Template for Resume: Where to Find a Good One and How to Use It

The quickest way to get a solid template for a resume is to use the free ones built into the tool you already have: in Microsoft Word, go to File > New and search for “resume”; in Google Docs, go to File > New > From a template and pick one from the resume section. Whichever you choose, favor a plain, single-column design with standard headings, because career centers consistently warn that tables, columns and graphics can confuse the applicant tracking systems (ATS) many employers use to read applications.

Below is how to get each official template, what to look for, and how to check your finished file before you hit submit. Menus and template galleries change from time to time, so treat the exact labels as accurate as of October 2026.

Where to get a free resume template

Microsoft Word

Microsoft’s support guide describes the same basic workflow on Windows, Mac and the web:

1. Open Word and go to File > New.
2. Search for Resume and open the template you like.
3. Replace the placeholder text with your own details.
4. Save the file with a recruiter-friendly name. Microsoft suggests a pattern like LastName_FirstName_Resume.

Microsoft also runs a dedicated page of ATS resume templates on Microsoft Create, built around clear sections for contact details, work history, skills and education. That’s a sensible starting point if you mainly apply through online job portals.

One thing to know: many Word resume templates use tables for layout. Microsoft’s own instructions mention adding table rows for new jobs and hiding table borders. That looks tidy on screen, but it’s exactly the kind of structure career centers flag as risky for ATS parsing (more on that below). If you pick a table-based template, test it before you rely on it.

If you remember Word’s old Resume Assistant pane, it’s gone. Microsoft states that Resume Assistant is no longer available and recommends starting from a Word template or using the LinkedIn resume builder instead.

Google Docs

Google’s Use templates help page covers the steps:

1. On a computer: open a document and choose File > New > From a template, or open the Template gallery from the top of the Docs home screen.
2. Scroll to the resume templates and pick one. Google opens it as a copy, so the original stays untouched.
3. On iPhone, iPad or Android: tap New, then Choose template, and select a resume.

Google notes that some template features are limited to work or school accounts, so the gallery you see on a personal account may differ slightly from a colleague’s.

Your career center

If you’re a student or recent graduate, check your school’s career center. The University of Minnesota strongly suggests using a template from its career center, and the UVA Career Center offers editable .docx samples. These are usually designed with ATS readability in mind.

Quick comparison

How to choose a template that won’t trip up an ATS

Applicant tracking systems pull the text out of your resume and drop it into fields. Fancy layouts can cause that step to go wrong. The advice from university career centers is remarkably consistent:

• Avoid tables, columns and text boxes. UMN Duluth and the UNC Career Center both say to avoid them, and both note that ATS software reads left to right, top to bottom. A two-column layout can end up with your skills spliced into the middle of a job description.
• Skip graphics, logos and images. MIT CAPD says ATS may struggle with tables, columns, graphics and images.
• Keep key details out of headers and footers. Career guides warn that content there can be dropped, so put your name and contact information in the main body.
• Use standard section headings like Experience, Education and Skills rather than creative labels.
• Use common fonts. Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman come up repeatedly in career center guides.
• Be careful with design tools. MIT advises choosing templates designed to be ATS compatible, which are often basic or text-focused, and warns that Canva, LaTeX and online resume builders can add formatting that confuses an ATS.

Not everyone agrees on templates themselves. UNC says yes to templates as long as they’re clean and graphics-free. UVA’s career center takes the opposite view: it recommends avoiding templates because the automatic formatting limits your options, and suggests finding a resume you like and copying its style into a blank document. Both approaches can work; the common ground is a simple, single-column result.

Fill it in without breaking the layout

Templates are easy to wreck with copy-paste. A few habits help:

1. Paste as plain text. When moving content from an old resume, paste without formatting so you don’t drag in stray styles.
2. Delete unused sections instead of leaving placeholder text behind. A forgotten “Lorem ipsum” or “[Your Title]” is an easy way to look careless.
3. Keep bullet styles standard. Simple round bullets survive conversion better than custom symbols.
4. Watch your hyperlinks. Career guides note that an ATS may show only the URL rather than the word you linked, so write out important links (like a portfolio) in full.
5. Name the file clearly, following Microsoft’s LastName_FirstName_Resume suggestion.

Test your resume before you apply

MIT CAPD recommends testing your file, since missing or out-of-order text points to a conversion problem. A simple way to do that:

1. Save or export a copy of your resume as a plain text (.txt) file.
2. Open it and read it top to bottom.
3. If text is missing, check headers, footers and text boxes. If text is out of order, columns or tables are usually the cause.
4. Fix the layout in your original document and test again.

PDF or Word?

Follow the job posting if it names a format. If it doesn’t, career center guides generally say either .docx or PDF is fairly safe, and some note that ATS handles .docx well. If you send a PDF, export it directly from Word or Google Docs rather than printing to an image-based PDF, so the text stays selectable.

The bottom line

The best template for a resume is usually the boring one: a single column, standard headings, a common font and no graphics. Start from Word’s built-in or ATS-focused templates, the Google Docs gallery, or your career center’s samples, then run the plain-text test before every important application. Requirements and template galleries change, so check the job posting and the official help pages linked above if something looks different from what’s described here.