Download the templates
Each link downloads a CSV. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets, save a copy, and reuse it every week. The example row at the top shows the shift format; delete it once you have the hang of it.
For a printable version, use the builder at the top of this page: set it to Weekly, set the number of employee rows, and click Print blank template. It prints the grid without the rest of the page, ready for the break room wall.
Which layout to use
| Template | Best for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Restaurants, retail, cleaning, most teams under 30 | One page, one week, easy to post on a wall and easy to redo when someone calls out. |
| Biweekly | Teams on a two-week pay period | The schedule lines up with payroll, and the two workweeks stay separated so overtime is still counted correctly. |
| Monthly | Home care, security, healthcare, seasonal crews | Long-range planning for rotations and time off, using short shift codes instead of full times. |
| 24 hour rota | Anything that never closes | Three 8 hour shifts a day, 21 shifts a week, with a coverage check row so no shift goes unfilled. |
How to fill it in for a team of 10 to 30
- 01
Work out the coverage before you touch a name
Write down how many people you need on the floor at each hour you are open. That number, times the hours you are open, is the scheduled hours you have to fill. Everything after this is just distribution.
- 02
Block out the fixed points
Approved time off, standing commitments, and anyone with hard availability limits go in first, as OFF or as a fixed shift. These are the constraints that cannot move, so they should not be the last thing you discover.
- 03
Place the openers and closers
Every day needs someone who can open and someone who can close. On a team of 10 to 30 that is usually a short list of people, so place them across all seven days before you fill the middle of the day.
- 04
Fill the middle, watching the hours column
Add the rest of the shifts and keep an eye on each person’s weekly total. In most US states, non-exempt employees earn overtime past 40 hours in a workweek, and accidental overtime is almost always a scheduling mistake rather than a business need.
- 05
Check the daily totals row
Add up the scheduled hours for each day before you publish. A thin Tuesday and an overstaffed Saturday are cheap to fix now and expensive to fix at 11am on the day.
- 06
Publish once, then track the changes
Post it, send it, and write down every change after that. A printed schedule is correct only until the first swap, and every stale copy still on a wall is a no-show waiting to happen.
A worked example: a 20 person team
A cafe with 20 people on the roster opens 6:00 to 22:00, seven days a week. It needs a minimum of three people on at all times, plus two extra for the 11:00 to 14:00 lunch peak.
- Open hours: 16 a day x 7 days = 112 hours
- Base coverage: 112 x 3 people = 336 scheduled hours
- Lunch peak: 3 hours x 2 extra people x 7 days = 42 scheduled hours
- Total to fill: 336 + 42 = 378 hours a week
- At an average of 32 hours a person, 378 / 32 = 11.8, so about 12 people are scheduled in any given week and the rest of the roster is cover for callouts, time off, and the seasonal swing
Now you know the shape of the week before you write a single name. If your total scheduled hours are well over the coverage number, you are paying for hours the business did not ask for.
When a template stops working
A spreadsheet is the right tool right up until it is not. The tipping point is usually one of these.
- The schedule changes after you publish it. Once swaps and callouts start, every printed copy and every emailed version is a different schedule. People show up for the version they saw.
- You are rebuilding the same week over and over. If most weeks are the same shape, retyping them is pure waste. Recurring schedules take that back.
- Availability lives in text messages. Most schedule rework comes from assigning a shift to someone who already said they could not work it.
- Nobody knows if the schedule was actually worked. A schedule is a plan. Comparing it to real clock-ins is the only way to know whether it held.
The next step up from a file is a work schedule maker, which builds the week in your browser with live hour totals, then prints or exports it. The step after that is a real scheduling app: ClockOut’s employee scheduling publishes the schedule to your team’s phones, collects availability and time-off requests, blocks shifts on approved leave, and tracks worked hours against the plan. It is built for teams of 10 to 50. See pricing.
Staff schedule template FAQ
Are these staff schedule templates free?
Yes. No signup, no email, no watermark. The CSV files download straight from this page and are yours to edit and reuse however you like.
Will the template open in Excel?
Yes. Every file is a plain CSV, which Excel opens by double-clicking. Save it as .xlsx afterwards if you want formulas and formatting to stick between weeks.
Can I use these in Google Sheets?
Yes. In Google Sheets, use File then Import, upload the CSV, and choose Replace spreadsheet. Then share the sheet with view access so the team always sees the current version instead of a screenshot.
What is the difference between a weekly and a monthly staff schedule template?
A weekly template holds exact shift times for seven days and is meant to be posted. A monthly template uses short shift codes across 31 day columns and is meant for planning rotations, coverage, and time off further out. Most teams use both.
How do I make a shift schedule template in Excel?
Put employee names down column A, days across row 1, and shift times in the cells. Add a total column on the right and a total row at the bottom. That is the whole thing, and the CSV files here are already set up that way, so it is faster to start from one.
How far ahead should I publish the schedule?
Two weeks is a good target for an hourly team, and some cities have predictive scheduling laws that require advance notice and pay a premium for late changes. Check the rules for your city before you settle on a notice period.
Related tools
- Work schedule maker: build the week in the browser with live hour totals.
- Time card calculator: turn clock-in and clock-out times into hours and pay.
- PTO calculator: work out accrued and remaining time off before you approve a request.