How to Create a Custom Template in Google Docs

Google Docs is a great word processing platform. It is free, web-based, and offers seamless collaboration between users. It’s no surprise that Google’s offering is popular among small businesses, educational institutions, and individuals. While you can always compose a document from scratch, the real treasure is in Google Docs templates.

Using templates, you can quickly create a professional flyer, business letter, company notebook, brochure, and more. Google offers quite a few models. The internet is full of third-party developers creating specific Google Docs templates based on different categories. But what if you want more customization and more control over the template in Google Docs? In this case, you need to create one or use the existing template and make the necessary changes.

Why would you need a custom template in Google Docs? If you keep creating the same layout of a document over and over again, you can save a lot of time with a template.

This article explains how to create a custom template in Google Docs using different background colors, font styles, types, etc. Let’s start.

Choose a model

First of all, you need to decide how you want to create a template in Google Docs. You can either start using the blank document or select a beautiful template and make the necessary changes to it. We will talk about both methods here.

Let’s create a template using a blank canvas. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Visit Google Docs on the web.

2nd step: Tap the + icon and choose a blank canvas.

Step 3: Give the template a relevant name.

Now let’s design a model with some relevant details.

Add a background color

If you are not a fan of the boring Google Docs background, you can change it to your favorite color. Follow the steps below to change the background color in Google Docs. If you’re ok with the white background, skip this section.

Step 1: Open the File menu and select the option labeled Page Setup.

2nd step: Expand the color picker under Page Color.

Step 3: Select the desired color from the presets provided.

Select Custom if you want to refine your color selection. You can also add a hexadecimal color code to get the exact background color you want.

You can also click Set as Default if you want to set the selected color to be automatically applied to new documents. It will not affect older documents. You have to manually change the color of each of them if necessary.

Now that you’ve selected the template’s background color, let’s add some relevant details.

Add text, company logo and horizontal lines

You can use title, subhead, 1/2/3 header and add relevant details to the document. I added the company name, slogan and address. So I no longer have to take care of them.

Press the Insert menu, select Image> Download from Computer. Add the company logo and keep it in a preferable place. I kept it in the upper right corner.

To add horizontal lines, select Insert> Horizontal Line. This gives a nice layout break to a document.

Now you can add common text to Google Docs document. For example, you can write common company guidelines, rules, and some onboarding details.

Use a third-party template

The way mentioned above is the simple trick to create a custom template on Google Docs. You can also go for a third-party model and make minor changes to it. Let me show you an example.

In the image below, I downloaded the sales template for Google Docs. Opened the document in the app and made the relevant changes such as company name, address, email address, and phone number.

Now I can save the model and from next time I only need to change minor details like sale items, discount rate, sale name etc. Within minutes, I have a ready-made flyer to send for printing.

Save and reuse Google Docs templates

After making the necessary changes, tap on the Move folder menu and save the template to a Google Drive folder. Now remember this is your main template file in Google Docs. You should not make any changes to the original file.

Anytime you want to use the template to create a quick document, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Go to Google Drive on the web and find the template you want to use.

2nd step: Open the template in Google Docs.

Step 3: Do not make any changes now as it will spoil the original custom document.

Step 4: Instead, tap File> Make a Copy and save it to Google Drive.

Now go ahead and edit the necessary details in the template, and you are good to go.

Create Google Docs on the go

Designing a custom Google Docs template can save you a lot of time when you frequently process the same type of documents in the app. Go ahead and create a custom Google Docs template to simplify the process. Let us know how you plan to use the custom template feature in Google Docs in the comments section below.