Onboarding Template
An onboarding template gives you a reusable structure for guiding someone through their first steps with a product or team, so nobody is left guessing what to do next. Use this free onboarding template to lay out the goal, the prerequisites, the first tasks in order, and the milestones that tell people they are on track, then keep it in your knowledge base where new joiners can find it.
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I need to write a Onboarding. Act as an expert technical writer and draft one for me. Use this structure, keeping each section clear, concise, and genuinely useful to the reader: 1. Welcome and goal 2. What you’ll achieve 3. Prerequisites and access 4. First steps 5. Milestones and checklist 6. Where to get help 7. Next steps 8. Onboarding checklist summary Before you begin, ask me for the details you need: the product, team, or audience this is for, and anything specific I should include. Then write the full Onboarding in clean, well-formatted Markdown.
Write a Onboarding using the structure below. Keep each section clear, concise, and genuinely useful to the reader. Structure: 1. Welcome and goal 2. What you’ll achieve 3. Prerequisites and access 4. First steps 5. Milestones and checklist 6. Where to get help 7. Next steps 8. Onboarding checklist summary Use rich formatting so it reads well in a knowledge base: - Clear headings and subheadings for each section. - Callout boxes for asides: a Tip callout for advice, a Note callout for helpful context, and an Important callout for anything a reader must not miss. - Tables for structured or comparison content. - Numbered lists for sequential steps and bulleted lists for options. - Bold for key terms and any values people must not get wrong.
## The onboarding template
### 1. Welcome and goal
Open with a short, warm welcome and one plain sentence on what this guide will get the reader to. Answer the question they are silently asking: "By the end of this, what will I be able to do?"
### 2. What you'll achieve
Set the destination before the journey. List the concrete outcomes the reader will have reached once they finish, so they can picture what "done" looks like and know why each step matters.
- Account set up and ready to use
- First real task completed end to end
- Comfortable finding help without asking
### 3. Prerequisites and access
What needs to be true before they start: the account or login they need, any permissions or roles to request, tools to install, and information to have on hand. Getting this out of the way up front stops people stalling on step three.
### 4. First steps
The core of the guide. Break the getting-started path into numbered steps, one action per step, in the order they happen. Write each so a brand-new person could follow it without asking questions.
1. **Step name.** The single action to take, plus the screen or tool where it happens. Note the expected result so the reader knows it worked.
2. **Step name.** If a step branches ("if you are on a team plan, do X"), show the choice clearly.
3. **Step name.** Call out anything easy to miss, and add a screenshot or short clip where a picture saves a paragraph.
### 5. Milestones and checklist
Give the reader a way to see their own progress. A short checklist of milestones turns a wall of instructions into a sense of momentum, and shows them exactly how far they have to go.
- [ ] Account created and profile filled in
- [ ] First task completed
- [ ] Key settings configured
- [ ] Explored the main features
### 6. Where to get help
Tell people exactly where to turn when they get stuck: the knowledge base, a support channel or contact, and any community or live chat. Naming this early removes the fear of being stranded.
### 7. Next steps
Close by pointing the reader to what comes after onboarding: the features to explore next, the reference docs to bookmark, and the habits that make them successful over time. Link out rather than cramming everything into the getting-started path.
### 8. Onboarding checklist summary
A simple table of the milestones, who owns each, and when they should be reached. This keeps the onboarding trackable and gives you something to review and improve over time.
| Milestone | Owner | Target | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Account set up | New user | Day 1 | TODO |
| First task completed | New user | Day 1 | TODO |
| Core features explored | New user | Week 1 | TODO | The onboarding template
Copy this structure into a new article and replace the guidance in each section with the specifics of what you are onboarding people into. Keep the headings; they are what make one onboarding guide feel like the next.
1. Welcome and goal
Open with a short, warm welcome and one plain sentence on what this guide will get the reader to. Answer the question they are silently asking: “By the end of this, what will I be able to do?“
2. What you’ll achieve
Set the destination before the journey. List the concrete outcomes the reader will have reached once they finish, so they can picture what “done” looks like and know why each step matters.
- Account set up and ready to use
- First real task completed end to end
- Comfortable finding help without asking
3. Prerequisites and access
What needs to be true before they start: the account or login they need, any permissions or roles to request, tools to install, and information to have on hand. Getting this out of the way up front stops people stalling on step three.
4. First steps
The core of the guide. Break the getting-started path into numbered steps, one action per step, in the order they happen. Write each so a brand-new person could follow it without asking questions.
- Step name. The single action to take, plus the screen or tool where it happens. Note the expected result so the reader knows it worked.
- Step name. If a step branches (“if you are on a team plan, do X”), show the choice clearly.
- Step name. Call out anything easy to miss, and add a screenshot or short clip where a picture saves a paragraph.
5. Milestones and checklist
Give the reader a way to see their own progress. A short checklist of milestones turns a wall of instructions into a sense of momentum, and shows them exactly how far they have to go.
- Account created and profile filled in
- First task completed
- Key settings configured
- Explored the main features
6. Where to get help
Tell people exactly where to turn when they get stuck: the knowledge base, a support channel or contact, and any community or live chat. Naming this early removes the fear of being stranded.
7. Next steps
Close by pointing the reader to what comes after onboarding: the features to explore next, the reference docs to bookmark, and the habits that make them successful over time. Link out rather than cramming everything into the getting-started path.
8. Onboarding checklist summary
A simple table of the milestones, who owns each, and when they should be reached. This keeps the onboarding trackable and gives you something to review and improve over time.
| Milestone | Owner | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account set up | New user | Day 1 | TODO |
| First task completed | New user | Day 1 | TODO |
| Core features explored | New user | Week 1 | TODO |
How to fill in this onboarding template
A template only helps if the finished guide is genuinely usable. A few habits make the difference:
- Write for the person on day one. If a step assumes knowledge they do not have yet, spell it out or link to the guide that does.
- One action per step. If a step contains an “and,” it is probably two steps.
- Show, do not just tell. A screenshot or short clip next to a fiddly step removes most of the questions you would otherwise get.
- Test it with a real newcomer. Have someone recent follow the guide exactly as written and note where they stall. The gaps you cannot see are the ones a first-timer hits immediately.
- Give it an owner and a review date. An onboarding guide that nobody maintains slowly drifts out of date as the product changes.
If you are onboarding paying customers rather than teammates, our customer onboarding template adds a kickoff plan, stakeholder roles, and a phased timeline.
