart with minimal effort. Just enter each task, complete with a description, who it's assigned to, a percentage to indicate progress, a start date, and allocated days until completion. This template is a Microsoft Excel default.

3. Milestone and Task Project Timeline

If you want to integrate milestones into a basic timeline, this template provided by Vertex42 is ideal. It combines the best elements of a Gantt chart, i.e. the visualization of the task flow, with milestones hovering above the timeline.

Just fill in the respective tables to populate the visual. You can find this template by searching in Excel.

Excel Project Plan Templates

A project plan is a document that may require Excel charts, but is otherwise composed in Microsoft Word. For basic projects, however, you may get away with only a Microsoft Excel document.

4. Simple Gantt Chart

When you search Excel's template repository for project plan templates, you'll mainly find different Gantt chart variations, including this Simple Gantt Chart from Vertex42. What sets it apart from the Gantt chart above is the inclusion of project phases. This template is included in Microsoft Excel.

5. Event Planner Template

A project plan really isn't something you typically put together in Excel. However, if you are planning a small project, like a party, you just need a one-page template that lists the essential tasks and lets you define a schedule and a budget. This template from Office Templates Online is a great start.

Excel Project Tracker Template

A search for a tracker will bring up a wild mix of personal and business-related Excel spreadsheet templates for tracking. However, you can narrow down your search by selecting the categories that relate to the project management task you're dealing with.

6. Activity-Based Cost Tracker

This tracking template can help you get an overview of direct, indirect, and general and administrative product costs.

7. Project Tracking Template

This Vertex42 template is essential if you are handling multiple different clients, projects, and/or deliverables. It combines project details, expenses, task statuses, and due dates.

Business Plan Templates

Microsoft Excel 2016 had its own category for business plans. You could search for business and select the Business Plans category on the right. In Excel 2019 and onwards, you can perform either query, but the latter misses some templates, while the former might be overwhelming. We recommend looking into the following.

Business Plan Checklist

Creating a business plan can be a complex project in and of itself. This checklist will help you cover all your bases by guiding you through the process using a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. Note that you'll find two similar templates in Excel, but they're both identical SWOT analyses checklists, differing only in their formatting.

Startup Expenses

This template is a great starting point for a budding business owner who needs some help with projecting the costs of their endeavor. The template will guide you through the most common assets and services your new business might require.

Once you've filled in all the potential expenses, you'll have a much better idea of how much funding you'll need to raise to get your business up and running. For more business plan templates , have a look at our dedicated article.

Search for Online Templates

Couldn't find the exact project management template you need inside Excel? Turn to a third-party online resource for a wider selection of Excel spreadsheet templates. We recommend the following sites.

This website has a few great project management templates for Microsoft Office 2003 and up. The site notes that its templates are mostly related to project scheduling. Anything more complicated might require Microsoft Project or other project management software.

On the page dedicated to project management , you'll find a list of useful material, including, but not limited to, the following:

Each page contains a quick rundown of what the template does, one or more templates, and further tips and tricks for the respective project management tool. It's a great resource for budding project managers.

TidyForm has a respectable selection of Microsoft Excel project management templates. The most popular categories are listed on the homepage. If you can't immediately spot what you need, switch to the Business section or try the search feature.

When you scroll to the bottom of a section, you'll see a list of popular categories and related categories. This can be helpful when trying to find just the right template.

We recommend the following pages:

Still looking for the perfect template? You might have to create custom Excel templates to get exactly what you want.

Managing Microsoft Excel Templates

First, let's see what templates you already have installed in Microsoft Excel. For the purpose of this demonstration, we've used Excel 2019, but the procedure is similar in Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 2016.

When you start up Microsoft Excel, the first window you see will contain a search field for online templates. When you're starting from an existing workbook, go to File > New to arrive at the same view.

Microsoft Excel comes with a selection of pre-installed templates. They are listed underneath the search field. You can pin favorite ones by clicking the respective symbol in the bottom right of the listing.

Search Online for More Project Templates (Excel 2016)

Searching for the type of template you need is the fastest way to locate it. For example, if you search for the term "project," you may also see template categories listed next to the templates that match your search. The category feature no longer appears in Excel 2019.

Narrow Down Your Search (Excel 2016)

A neat feature is that you can narrow down your search by selecting multiple categories. This helps you exclude templates that may match your keyword, but not your desired category. On the downside, you may find that the perfect template is not available in Microsoft Excel.

Preview & Create Your Template

When you click a template, you'll see a preview with a brief description of what the template provides. You can also pin the template from its preview; the symbol sits in the top right.

To download and use a template, click the Create button, which will open a new Microsoft Excel workbook with the template pre-filled.

Template Ready, Set, Go

Now that you have all the project management templates you could ever need, maybe you're interested in additional tools, tips, and tricks. For example, did you know that you could integrate OneNote with Outlook for project management? The possibilities are endless.

task manager tracker excel

Easily manage tasks across Microsoft 365

Access and update your tasks as you work, no matter which app you’re using.

See your tasks where you work

Stay focused and productive wherever you go. See your tasks across your lists as you move between apps and devices.

Manage tasks and work with Microsoft 365

task manager tracker excel

Convert emails to tasks

Flag emails or drag them into the Microsoft To Do pane to create and manage tasks directly in Outlook for the web.

task manager tracker excel

Get more work done as a team

Manage team tasks with Planner. Build Kanban boards, add content-rich tasks, get visual status, and collaborate within Planner or Tasks in Microsoft Teams.

task manager tracker excel

Get the most out of task management in Microsoft 365

Two people having a conversation at a desk where Teams is being displayed on the monitor.

Manage all your tasks in Microsoft Teams

Bring together your individual tasks from Microsoft To Do and team tasks from Planner and manage them all in one place with Tasks in Microsoft Teams.

A person holding a tablet that is displaying Tasks in Teams and the ability to select different teams to publish a task to.

Read more about task management

Organize your day from start to finish with task management, digital productivity tools to maximize your executive function skills, how task management software can help your teams transition to a hybrid workplace, using task management software to reduce wasted time.

Get best-in-class productivity and task management apps with intelligent cloud services that transform the way you work with Microsoft 365.

Talk with sales

1 855-270-0615

Chat with sales

1. Available now on Word for the web and Excel for the web.

Top Project Management Excel Templates

Find the top project management templates in microsoft excel that you can easily download and use for free to help you track project status, communicate progress among team members and stakeholders, and manage issues as they arise..

Project-Management-Gantt-Chart

Gantt Chart Project Template

Organize and track simple projects and timelines on a horizontal bar chart with this Gantt chart project template. Input task names, start and end dates, and duration times, to identify dependencies, create a high-level view of your project timeline, and keep tasks and projects on track.

Download Excel Gantt Chart Template

Create a Gantt Chart in Smartsheet

Project-Management-Project-Tracker

Project Tracker Template

Manage, track, and update all project details, and gain insight into how the project is progressing against your project plan with this project tracker template. Document project details, like tasks, status, priority, deadlines, budget, resource hours and more within the template.

Download Excel Project Tracker Template

Track Your Project in Smartsheet

Project-Management-Agile-Project-Plan

Agile Project Plan Template

Visually manage project schedules, sprints, and task durations, track agile requirements, establish timelines, and organize resources to ensure all sprints of your Agile project stay on track with this Agile project plan template.

Download Excel Agile Project Plan Template

Manage Your Agile Project in Smartsheet

Achieve more with Smartsheet

Unlike traditional spreadsheets, Smartsheet enables you to switch between views of the same data. Create, edit, and share in your preferred layout and then toggle between grid, card, Gantt chart, or calendar views.

Watch a demo

Start my free trial

Project-Management-Project-Budgeting

Project Budgeting Templates

Ensure your project stays within budget by tracking all expenses, like labor, materials, fixed costs, and actuals. Manage additional spend and provide insights into budget variance so all team members and stakeholders are kept in the loop with this easy-to-use template.

Download Excel Project Budgeting Template

Budget Your Projects with Smartsheet

Project-Management-To-Do-List

To-Do List Template

Document important hourly, daily, or weekly tasks with this helpful to-do list template. Organize personal or business tasks so you can ensure you’re focusing on the right priorities, and view your tasks across the entire week to stay ahead.

Download Excel To-Do List Template

Organize Your Tasks in Smartsheet

Project-Management-Project-Timeline

Project Timeline Template

Track project progress, identify potential delays, and mitigate issues before they occur with this project timeline template. Monitor how your project is progressing and how long each task actually takes to ensure that it stays on schedule.

Download Excel Project Timeline Template

Manage Your Timelines in Smartsheet

Project Management-Issue-Tracker

Issue Tracker Template

Identify and track how potential issues could affect your project timeline, and mitigate any that do occur with this issue tracker template. Assign team members to solve problems as soon as they arise to avoid delays and ensure accountability.

Download Excel Issue Tracker Template

Mitigate Project Issues with Smartsheet

Project-Management-Project-Timesheet

Project Timesheet Template

Track, allocate, and manage project resources with this timesheet template, which gives team members and stakeholders insight into who is working on what. Identify resource availability on a weekly or monthly basis, and manage multiple projects at once without over allocating resources.

Download Excel Timesheet Template

Manage Your Resources in Smartsheet

Project-Management-Project-Risk

Project Risk Template

Ensure you identify all projects risks, like scope creep and ill-defined dependencies, with this project risk template. Identify and mitigate risks early in the project so they don’t affect budget or deadlines, and keep all stakeholders in the loop on potential issues.

Download Excel Project Risk Template

Manage Project Risk in Smartsheet

Project-Management-Dashboard

Project Management Dashboard

Quickly communicate the status of your project and share the big picture view with key stakeholders and other team members. Share the high-level status of your project and report on the most important data and information.

Download Excel Project Management Dashboard

task manager tracker excel

Find the Best Project Management Template for Projects of All Sizes

A project management template is an effective tool for any project -- big or small, simple or complex. In reality, even if the deliverables are small, you still need to estimate how long each task will take, identify the resources required, and assign activities to team members. That’s why it’s important to find the right project management solution to help ensure that your next project is delivered on time and on budget.

One such solution is Smartsheet, a work execution platform that enables enterprises and teams to get from idea to impact - fast. Top project management leaders rely on Smartsheet to help align the right people, resources, and schedules to get work done.

Use Smartsheet to create consistent project elements, increase speed, and improve collaboration with scalable options that fit individual work preferences. Hold yourself and your team accountable, improve visibility into team priorities, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. See how easy it can be to use a project management template in Smartsheet.

Try Smartsheet for Free

Start managing my projects in real time with Smartsheet.

task manager tracker excel

As of yesterday

Task Manager 2023 – A to-do list in Excel

indzara | Posted on April 11, 2013 |

The purpose of the Task Manager Excel template is to assist in remembering tasks that need to be done. This checklist template could be used by anyone who needs to keep track of tasks (one-time or recurring) and avoid forgetting them in a busy daily life.

To Do List Template - Dashboard

The Task Manager template performs the following functions:

Free Downloads

Benefits of task manager excel template.

For more advanced features, please see Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template

Using the To-do list template in Excel

There are two worksheets.

Introduction : This gives an overview of the template.

Task Manager : This is the worksheet where Task Manager functions. This has three sections: Table 1 (Entering tasks), Table 2 (Updating tasks) and Dashboard.

Entering Tasks

Enter information about tasks in Table 1 (columns B, C, D and E)

Enter Tasks to Do in To-Do List template

View Dashboard

Calendar Schedule of things to do

Updating Tasks

Update Tasks Done in To-Do List Template

Printing Schedule

Adding new tasks when the task list is full

Limitations

I hope you find this useful in getting your tasks done without fail. Please share your feedback via the comments below.

Related Free Templates

Recommended Templates

Resource Capacity Planner Excel Template

94 Comments

Hello, i have an issue during adjusting the date, once i change the calendar date to 2032, the calendar itself became blank only weekday appear and the day number doesn’t appear.

good sheets

Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback. Best wishes.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Indzara.com was founded on the belief that simple tools can be effective too. We provide 140+ free and premium high-quality Excel and Google Sheet templates covering the areas of Small Business Management, HR, Project Management, Data Visualization, Finance Management, Calendars and more. Downloaded more than 1 Million times.

Important Links

@ Copyright 2022 – All Right Reserved

Microsoft 365 logo

Templates for planners and trackers

Keep track of all your plans with handy, customizable templates for all your planning and tracking needs, whether for business or personal use. you'll find ways to keep everything organized, including health and food journals, budgets for business or home, trip planning spreadsheets, sales call logs, and more..

planners and trackers photo

Stay organized with planner and tracker templates

Maximize your productivity at work and home using free, customizable templates. It's not easy staying organized these days, but using the right tools helps you prioritize and remember your most important tasks. Whether your run your own online business or need to plan out your busy social calendar, creating a personalized planner makes life easier. Setting ambitious goals for next year? Use a tracker template to measure your progress and see how far you've come. Choose a planner or tracker template and customize it to fit your unique needs. If you're using a planner for work, add custom branding like your business's logo or color palette. Try out new fonts and design elements that match your personal aesthetic. Once you've created your perfect planner or tracker, get ready for a productivity boost. Print out your design or share it digitally with your coworkers or family members. Don't worry if your plans change—using a template makes it easy to revisit your designs and make updates in the future.

ExcelDemy

How to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel (3 Handy Ways)

Sowmik Chowdhury

A progress tracker is a very handy tool in our life. You may need a progress tracker for tracking progress of employees in a project, to keep track of your to-do list, or for many other cases. In Microsoft Excel, you can easily create a progress tracker which is very efficient. This article demonstrates how to create a progress tracker in Excel.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from the link below.

3 Methods to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Let’s assume you have a dataset with a list of people and the percentage of their Task Completed . Now, you want a progress bar to track their progress. At this point, I will show you two methods of how to create a progress tracker in excel using the dataset below.

How to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel dataset

1. Using Conditional Formatting Feature to Create a Progress Tracker

The most convenient and fastest way to create a progress tracker is using the Excel Conditional Formatting feature. Now, if you want to create a progress tracker using the Conditional Formatting feature, you can follow the steps below.

using conditional formatting

using conditional formatting

using conditional formatting

using conditional formatting

Read More: Progress Bar in Excel Cells Using Conditional Formatting

Similar Readings

2. Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Another convenient way to create a progress tracker is using the Bar Chart. Now, if you want to create a progress tracker in Excel using a Bar Chart , follow the steps below.

Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel

Read More: How to Make Progress Chart in Excel (2 Simple Methods)

3. Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

Now, suppose you have a dataset with a to-do task list for a week. Also, you want to create a progress tracker for the week using Check Boxes and a Circle Chart . At this point, follow the steps below to do so.

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

In this case, cell C5 is the first cell of the Check Box column.

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

In this case, cell D5 will return logic TRUE as the check box is checked. Also, cell D5 is right next to C5 in the same row.

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

Here, cell F6 is the cell indicating the Task Completed percentage. Also, we use the COUNTIF function to count the number of tasks completed and the total number of tasks.

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

In this case, cell G6 is the cell indicating the Task Remaining percentage.

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart

Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart

Read More: Progress Circle Chart in Excel as Never Seen Before

Last but not the least, I hope you found what you were looking for from this article. If you have any queries, please drop a comment below. Also, if you want to read more articles like this, you can visit our website ExcelDemy .

Related Articles

Tags: COUNTIF Function Excel Progress Tracker

Sowmik Chowdhury

Sowmik Chowdhury

Hello! Welcome to my Profile. I , Sowmik Chowdhury, graduated from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology from the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Currently, I am working and doing research on Microsoft Excel and here I will be posting articles related to this..

cubic spline interpolation excel

How to Apply Cubic Spline Interpolation in Excel (with Easy Steps)

Adding Prefix using Custom format

How to Add Text Prefix with Custom Format in Excel (4 Examples)

material reconciliation format in excel

How to Create Material Reconciliation Format in Excel

Excel VLOOKUP function exact match

How to Use VLOOKUP Function with Exact Match in Excel

Leave a reply cancel reply.

ExcelDemy is a place where you can learn Excel, and get solutions to your Excel & Excel VBA-related problems, Data Analysis with Excel, etc. We provide tips, how to guide, provide online training, and also provide Excel solutions to your business problems.

Contact  |  Privacy Policy  |  TOS

ExcelDemy.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. I earn a small commission if you buy any products using my affiliate links to Amazon.

DMCA.com Protection Status

Run and collaborate on creative projects more smoothly.

Plan, manage, and track product launches and campaigns.

Stay organized and communicate critical details to teams.

Streamline and scale manufacturing operations.

task manager tracker excel

See how TeamGantt helps teams like yours meet deadlines, streamline communication.

task manager tracker excel

Successful marketing project starts with a plan.

Track event details and to-dos.

Scope out roadmaps and manage backlogs.

Manage design, copy, and video work.

Learn step-by-step how you can be a project manager that teams love.

Hear real testimonials from real TeamGantt customers.

How to Create a Task Tracker in Excel: Free Template

Excel to-do list template example

Checking tasks off your to-do list feels pretty awesome, right? If only everything in life gave you that instant sense of accomplishment!

A task list earns its keep by helping you schedule, assign, and track all the work that needs to be done for a project. You can also use it to give stakeholders and team members at-a-glance updates on project progress.

With our free Excel task checklist template, you can keep up with all the to-dos you need to knock out—whether you’re focused on an important work assignment or just want to finish up a few projects around the house. We’ve done all the hard work so you can have all the fun marking things done.

Ready to get started? We’ll show you just how easy it is to take your task list from to-do to ta-da! Here’s what we'll cover:

How to create a task tracker in Excel

How to customize your task list template, how to create an online task tracker in teamgantt.

Let’s start with a simple tutorial on how to keep track of tasks at work using Excel. 

1. Download our free Excel task tracker template

At TeamGantt, we know how important it is to ensure projects get done on time and on budget. That's why we created this Excel task list template to make tracking project progress a breeze.

Make this task tracker template your own by adding to-do list items and tasks, assigning task owners, and tracking task status, budgets, and costs. 

Download your free Excel task tracker template

2. Add to-do list items and tasks

First, find the T ask Name column on your worksheet, and enter a descriptive name for each task you want to track for a particular day of the week.

3. Indicate the status of each task

This sample to-do list template features four different status options—with icons as easy visual cues—so you can see where each task is at a glance: Not Started , In Progress , Complete , and On Hold .

To assign a status to a task, click on the status dropdown menu in that task’s row, and choose the status that applies to the task you’re working on.

task manager tracker excel

4. Set task due dates

Set clear expectations for your team by entering the deadline for each task in the Due Date column.

task manager tracker excel

5. Assign task owners

Start by specifying which team or department will carry out the work using the Task Type column. Then pair each task with its rightful owner by entering the team member’s name into the Assigned to column.

task manager tracker excel

6. Include task budgets and costs

Use the Hours Budgeted column to let team members know how much time has been budgeted for each task.  

‍Once a task is complete, log the time spent on it in the Actual Hours column.

task manager tracker excel

Tracking daily and monthly tasks in Excel

We’ve designed this task tracker template to track your weekly to-do list. But you can create additional task lists for monitoring daily and monthly to-dos.

Click Insert > Sheet > Blank Sheet to add a new worksheet. Then give each row and column a header label, and use the formatting tools to design your own daily or monthly task tracker.

task manager tracker excel

Once you’ve got the basics squared away, feel free to customize your Excel task list template to ensure it fits your project needs. You can add a title, switch up the colors, add or delete new rows and columns, or even dress your to-do list up with your company logo.

Adding titles

We’ve titled this checklist template “Weekly Task List.” As exciting as that moniker may be, we bet you’ll want to give your to-do checklist your own snazzy (and specific) name.

1. To add or edit the title of your project task list template, double-click your cursor into cell A-2.

2. Enter a new title for your task list. Feel free to include the project name and date range in your title so there’s no doubt what this task tracker covers.

task manager tracker excel

3. Format the header text using the same formatting tools you’d use to format any other text in the worksheet.

Changing colors

Want to apply your own brand colors to your task list? Or make it easy to tell Tom’s tasks from Bill’s? No problem!

1. Click to highlight the cell, row, or column you want to change.

2. Go to Format > Cells , and select the Fill tab.

3. Click on the Background Color dropdown, and choose the new color you want to apply to the cell, row or column you’ve highlighted.

task manager tracker excel

Adding rows/columns

We’ve outlined a few basic to-do list categories to get you started. But there may be other details you need to track along the way. For example, you might want to add a priority column. Or maybe your Monday has a lot more to-dos than the other days of the week.

1. To insert a new row, click Insert > Rows . A new row will be added above the one you currently have selected, using the same formulas and formatting of the row above.

task manager tracker excel

2. To insert a new column, go to Insert > Columns . A new column will be added to the left of the one you currently have selected, using the same formulas and formatting of the column to the left.

task manager tracker excel

Removing rows/columns

We may have included details you simply don’t need to track. That’s okay! Deleting extra info won’t hurt our feelings a bit.

1. To delete an existing row, click on the row you want to remove. Go to Edit > Delete , and choose Entire Row .

task manager tracker excel

2. To delete an existing column, click on the column you want to remove. Go to Edit > Delete , and choose Entire Column .

task manager tracker excel

Adding a company logo

Want to give your project task list template some more flair? Add your company logo to the worksheet.

1. Right-click on the TeamGantt logo/header image in row 1, and select Change Picture .

task manager tracker excel

2. Choose the image file you want to add to the worksheet, and click the Insert button.

Printing the to-do list template

By the time you finish customizing your to-do list template, it’ll be so pretty you just might want to print it out and pin it to the wall—and we don’t blame you.

1. First, let’s set the print area. Simply click and drag your cursor to highlight all the cells you want to print out. Then go to File > Print Area > Set Print Area.

task manager tracker excel

2. If you want to adjust the scale of the checklist to fit on a single page, click on the Page Layout tab. Then go to Margins > Custom Margins and select the Page tab.

task manager tracker excel

3. Once you’ve set the print area and adjusted the scale of your checklist, you’re ready to send your task list to the printer. Click File > Print.

task manager tracker excel

Additional resources

Want to take the tedium out of task lists? Give TeamGantt’s online gantt chart software a try , and create a customized task tracker in minutes.

With TeamGantt, it’s easy to collaborate on work and streamline workflows. Here are just a few of the handy features you—and your team—will have at your fingertips:

And because TeamGantt is all online, everyone on the team can update tasks in real-time. No more juggling a million different spreadsheets or scrambling to capture last-minute updates before a big meeting!

Sign up for your free account and get started. (No strings attached, we promise!) Once you’re in, here’s a sneak peek at just how easy it is to create and manage task lists in TeamGantt.

Setting up your task list project

Before you can set up tasks, you’ll need to answer a few quick onboarding questions and then create a new project.

task manager tracker excel

1. Start by entering a descriptive name for your project on the project setup page. We called our example project “Weekly Task List.”

task manager tracker excel

2. Then, choose a new Start Date , if you want your list to begin on a day other than today.

task manager tracker excel

3. Next, decide whether you want to start from scratch with a blank project or choose a template from our handy library of pre-built options . To make things super easy for you, we created a Weekly Task List template .

Simply click on the Preview templates icon, expand the Admin & Personal category, and select Weekly Task List to preview the template. If you’d like to use it, select Use Template in the bottom right corner of the window.

task manager tracker excel

4. If not, feel free to choose a different template option or click anywhere outside of the preview window to return to the Create a new project page.

5. Next, select which days of the week you want to assign and track work for this project. The default is Monday through Friday, but you can choose any configuration of days that make sense for your work schedule.

task manager tracker excel

6. Finally, select Create new project to save your changes and get to work.

Adding and editing task lists

Now that you have a project, it’s time to set up your task list! We chose the Weekly Task List template for our example, which gives us a labeled task group for each day of the week.

task manager tracker excel

1. Simply click on each task group field, if you want to rename it.

task manager tracker excel

2. If you need to add more task groups, click +Group of Tasks , and enter the name of your new task group in the blank field that appears below.

task manager tracker excel

3. To add a new task, click +Task and enter a name in the blank that appears below. Then, use the drag-and-drop features to adjust the timelines for each task .

task manager tracker excel

4. To delete a task, hover over it and select the trashcan icon that appears to the right of the task name.

task manager tracker excel

Assigning team members

To invite other users to your project, select the People tab in the top navigation bar of your project. Then, select Invite People to add new users by name and email address.

task manager tracker excel

Once a user has been added to your project, designate them to a task by clicking assign in the Assigned column and selecting the checkbox next to their name.

task manager tracker excel

Here’s an in-depth tutorial on how to invite users and assign them to tasks .

Creating dependencies

Dependencies enable you to control the order of tasks in your project. If one task has to wait for another to get done before it can begin, the dependency will account for that. For example, a designer may not be able to design a landing page until the content’s been written.

1. To add a dependency, click on the gray dot to the right of the first task in the gantt chart.

task manager tracker excel

2. Then drag the dependency line to connect it to the dependent task below.

task manager tracker excel

Changing task colors

To change the color of a task, hover over the task, and choose a new color by clicking on the colored square that appears to the right of the task.

task manager tracker excel

Ready to discover just how easy and fast task tracking can be?

This is just a preview of all the fun you can have with task lists on TeamGantt—but there’s so much more to see! 

Sign up for your free TeamGantt account today to learn all about the project management possibilities you could have at your fingertips.

Try TeamGantt for Free

task manager tracker excel

monday.com Blog

Keep track of your work with an Excel checklist template

task manager tracker excel

We’ve all had those days when our to- do list seems endless and that was before we had an Excel checklist template. In the old days, we had whiteboards and sticky notes as our aids; we’ve since moved on to smarter methods to create a prioritized to-do list.

One of the earliest and most basic options for creating a to-do list was Microsoft Excel. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to make a list in excel, and introduce you to a flexible alternative— monday.com Work OS.

We’ll also look at an alternative option — monday.com Work OS — to see if we’re any better or faster.

Get started with monday.com

What is the function of an Excel checklist template?

When you find yourself juggling multiple items in your head, it’s incredibly difficult to assign priority to the tasks. A to-do list’s purpose is to make sense of this information.

Download Excel template

The simple—and outdated—solution is to put pen to paper and then decide the order you should tackle each task. You check each off as you go, and then the note usually gets tossed in the bin.

There are some clear downfalls here:

1) If you assign the wrong priority to an item, all of these changes will result in some pretty messy paper and leaves literal room for notes, changes, and more.

2) Once you’ve crumpled the to-do list, you have no record of progress made against the list.

3) It’s very difficult to share this list with others in a professional setting.

The world is your to-do list oyster— there is a wide array of apps and software out there who’s aim is to help you organize your to-do list in a way that works for you.

Microsoft Excel is just one of them and it’s sometimes favored because:

Let’s get building.

Try monday.com

Easily track and organize every task, how to create a simple to-do list in excel.

This whole process revolves around using Excel’s Filter feature to create an editable, trackable list that you can format according to your preference.

Step 1: open Excel and add column headers

Open a new Excel spreadsheet and enter new column headers.

I’ve added the following:

You could add additional columns as needed such as budget, owner, tools, etc.

A new Excel spreadsheet showing column headers task name, status, deadline, owner

Step 2: fill in task details.

Add your tasks in the column, the status of each, and a deadline.

In the table below you’ll find:

Note that you must fill out the tasks and status columns so that the filter can be applied. The other fields can be filled out at a later stage.

a list of task against their status and deadlines

Get started

Step 3: apply a filter to your list.

To add a filter to your list, simply click on one of the headers and select Filter under the Sort & Filter icon on the top right corner of your Taskbar.

Once you save the file, Excel will remember this and the filter will be there the next time you open the file.

An excel task list sheet showing the Sort & Filter icon selected

Step 4: sort your tasks using the filter.

You’ll now be able to see tiny arrows on the headers of your column.

Click on the arrow to sort your tasks by status. You can select or deselect options to see lists of…

Excel sheet showing how filter are applied to the task list

Step 5: done!

We’ve created a simple Excel to-do list that can help you keep track of all your tasks.

You can edit fields, add as many columns as you want, or add custom colors and fonts to make it reflect your needs.

excel sheet task list with highlighted status column

We recommend something different, however.

If you just want a basic, free (if you already have Microsoft Office) way to organize and manage your day-to-day life, Excel is fine.

The advent of project management software has enabled us to get creative, whether you want to build a simple daily or monthly to-do list, or if you prefer sortable, drop-down lists.

Despite being more complicated than it should be, it does the job. And it’s free — if you have Microsoft Office.

When you’re working on even slightly more complicated tasks or projects, you’ll find that you need additional features to manage your master list.

You’ll need the ability to, at the very least, share tasks with other people. You’ll need to add due dates, visualize your progress, upload project information and share files easily and communicate with your team.

For all of these and more, you’ll need a versatile task management system that can help you juggle multiple to-do lists with ease and convenience.

monday.com Work OS is a visual workflow platform that helps teams manage and track any kind of work in a single place.

monday.com weekly to do list template

Here’s how you can create a  to-do list on monday.com .

Step 1: Create a board

A board is a central location to organize your work, in this case, your to-do list.

Step 2: Choose one of our pre-loaded templates

For a to-do list, we have the “weekly to-do list” template, as well as hundreds of other customizable options  to choose from.

Step 3: Create your groups

Each board consists of groups that can indicate different phases of a project, whether it’s weekly iterations or interview processes.

Projects overview dashboard in monday.com displaying groups

Step 4:  Add your columns.

This can include options such as task, owner, deadline, status update, dates, rating, or tags.

Step 5: Add your list of tasks on your board.

Simply assign tasks, update information and collaborate with team members — all within the same space.

It only takes a few clicks to get started with the easy and intuitive system. Once you visualize your workload with monday.com’s stellar features, we promise you won’t go back.

Here are just a few advantages of using the monday.com Work OS to-do list functionality:

Check out our  weekly to-do list template  to get started.

How to import from Excel to monday.com Work OS

If you’ve decided to make the switch to monday.com, you’ve made a great choice!

It easy to get started and transfer your Excel data to monday.com Work OS:

Click your profile picture on monday.com Work OS and select Import data, then Excel:

monday.com dashboard showing how you can Import data

Drag and drop your file into the screen (or browse and select it from your computer). You’ll see a dialog box notifying you that it’s done.

Dialog box Message displaying successful data uploaded to monday.com

Select the row in your spreadsheet that will serve as the headings for your new board. Click Next.

Highlighted first row selected in the monday.com dashboard

Select the column in your file which will be the first column on your new board. Click Next.

the first column selected in a spreadsheet in the monday.com dashboard.

If you need to, you can change the Column type by clicking the drop-down menu on each column.

Initially, you can import columns as status, number, date, email, or text column. You can update this only after you import your data.

Click Create Board .

dashboard showing options to customize monday.com columns

You should now see your Excel data imported to the Work OS.

You’ve got some thinking to do

You can see that Excel can be a basic tool for task management that doesn’t require much complexity or collaboration.

In contrast, monday.com can really make a difference when you want a more dynamic and intuitive experience across teams and priorities.

So go on, give the Work OS a go, you’ll not only have an Excel checklist template, but much, much more.

task manager tracker excel

Post your problem and you'll get expert help in seconds

23 Free Project Tracker Templates for Excel

Laptop and documents.

A free project tracker template for Excel can help your next project meet its goals.

Think of the last project you had to manage. Did you have any tools to help you plan the project or stay on track? If not, there’s a good chance that a few things fell through the cracks. 

Successful project managers have realized that having a standardized process in place is one of the recipes for achieving and exceeding goals. This is why everyone who is faced with managing a project should have an arsenal of trusted tools at their disposal. 

Excel is a useful resource for creating and tracking projects, but it might be a waste of time to create one of these documents from scratch. What if you miss something or there is a function that you aren’t sure how to use? 

Fortunately, you can use a project tracker template as a starting point. These free Excel templates can not only improve your project management efficiency but also give you the standardization that you need. 

Not every project tracker template is going to meet your requirements exactly. You have several choices. You can keep looking until you find that perfect template, or you can customize one to suit your needs. 

At Excel Chat, we have thousands of Excel experts who are available around the clock to provide any assistance that you might need with troubleshooting and customizing templates. Before you jump into your next project, here are 23 free project tracker templates for Excel that can help you increase the odds of success. 

Gantt Chart Project Templates

Gantt charts are some of the most popular types of templates used by project managers. These charts give a visual depiction of project or task start and end dates with a horizontal bar chart. Here are several free sources for Excel Gantt chart project templates.

1. Smartsheet provides a free Excel Gantt chart template that includes the task name, start and end dates, and durations. 

2. Analysis Tabs also offers a free project Gantt chart template for Excel. This is a project planning tool that allows you to assign a task ID, task name, responsible party, start and end date, days required for the task, status percentage, and days completed. 

3. Vertex42 provides a free project management Gantt chart template for every version of Excel as well as Google Sheets. The template has many of the same fields as the previous template, and the chart breaks down results by day and week for detailed project tracking. 

4. The official Office site also has a free Simple Gantt chart template that you can customize for your next project. This chart is already set up to deal with the different phases in a project. 

Excel spreadsheet.

You can track projects with these Gantt chart templates for Excel.

Excel Project Tracker Templates

A project tracking spreadsheet can include a Gantt chart, but it is also a one-stop location for tracking just about anything to do with your project. This might include your tasks, deadlines, deliverables, hours, and budget. Here are some free sources for Excel project tracker templates. 

5. Project Manager offers a free project and task tracker template . This includes columns for planned and actual completions to track progress as wells as priorities and costs. 

6. Microsoft Office has a free project performance tracking and reporting template . This allows you to track the progress of your project over one year with details about actual vs. planned timeframes, effort, workload, costs, and duration of tasks. 

7. Smartsheet has a free project tracker template for Excel that will allow you to track everything in one place. This is a tool that gives you the power to track many aspects of your project in real time and provide the greatest level of transparency to project owners and team members. 

8. If you are concerned with the delivery of features during your project instead of dates, you might be more interested in the free Agile project plan template that you can also download from Smartsheet. This template groups similar features and lets you add tasks to get these features delivered efficiently.

Excel Project Budgeting Templates

One essential part of managing a project effectively is making sure that it stays on budget. You’ll need to do this by tracking materials, labor, fixed costs, from budget to actual expenditures. Here are several sources for free Excel project budgeting templates to help. 

9-11. Vertex 42 offers three different free project budget templates for Excel. The first is a detailed project budget with WBS (work breakdown structure). This template allows you to categorize all of the costs associated with your project with breakdowns for quantities, materials, and labor for each. The basic project budget with income section template is a more general business template that has a section for breaking down work and identifying income sources. The last is a monthly project budgeting template that defines your project’s budget by breaking down income and expenses by month. 

12. Office Timeline has a feature-rich Excel project budget template that is free. It combines a project budget, with details about budget vs. actual work and materials costs and Gantt chart to show progress by week. 

13. Smartsheet offers a free Excel project budgeting template that will work for a project of just about any size. You can enter your budgeted and actual figures, and the pre-built formulas will automatically tell you variances or flag items that over budget. 

14. Project Manager also has a free project budget tracking template for Excel. This template allows you to track anything associated with a cost or time. This includes labor, materials, travel, equipment, and space. There are columns for budget and actuals, and another to show whether you are over or under budget for your project. 

Laptop with charts and graphs displayed.

Project budgeting templates can also help your next project stay financially on track.

Excel Project To-Do List Templates

There may be a ton of moving parts in your project, so a to-do list can help you focus on what’s most important and avoid letting something fall through the cracks. Here are several options for free project management to do list templates. 

15. Smartsheet has a free Excel to-do list template for projects that you can download. It has columns for the task title, date, priority, start and due dates, as well as comments. 

16. Vertex42 also has a free project to-do list template for Excel. The columns in this template include the project/task, status, priority, due date, owner, and notes. When you choose “completed” in the status column, the font color will change to gray. 

17. If you want to have a multi-user to-do list, Office has a group project task list template for Excel that you can download for free. It includes information for the task, resources required, priority, target date, status, and notes. 

Excel Issue Tracker Templates

If a potential issue falls through the cracks, it could derail your entire project. Whether unnoticed or left resolved, these are problems that can blow up your budget or cause significant delays in completion. These free Excel project issue tracker templates can help you stay on top of potential hiccups that might otherwise threaten your project. 

18. Project Manager provides a simple free Excel issue tracking template . You can assign a number to each issue as well as a description, category, priority, and status. You’ll also be able to record who it is assigned to, when it was opened and closed, and any other comments. 

19. Smartsheet also has a project issue tracker template for Excel that is free to download. It includes many of the same columns as the previous template. 

Person working at their laptop.

A Live Chat session can help you troubleshoot or customize an Excel project tracker template.

Excel Project Timesheet Templates

One of the biggest resources in some projects is the investment of time, which is also an expense. When you are managing a large team, it’s essential to be able to track the time spent on your project so that you can identify budgetary issues as well as where resources are being over or underutilized. These free Excel project timesheet templates can help. 

20-21. Vertex42 offers two free timesheet templates that would work well in a project management scenario. The first is an employee time tracking template that has columns for project ID and task ID. You can customize it for any time period (week or month). The second is a monthly timesheet template that tracks how many hours an employee spent on a particular project for each day of the week. 

 22. Project Manager has a free Excel timesheet tracking template that allows an employee to specify the project and their rate of pay. There are columns for the date worked, start and end time, regular hours, overtime, sick, vacation, holiday, other time, and total hours. 

23. Smartsheet also an Excel timesheet template for projects that is free to download. It includes many of the same columns as the prior template. 

While there are hundreds of software tools for project management, these are costly and can have a learning curve. Most people are already familiar with spreadsheets, and using one of these project management templates takes Excel to a new level. 

Hopefully, one of these free Excel project tracker templates will meet your needs. If the template even comes close, you can make a few simple changes that will make your next project more efficient than ever. 

As always, Excel Chat is available to provide any assistance with Excel that you might require. Whether you need to troubleshoot an error in your template or create a more detailed customization, our Live Chat service can help. Your first session is always free. 

Leave a Comment

avatar

Subscribe to Excelchat.co

Get updates on helpful Excel topics

Amazon.com, Inc

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.

Save time by asking instead! Most questions solved and answered in 10 minutes.

IMAGES

  1. Task Manager Excel Spreadsheet Spreadsheet Download task management excel spreadsheet template

    task manager tracker excel

  2. Excel Task Tracker Template Downloads : 6 Samples

    task manager tracker excel

  3. Free Excel Task Tracker Template ~ Excel Templates

    task manager tracker excel

  4. 13+ Daily Task Sheet Template Excel

    task manager tracker excel

  5. Excel Task Tracker Template

    task manager tracker excel

  6. Free Task Management Templates for Project Managers

    task manager tracker excel

VIDEO

  1. TV Series

  2. Project Management dashboard in excel for sale

  3. How To Create Event Planning Tracker on Microsoft Excel

  4. Own your Workstream or Module (BUILD A STATUS TRACKER & SIMPLE TABLE FORMAT)

  5. Task Control Spreadsheet Video tutorial

  6. Setting Up Custom Fields in Office Tracker

COMMENTS

  1. Free Task Management Templates for Project Managers

    The free task tracker spreadsheet splits tasks into short sprints for easier management and allows users to define priorities, see task status at a glance, and track assignments as they are completed. It also includes a simple Gantt chart that auto-updates whenever the data in the task list changes. DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE

  2. How to Create a Task Tracker in Excel (Download Free Template)

    Step-by-Step Procedure to Create a Task Tracker in Excel Step 1: Make Dataset for Task Tracker in Excel Step 2: Create New Sheet to Track Pending Tasks from Dataset Step 3: Create Pending Tasks Using Different Parameters Step 4: Build Task Details List Step 5: Generate Dynamic Report on Task Tracker Conclusion Related Articles Download Template

  3. Planners and trackers

    Plan for success with day planner templates and tracking templates. Microsoft makes planning for and tracking your success simple. Choose from over a hundred different planner templates and tracking templates for Microsoft Excel. A day planner template helps you efficiently plan, organize, and schedule important tasks to maximize productivity.

  4. How To Use a Task Tracker in Excel in 5 Simple Steps

    How to use a task tracker in Excel Follow these five steps to create and use a trackable to-do list in Excel: 1. Open Excel and create column headers based on your requirements After opening Excel, you can start creating new column headers with the name of the elements you want to track.

  5. 9 Essential Excel Spreadsheets for Tracking Work (Free ...

    ProjectManager's free task tracker for Excel template can organize your work and keep track of it. It's similar to a to-do list, where you just need to add the work and manage it. Having a task list is the first step to controlling your work. This task tracker spreadsheet captures all the details of your work.

  6. 30+ Free Task and Checklist Templates

    Task Tracker Template ‌ Download Excel Template Try Smartsheet Template This task tracking template documents the progress of each item on your list, so it's easy to assess the status of individual tasks or an entire project. There is space to list start and end dates, as well as to mark completed tasks.

  7. Free Task List Templates for Excel

    This task tracker template demonstrates the use of custom icon sets via conditional formatting to show a priority rating of 1-4 with different color circles. It uses a similar technique for the checkbox in the Done column. Project Task List with Gantt Chart for Excel Download ⤓ Excel (.xlsx) For: Excel 2010 or later

  8. 20 Must-Have Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets

    It allows for you to monitor the project, tracking the task status, budget and more in one place. From this free project management dashboard for Excel, you create graphs and charts that give you a visual and easily digestible look at your task and workload management, as well as cost.

  9. 10 Powerful Excel Project Management Templates for Tracking Anything

    Excel Project Tracker Template A search for a tracker will bring up a wild mix of personal and business-related Excel spreadsheet templates for tracking. However, you can narrow down your search by selecting the categories that relate to the project management task you're dealing with. 6. Activity-Based Cost Tracker

  10. Track and Manage Tasks

    Track and Manage Tasks | Microsoft 365 All Microsoft Task management in Microsoft 365 Easily manage tasks across Microsoft 365 Access and update your tasks as you work, no matter which app you're using. See business plans and pricing See enterprise plans and pricing See your tasks where you work Stay focused and productive wherever you go.

  11. Free Excel Project Management Templates

    Manage, track, and update all project details, and gain insight into how the project is progressing against your project plan with this project tracker template. Document project details, like tasks, status, priority, deadlines, budget, resource hours and more within the template. Download Excel Project Tracker Template

  12. Task Manager

    The purpose of the Task Manager Excel template is to assist in remembering tasks that need to be done. This checklist template could be used by anyone who needs to keep track of tasks (one-time or recurring) and avoid forgetting them in a busy daily life. To Do List Template - Dashboard The Task Manager template performs the following functions:

  13. Project tracker

    A manager can use this accessible project tracker template to track projects by category and the employee assigned to them. Flagging over/under is easy with a built-in calculator based on conditional formatting and user input. Streamline your project planning with this easy-to-use project management Excel template. Excel Download Open in browser

  14. How to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel (3 Handy Ways)

    Download Practice Workbook. 3 Methods to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel. 1. Using Conditional Formatting Feature to Create a Progress Tracker. 2. Inserting Bar Chart to Create a Progress Tracker in Excel. 3. Utilizing Check Boxes and Circle Chart to Create a Progress Tracker. Conclusion.

  15. Free Excel Task Tracker Template & To-Do List

    Download your free Excel task tracker template 2. Add to-do list items and tasks First, find the T ask Name column on your worksheet, and enter a descriptive name for each task you want to track for a particular day of the week. 3. Indicate the status of each task

  16. Keep Track Of Your Work With An Excel Checklist Template

    It easy to get started and transfer your Excel data to monday.com Work OS: Step 1: Click your profile picture on monday.com Work OS and select Import data, then Excel: Step 2: Drag and drop your file into the screen (or browse and select it from your computer). You'll see a dialog box notifying you that it's done.

  17. 23 Free Project Tracker Templates for Excel

    This might include your tasks, deadlines, deliverables, hours, and budget. Here are some free sources for Excel project tracker templates. 5. Project Manager offers a free project and task tracker template. This includes columns for planned and actual completions to track progress as wells as priorities and costs. 6.