Microsoft Office Template files provide a way to create consistent documents that follow your organisation styles. Files can contain premade content to speed up the process of creating documents.
Making templates easy to find and use is a constant challenge these files are designed so when they are opened you take a copy of the file, and do not change the base file.
Templates have been distributed for decades across networks, often in a folder called “Templates” that users have read only access. To make it easier for users some organisations include templates in the Work Group Template location or use group policy to include a copy in the User Template Folder.
Read for more detail: Manage Office programs templates – Office | Microsoft Docs
However, there are limitations of this approach ones you move to Microsoft 365.
The network server is no longer used
Files are not visible in Office online.
Saving and Working with Organisation Templates in Microsoft 365
There are few ways to manage templates:
Sync via OneDrive
Files can be stored in a document library and synced to each user’s device. Advantages of this approach is the actual template file is on the user’s PC so they can access it offline if they want. The disadvantage is the user needs to navigate to this location to access the template.
Include the files in the SharePoint document library.
It is now easier to customise the new menu in a document to include templates as below. However, there is no easy central store for templates so multiple copies of templates would need to be created.
Add Template to SharePoint New menu
Create Microsoft Organisation wide template Library
An Microsoft organisation wide template library is a document library that, with some PowerShell magic, is visible from within all users Office applications. It can be used for templates and images.
Read for more detail: Create an organization assets library – SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Docs
The users experience is great, with the files visible from within Office on:
Desktop Apps for Windows
Desktop Apps or Mac OS
Office Online
Open Template from Office
Access Template in Office Online