Microsoft Planner: New Templates Guide

Key insights

• Two template types: Microsoft Planner now offers ready-made templates for quick starts and custom templates that turn an existing plan into a reusable blueprint.
  These options appear during the New plan flow so teams don’t need to build recurring plans from scratch.
• Publish as template: The new feature lets you convert a finished or in-progress plan into a shared template, and it rolled out in early July 2026.
  It is enabled by default and requires no extra admin configuration, and new plans created from a template start with task progress reset.
• What templates can include: Templates can capture core plan elements such as tasks, buckets, labels, goals, notes, checklists and attachment links.
  Use these included elements to preserve structure while letting each new plan start fresh.
• How to publish a custom template: Open the plan, choose Share, select Publish as template, enter a name and description, pick the Microsoft 365 group to share with, choose which fields to include, and publish.
  The video shows each step in sequence to make the process fast and repeatable.
• How to create a plan from a template: Start a new plan, go to Shared or Created by me, pick the template, confirm details, and create the plan.
  After creation, clean up any bracket-coded or plan-specific items that shouldn’t carry over.
• Why it matters: Templates save time, increase consistency, and reduce manual setup for recurring work like onboarding, events, campaigns, or launches.
  Because templates are shared by group, they also help standardize team workflows across the organization.

Video summary and context

The YouTube video from Office Skills with Amy offers a clear, step-by-step walkthrough of the new custom template features in Microsoft Planner. It explains how the recent rollout, which began in early July 2026, adds a way to convert an existing plan into a reusable template, and it compares that capability with the platform’s built-in options. Moreover, the presenter frames the topic for a wide audience, including students, teachers, project managers and business owners, which makes the tutorial broadly useful.

In addition, the video structures the tutorial with short, focused segments and timestamps so viewers can jump to specific tasks such as publishing a template or creating a plan from one. Consequently, the piece reads like a practical how-to rather than a deep product analysis, and it emphasizes hands-on steps and shortcuts that users can try immediately. Therefore, the clip serves as both an introduction and a quick reference for teams adopting templates.

What’s new in Planner templates

The most significant change highlighted is the Publish as template option that lets users turn an existing plan into a reusable resource and share it with their Microsoft 365 group. According to the video, this feature is enabled by default and does not require new admin configuration, which reduces friction for teams that want standardized plans quickly. Meanwhile, built-in or ready-made templates remain available for those who prefer a predesigned starting point.

However, the presenter also points out that Microsoft maintains a separate set of options called Planner Agent templates inside Planner in Teams, which are focused on AI-assisted creation and different use cases. Thus, users should distinguish between those separate experiences to avoid confusion. Consequently, understanding these differences helps teams choose the approach that fits their workflow best.

How to create and reuse a custom template

The video walks through the publish flow in plain terms: open the plan you want to reuse, select Share, then choose Publish as template, provide a template name and description, select the Microsoft 365 group to share with, pick which plan fields to include, and finally publish. This step-by-step sequence helps users decide which parts of a plan to carry forward, such as tasks, buckets, labels, goals, notes, checklists and attachment links. For many viewers, seeing the sequence in action reduces the trial-and-error time when they try to reproduce it in their tenant.

When creating a new plan from a template, the reuse flow is similarly direct: start a new plan, select the Shared or Created by me gallery, choose the template, confirm details and create the plan. The presenter also demonstrates a practical trick for items that do not carry over automatically, sometimes called the bracket-coding technique, and shows how to clean up encoded items afterward. As a result, the tutorial offers both official steps and pragmatic workarounds that save time.

Benefits, tradeoffs and practical considerations

The video emphasizes clear benefits: templates speed up recurring work, promote consistency across projects, and reduce repetitive setup for common processes such as onboarding or event planning. Moreover, because templates can be shared at the group level, teams can standardize practice without relying on manual copying or admin intervention. Therefore, the feature improves operational efficiency for repetitive workflows.

Yet, the presenter notes tradeoffs that organizations must weigh. For example, templates reset task progress, which helps create a clean start but also eliminates historical context that might be useful for audits or lessons learned. In addition, some plan elements do not carry over by design, so teams will need to decide whether to include workarounds or separate documentation, and they must manage potential template sprawl and version confusion as more templates proliferate.

Challenges, recommendations and outlook

The video lays out several challenges and suggests practical responses. First, teams must decide which fields to include in templates to balance reusability with relevance, and they should adopt clear naming conventions and storage practices so templates remain discoverable. Second, because the feature enables group-level sharing without admin setup, organizations should introduce governance steps—such as template approval and periodic review—to limit duplication and ensure compliance with sensitivity policies.

Finally, the tutorial recommends incremental adoption: test templates on a small scale, refine the content and cleanup processes, and provide short training or documentation for users. By doing so, teams can capture the speed and consistency benefits while managing the governance and cleanup costs the presenter highlights. Overall, the video by Office Skills with Amy provides a practical, user-focused guide that helps organizations evaluate the new Microsoft Planner custom templates and plan a measured rollout.

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