Free document register template for Excel.
A ready-to-use document register that tracks every controlled document by number, revision, status, and where the file lives. Download it, fill in your own documents over the example set, and you have a working register in minutes. No email, no form.
.xlsx and .csv · 14 columns · Dropdowns for discipline, type, and status · Example project included · No email required
Every column a controlled register needs.
The template is built from document-control practice, not a blank grid. Fourteen columns cover the document, its revision, its status, and the file behind it, so the register answers which revision is current and who approved it.
The Discipline, Document type, and Status columns carry dropdowns, the header row is frozen and filtered, and a second sheet explains how to fill each column.
See how a master document register differs- 01Document number
The controlled number that identifies the document for the life of the asset. Keep the format consistent so the register sorts cleanly.
- 02Title
What the document covers, written the way it reads on the document itself.
- 03Project or asset
The project, site, or asset the document belongs to, so one register can hold a whole portfolio.
- 04Discipline
The discipline that owns it, picked from a dropdown of Architectural, Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic, Fire, Survey, Landscape, Geotechnical, Process, Quality, Safety, or General.
- 05Document type
What kind of document it is, picked from a dropdown of Drawing, Specification, Calculation, Datasheet, Report, Manual, Procedure, Certificate, Schedule, Model, or Correspondence.
- 06Revision
The revision this row records, for example A, B, C, or 0. One row holds one revision.
- 07Revision date
The date this revision was produced.
- 08Status
Where the document sits in its life, picked from a dropdown of Draft, Issued for review, Approved, Issued for construction, As-constructed, Superseded, or Void.
- 09Originator
The company or team that produced the document.
- 10Approved by
Who approved this revision for use, so the row carries its own authority.
- 11Date issued
The date this revision was issued.
- 12File format
The formats you hold, for example DWG, PDF, DOCX, or IFC.
- 13File location
Where the file lives, so the register and the file stay linked.
- 14Notes
Anything else worth recording against the row.
Fill the register as documents are booked in.
Six steps keep the register reliable. Work down them as each document arrives, and the register stays a true picture of what you hold, what is current, and what has been superseded.
Book a document in the moment it arrives
Start a row as soon as a document lands. Fill the document number, title, discipline, and type first, then the revision detail as it is issued.
Build every number to the same scheme
Agree one document numbering scheme and apply it to every row. A register sorts, filters, and reads back only as well as its numbering allows.
Keep one row per revision
When a document is reissued, add a new row for the new revision. Do not overwrite the old one. The register then carries the full history rather than only today's position.
Set the status as the document moves
Use the Status dropdown to move a row from Draft to Issued for review, Approved, Issued for construction, and As-constructed, and record who approved the revision in Approved by.
Mark superseded rows and keep them
When a revision is replaced, set its status to Superseded and note the revision that supersedes it. Keep the old row, so no one works to a superseded document by mistake.
Point the file location at the file
Fill the file format and file location, so a reader can go from the register straight to the document rather than hunting a folder tree.
A spreadsheet register works, until it does not.
A register like this is quick to start, everyone can read it, and it holds the shape of your document record on one page. It keeps working until two things happen: the register and the files drift apart, and more than one person needs to edit it at once. When you are chasing which file matches a row, that is the sign to move the record into engineering document management software.
Lunr applies your numbering scheme as each document is booked in, and reads title-block and metadata tags into the record, so the register fills from the document rather than from retyping.
DWG, DGN, RVT, PDF, and IFC sit under revision control alongside Word and Excel, each one a controlled document with a number, a discipline, and a current revision.
Run each document from draft to review to approved through a configurable workflow, with reviewers set per stage, and every transition written to an audit trail.
XRAY runs OCR and full-text search across the whole record, scanned drawings included, so a tag on an old sheet is findable.
Lunr is engineering document management software built for the record. It numbers documents on the way in, holds every revision under control, and keeps the whole asset under one controlled register, so the register and the file are the same record.
Questions about document registers.
What a register is, the columns it needs, how it differs from a drawing register and an MDR, and when a spreadsheet has done its job.
- What is a document register?
- A document register is the controlled index of every document a project or asset holds, with each document's number, title, discipline, type, current revision, status, and file location in one place. It tells you what exists, which revision is current, and where to find the file. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.
- What columns does a document register need?
- At a minimum, a document register needs the document number, title, discipline, document type, revision, revision date, and status. A register that carries its own authority also records the originator, who approved the revision, the date it was issued, the file format, and the file location. This template ships all of these, plus a project or asset column and a notes column, with one row per revision.
- What is the difference between a document register and a drawing register?
- A drawing register lists drawings, the numbered sheets that make up a design, with sheet numbers and issue history. A document register covers every controlled document the project or asset holds, including specifications, calculations, datasheets, reports, certificates, and manuals, with the drawings among them. On most projects the drawing register is a filtered view of the document register rather than a separate list kept alongside it.
- Is a document register the same as a master document register?
- They are close, and the difference is what each one records. A document register records what you hold. A master document register, or MDR, records what you are still owed as well, so a row exists for a specification nobody has written yet, with a planned issue date against it. Use this template as the register of the record, and add planned issue date and responsible party columns if you need it to track deliverables too.
- When should you move off a spreadsheet document register?
- A spreadsheet register works until the register and the files drift apart, or more than one person needs to edit it at once. When you are chasing which file matches a row, when two copies of the register are in circulation, or when the audit trail is an email thread, move the record into engineering document management software that numbers documents on the way in, holds every revision under control, and logs every change.
- Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?
- Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, frozen header row, autofilter, and the Discipline, Document type, and Status dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.
Outgrown the spreadsheet document register?
Book a walkthrough with someone who knows what a transmittal and an as-constructed drawing are, and watch Lunr keep every controlled document under one register.
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- entity
- Lunr Labs Pty Ltd
- location
- Melbourne AU
- workspace
- documents.lunr.app
- rev
- 2026