Free SOP template for Word: three formats, ready to download

Choose a format

Which one do you need?

Not sure which sections you need at all? The SOP outline template explains each section and the questions that fill it, before you open Word.

How to fill in the Word template

1. Save a copy first. Open the download and use File, Save As to keep an untouched original. If you will write many SOPs, save the original as a Word Template (.dotx) so File, New gives you a fresh copy each time.
2. Complete the document control block before anything else. A document number and version on page one is what lets people tell an old printout from the current one. A simple scheme is a department code plus a two-digit number, such as FIN-03.
3. Type over the grey guidance, then delete what is left. Grey italic text explains what each section needs. Nothing grey should survive into the approved version.
4. Write each step as one action with a role. "Accounts Payable Clerk: match the invoice to the purchase order within 2 working days" beats "Invoices should be checked promptly". Put the deadline, amount or system in the step itself.
5. Add or remove table rows with the Tab key. Pressing Tab in the last cell of a table adds a row, so the step table grows as you write. Right-click a row to delete one you don't need.
6. Keep the heading styles. Section titles use Word's Heading styles, so the Navigation Pane (View tab) lists them and References, Table of Contents can build a contents page for a long SOP.
7. Add page numbers and the document number to the footer. Use Insert, Page Number, and type the document number and version next to it, so every printed page identifies itself.
8. Lock the approved version. When the SOP is signed off, use the Review tab's Restrict Editing option or save a PDF copy for circulation, and keep the editable file with the SOP owner.

Working in Google Docs instead? Upload the .docx to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. You can edit it as a Word file or use File, Save as Google Docs to convert it. Tables, headings and the guidance text carry across.

When a written procedure is a legal requirement

For most businesses an SOP is good practice rather than a legal duty. Some rules do require written procedures, and then the detailed format is the safer starting point because it has places for approvals, deviations and training. Two examples from US federal rules:

• Drug manufacturing. FDA's current good manufacturing practice rule requires written procedures for production and process control. They must be drafted, reviewed and approved by the appropriate units and by the quality control unit, followed when the work is done, and any departure from them recorded and justified.
• Machine servicing and maintenance. Where unexpected start-up or release of stored energy could injure workers, OSHA's lockout/tagout standard requires energy control procedures to be developed, documented and used.

Sources: 21 CFR 211.100, written procedures; deviations (eCFR) and 29 CFR 1910.147, control of hazardous energy (OSHA), checked 1 October 2026.

A template gives you the right headings; it does not make a procedure compliant on its own. Check the specific rule for your industry, and have the procedure reviewed by the people who do the work.

Three other ways to start

• The free SOP builder: type purpose, roles and steps into a form, and it flags steps without a role or with vague timing such as "as needed" before you download.
• Four complete SOP examples, each in a different format, to copy from.
• The SOP manual template, when you are collecting many procedures into one controlled manual.