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How to Copy a Google Sites Template into Your Google Drive

Step-by-step instructions for claiming a Google Sites template, making your own copy in Google Drive and opening it for editing.

Updated · 4 min read

A Google Sites template is a finished Google Site that someone else built. To use it, you make a copy. The copy is saved in your own Google Drive, belongs to your Google account, and can be edited without affecting the original.

The whole process takes about two minutes:

  1. Claim the template
  2. Open the template file
  3. Choose Make a copy
  4. Edit your copy

What you need

  • A free Google account. A regular Gmail account is enough.
  • A computer. The Google Sites editor is designed for a desktop or laptop browser. You can view a site on a phone, but you cannot edit one comfortably there.

Step 1: Claim the template

On Site Templates Hub, open the page of the template you want and click Get This Template. Templates are free, so there is no checkout and no payment form.

If you are not signed in to Google, sign in when asked. If you use more than one Google account, check the profile picture in the top right corner and switch to the account that should own the website. The copy is saved to whichever account is active.

Step 2: Open the template file

The claim link opens the template in Google Sites. You are looking at the original template file at this point, so you will not be able to change anything yet. That is expected.

Take a moment to click through the pages and confirm it is the template you want.

Step 3: Make a copy

  1. In the top right corner of Google Sites, click More (the three vertical dots).
  2. Click Make a copy.
  3. Give your copy a name. This is the file name in Google Drive, not your public website title, so anything recognizable works, such as "Bright Smile Dental website".
  4. Choose a folder in Google Drive, or leave it in My Drive.
  5. Keep Entire site selected so that every page is copied.
  6. Confirm to create the copy.

Google creates the copy and opens it in a new tab. Sites with many pages and photos can take a little longer.

Step 4: Edit your copy

You are now in your own site. The editor works much like Google Docs:

  • Text: click any heading or paragraph and type over it.
  • Photos: click an image, choose Replace image, then upload a file or pick one from Google Drive.
  • Pages: open the Pages tab on the right to rename, reorder, hide or add pages.
  • Colors and fonts: open the Themes tab on the right to adjust the theme the template ships with.
  • Sections: hover over a section to move it, duplicate it or delete it.

Changes are saved to Google Drive automatically. Nothing is public until you click Publish.

A sensible order to work in:

  1. Replace the site name and logo in the header.
  2. Go through each page and replace the placeholder text.
  3. Swap the placeholder photos for your own.
  4. Delete the pages and sections you do not need.
  5. Update the footer with your contact details.
  6. Click Preview (the screen icon at the top) to check how the site looks on a phone, a tablet and a computer.

Where to find your site later

Your copy is a file in Google Drive, like a document or a spreadsheet. You can reopen it in either of two ways:

Troubleshooting

I cannot see "Make a copy". Make sure you are signed in to a Google account and that you are using a computer, not a phone. If the option is still missing, open the claim link again in a new browser tab.

I am signed in with a work or school account and copying is blocked. Some organizations restrict Google Sites or sharing with outside accounts. Sign in with a personal Google account and open the claim link again.

I edited the template but nothing changed. Check that you are working in your copy and not in the original template. Your copy has the name you gave it in Step 3, shown in the top left corner of the editor.

Can I make more than one copy? Yes. Repeat Step 3 whenever you need a fresh copy, for example to build a second site or to start over.

Next steps

Once your content is in place, publish your site and share it. If you own a domain name, you can also connect your own domain to Google Sites.

Google updates its interface from time to time, so the position or wording of a button may differ slightly from what is described here.