I’m trying to figure out how to edit a template that I created. I can’t find a topic on this in the Knowledgebase and can no longer find anywhere to contact support to ask a question…is that supposed to be here? Please help me - I need to get this edited today. thanks!
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Great question @Kristi_Shadid. You can edit a template you created by finding it in the top search bar or the sidebar, and then editing the information within it. You can’t edit it from the “Templates” area, but if you find the template by name using search, you should then be able to make any edits necessary. I’ll provide screenshots below:
For example, if I have this template, I can’t edit it from this “Templates” window when I’m creating a new project:
But if I search for the project name, and find it:
Once I click into the project, I can then make edits:
Does that make sense?
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Hey Katie,
That totally makes sense for Asana, but I feel like that’s not how Templates usually work, yaknow? I figured I’d be able to edit the Template as it’s own standalone thing (without affecting the original project it came from), the way it would work when using templates in sayyy Powerpoint, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
I got the premium version for this, and now I kinda feel like I can just make a copy of a project, stop paying for premium, and use that project as something closer (for me) to a template.
Would love the ability to edit a template independent of the project that is being used as a template.
Thanks!
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Sorry for any confusion, @Mike_O_Brien. You can copy the template project and then make changes to that instance of the project without it affecting the template. Is that what you are looking to do?
I have the same question. I understand how to create a template from a project, but once the template is created, is there a way to access the template to make edits?
Example: I’ve created a template for Website Build, which has many tasks/subtasks assigned to different people. From time to time, we make process changes that would require me to tweak the template so it aligns with the revised process. Or…say a Designer leaves and is replaced, I’d need to go into the template and re-assign tasks to the new Designer. Possible?
Or…do I need to use the template to create a project, make the changes in the project, and save it as a new template to replace the old?
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Hi folks! You should be able to access the template! It will exist just like a normal project does and will have Template written beside it in the project header. You can find it just like any other project in search and edit it as such.
But why is a Template organized like a Project? Makes no sense to me…but can make it work.
For me, it’s most efficient to have all my Templates together so that when I need to use one, they’re easy to find. So, I created a Team called “Task Templates” and keep all the Tempates there.
That’s where it seems counterintuitive. I have to create a Team to keep all my Templates together.
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Hi, new to Asana. Sorry if I missed htis, but how do you rename a template? Thanks in advance!
You can search the project in the search bar, or find it in the left side pane within the project’s list, and once you have found it you can rename it as you would do for a non template project.
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What a few people are trying to say is that you can find your template just like any other project - search in top right bar. See screenshot: Asana template editing.
Then just open that template as you would normally. You can make edits, add or take away custom fields, etc.
Then when you’re done you can create a new project using that edited template as the base for it.
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Sorry for the double reply. I always name our templates with the format [TEMPLATE] - before the name, so they’re easy to find in lists and searches like this.
Hope that helps.
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So I’ve been doing digging and it looks like the only ways to do this (at least as of the current Asana version) are to…
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Keep it as a live and active project. In this case, it will continue to show up with all of your other projects, which isn’t ideal since it will muddy up your workflow and your projects, but will at least be readily accessible and easier to find. In that case, CraigGrella’s solution to add [TEMPLATE] at the end of the title is a good workaround to make sure your eyes can glance over it as you look for what you really want to work on.
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Make it a template, delete it, and then you can find it again by creating a new project from template, and selecting Edit Template as you’re creating the project. This keeps the template out of your daily workflow, but makes it hard to edit on the fly as you want to make changes to the processes that your templates help you automate.
My suggestion as a feature request (hopefully this is still being monitored 
) is to add a section to Home where we can view All Templates, or to the side bar with Home, My Tasks, Inbox, and Portfolios. Templates help us automate processes, which change constantly. For me, I’m really hoping they can be the backbone to a lot of our operations. They should be as accessible as possible so that we can pop in and change them, otherwise the change gets put off. We all know that even with the best intentions to “get to it later” this really means things will inevitably fall through the cracks. This is what Asana is supposed to help us mitigate.
Thanks for reading!
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Adding to what I just said - you can find it in search. I was hitting Enter, which was bringing me only to Tasks results. If you DON’T CLICK ENTER then it will show up in the drop down, even if it’s Archived. If you don’t see it right away, click Show More Projectes, and it should be there.
I feel a little dumb, but I still think it’s more cumbersome when I can’t think of what it’s called on the fly or somethigns. It would still be more streamlined to have a section somewhere where we can view all.
Is there a way to make global changes to a template? When I update a template now, it doesn’t affect existing “projects” only the new ones I create have the updated template. Thanks.
Welcome to the Asana Community Forum @John_Speer 
That is not possible and I imagine it would be quite a challenge in setting this up since the projects created from templates might have a lot of changes themselves already.
Here is an existing feedback request thread for you to vote on: Keeping projects created from templates and templates in sync
Can the idea of a “templates area” or “templates bucket” be floated back to Asana? That this thread is 5 years running and I found it by searching “how to edit a template in Asana” speaks volumes. How Asana handles templates is not intuitive.
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