# Find and Use n8n Templates > Find a workflow in the n8n template gallery, import it, connect Google Sheets and Gmail, run a test and publish it. Free and interactive. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/find-and-use-n8n-templates · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) Free · Live now · n8n Automation Toolkit · [n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/n8n) · Google Sheets · Gmail · ~9 min · 36 steps · Beginner Updated October 1, 2026. Built against the tool’s current screens and checked step by step. [How we check this lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about#how-we-check) The [n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/n8n) [template gallery](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n-template) holds thousands of free, ready-made workflows, and most people never use it well. They copy a template, see a canvas full of red warnings and give up. In this free n8n templates tutorial you find the right template, import it straight into your own workspace, connect the accounts it needs on the Set up template screen, point it at your own spreadsheet, run a real test and publish it. **In the course:** [Part 9 · n8n Automation Toolkit](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/part-9-n8n-automation-toolkit) (Module 7 of the [full course](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course)) **Part of:** [n8n Jump Start](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/path/n8n-jump-start) (step 1 of 2). Next up: [n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets) ## What you will build You will set up a booking workflow for Hillside Pet Grooming, a small grooming shop. Customers fill in a short form with their name, email and pet's name. Each request is added as a new row in a Google Sheet, and the customer gets a friendly confirmation email from Gmail right away. You do not build any of it from scratch. The whole workflow comes from a template: a form trigger, a Google Sheets step and a Gmail step, plus a sticky note from the creator explaining the setup. Your job is the part every template leaves to you: connecting your own accounts, choosing your own spreadsheet and making the email sound like your business. ## Who this n8n templates tutorial is for This module is for small business owners, office managers and anyone new to n8n who wants a working [automation](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/automation) today instead of after a weekend of tutorials. You do not need to know how to code, and you do not need an n8n account to practice. It is also the starting point of the n8n Automation Toolkit section. Knowing how to start from a template makes every later module in the section faster. ## Three ways to import an n8n template The quickest way is the one in this lesson: open Templates from inside your workspace first, and the Use template window on the website lists your instance, so one click imports the workflow and opens the Set up template window. This works for [n8n Cloud](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n-cloud) and for self-hosted n8n. The second way is Copy template to clipboard (JSON). Copy it, open an empty workflow in n8n and paste with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. The nodes appear on the canvas and you connect each account by opening the nodes that show warnings. The third way is for workflow files you get from someone else. In the editor, open the three-dot workflow menu and choose Import from File for a .json file on your computer, or Import from URL for a link to the JSON. ## Why templates still need you A template is someone else's workflow, so it cannot know your accounts or your data. Credentials are never shared with a template, which is why n8n asks you to connect Google Sheets and Gmail yourself. On n8n Cloud that is a Sign in with Google button. On self-hosted n8n you may need to set up your own Google OAuth app first. The same goes for anything specific to the creator: their spreadsheet, their email wording, their labels. Before you publish, open each step that shows a warning, swap in your own choices and run one test. It is much cheaper to catch a mistake in a test than after your customers start filling in the form. ## How the interactive lesson works Every step is shown first on the left, in the Watch panel, with a short voice-over. Then you do it yourself on the right, in Your turn, on a practice copy of n8n and the template gallery. Each click is checked, so you know right away if you picked the right button. If you get stuck, press Do it for me and the step is done for you. Nothing touches a real account, no email is sent and nothing is published, so you can make mistakes freely, then go build it for real. ## Try it yourself, free Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive module walks you through every click in a practice copy of n8n, checks each step, and never touches your real accounts. [Start “Find and Use n8n Templates”](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/n8n-templates) ## Step by step: Find and Use n8n Templates All 36 steps of the interactive module, in order. In the module you watch each one, then do it yourself in a practice copy that checks your work. ### 1. Open the gallery 1. **Open Templates.** You're in your n8n workspace. In the left sidebar, click **Templates**. Here's the n8n workspace for Hillside Pet Grooming, and it's still empty. Before you build anything from scratch, check whether someone already has. In the sidebar, click Templates. ### 2. Find a template 2. **Pick a category.** This is the template gallery on n8n.io. Click the **Sales** category. That opens the n8n template gallery in a new tab. Thousands of free workflows, sorted into categories like AI, Sales, IT Ops and Marketing. Booking requests are really sales leads, so click Sales. 3. **Narrow it down.** Type **form** in the search box and press Enter. Now narrow it down. Hillside takes bookings through a form, so type form in the search box and press Enter. 4. **Open the template.** Click **Log booking requests to Google Sheets and send a Gmail confirmation**. This one fits: it logs every booking request to a Google Sheet and sends a confirmation from Gmail. ### 3. Import it 5. **Use for free.** The page shows the workflow, who made it and what it needs. Click **Use for free**. The template page shows a preview of the workflow, who made it, and a description of what it does and what you need. 6. **Import into your workspace.** Click **Import template to hillside-grooming.app.n8n.cloud**. Because you came here from your own workspace, n8n lists it right here. The Copy template to clipboard option works anywhere too: you'd paste it straight onto an empty canvas. ### 4. Set up credentials 7. **Connect Google Sheets.** n8n opened the workflow with a **Set up template** window listing every account it needs. Under **1. Google Sheets**, click **Create new Google Sheets credential**. Back in n8n, the workflow is already on your canvas, and a Set up template window lists every account it needs. Two here: Google Sheets and Gmail. 8. **Sign in with Google.** n8n Cloud handles the Google setup for you. Click **Sign in with Google**. On n8n Cloud you don't need any Google developer setup. 9. **Choose your account.** Pick the Google account the business uses. Pick the Google account your business uses. Here that's the Hillside Grooming account. 10. **Allow access.** Google lists what n8n will be allowed to do in Google Sheets. Tick **Select all**. Google shows exactly what n8n will be allowed to do. Tick Select all, so the workflow can add rows to your sheet. 11. **Continue.** Click **Continue** to hand the connection back to n8n. 12. **Close the credential.** It says **Account connected**, and n8n saved the credential. Close the window with the **×**. Account connected. n8n saves the credential for you, so you can use it in any workflow from now on. Close this window. 13. **Connect Gmail.** Google Sheets has a green check. Under **2. Gmail**, click **Create new Gmail credential**. Google Sheets is done. Now Gmail. 14. **Sign in with Google.** n8n Cloud handles the Google setup for you. Click **Sign in with Google**. Same as before. 15. **Choose your account.** Pick the Google account the business uses. Pick the Hillside Grooming account again. 16. **Allow access.** Google lists what n8n will be allowed to do in Gmail. Tick **Select all**. This time the permissions are for Gmail, so the workflow can send the confirmation email. Tick Select all. 17. **Continue.** Click **Continue** to hand the connection back to n8n. And Continue. 18. **Close the credential.** It says **Account connected**, and n8n saved the credential. Close the window with the **×**. Connected. Close the window. 19. **Finish the set-up.** Both accounts are connected. Click **Continue**. Both accounts are connected. ### 5. Finish the setup 20. **Know the other way in.** Click the **···** menu at the top, next to the workflow name. There's the whole workflow: a form, a Google Sheets step and a Gmail step, plus a sticky note from the creator. Quick detour: click the three dots at the top. 21. **Open the Sheets step.** That menu has **Import from URL** and **Import from File** for any workflow JSON. Now open the **Append row in sheet** node. This menu has Import from URL and Import from File, for when someone sends you a workflow file. Good to know. The warning means it still needs your spreadsheet. 22. **Choose your spreadsheet.** Your credential is already filled in. Click the **Document** dropdown. Your Google Sheets credential is already filled in. The template can't know which spreadsheet is yours, so click the Document dropdown. 23. **Pick the booking sheet.** Choose **Hillside Booking Requests**. Pick the Hillside Booking Requests sheet. 24. **Choose the tab.** Now click the **Sheet** dropdown. Then the Sheet dropdown, for the tab inside it. 25. **Sheet1.** Choose **Sheet1**. Sheet1. The template already maps the columns: name, email, pet name and the time it came in. Your sheet just needs those headers in its first row. 26. **Back to the canvas.** Close the node with the **×**. Close the node. 27. **Open the Gmail step.** Open the **Send a message** node. Last bit of set-up: make the email sound like you. 28. **Write your message.** Replace the template's message with Hillside's own. It pulls the customer's name and pet name from the form. It already sends to the email address from the form. Swap in Hillside's own message. The parts in double curly braces pull in the customer's name and their pet's name. ```text Hi {{ $json.Name }}, Thanks for reaching out to Hillside Pet Grooming! We got your request for {{ $json["Pet name"] }} and will call you within one business day to pick a time. See you soon, The Hillside team ``` 29. **Back to the canvas.** Close the node. Close it. ### 6. First test run 30. **Run it once.** Every warning is gone. Click **Execute workflow** at the bottom. No more warnings. Time for a test run. 31. **Fill in the form.** n8n opened the test form. Type a name. n8n opens the booking form in a new tab and waits. Pretend you're a customer. 32. **Your email.** Type an email address. An email. In the real thing, use your own, so you get the confirmation. 33. **Pet's name.** Type the pet's name. And the pet's name. 34. **Submit.** Click **Submit**. Submit. 35. **Check the run.** Go back to the **n8n** tab. Now head back to the n8n tab to see what happened. 36. **Publish it.** Every step has a green check. Click **Publish** so it runs for every real booking. Every step ran and has a green check: the request went into the sheet and the confirmation went out. ## Frequently asked questions **Are n8n templates free?** The templates in the n8n gallery are free to use. The button on each template page says Use for free. You still need an n8n account to run them, and the apps a template connects to may have their own costs. **How do I import an n8n template?** Open Templates from your n8n workspace, pick a template on the website and click Use for free, then Import template to your instance. You can also copy the template JSON and paste it onto a canvas, or use Import from File or Import from URL in the workflow menu. **Why does my imported template show warnings?** Templates arrive without credentials and often without the specific files or settings they need. Connect your accounts on the Set up template window, then open each node with a warning and fill in your own choices, like which spreadsheet to use. **Is this course really free?** Yes. Stepthrough is completely free, and the practice copy needs no accounts. To build it for real you need your own n8n, Google Sheets and Gmail accounts, and some of those cost money once you use them for real work. **Can I use n8n templates on self-hosted n8n?** Yes. Open Templates from your self-hosted instance and the gallery lists it as an import destination, or copy the template JSON and paste it onto your canvas. [Start this module free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/n8n-templates) ## More n8n tutorials - [n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets): Build an AI agent for BrightPath Marketing that generates social media post ideas and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model… - [Lovable + n8n: Build a Web App with an AI Backend](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/lovable-n8n-web-app-ai-backend): Build a contact form in Lovable and connect it to an n8n workflow — webhook trigger, AI Agent, Google Sheets, Gmail, and a Respond node that ties it all together. - [AI Receipt Extractor: Receipts to Google Sheets with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-receipt-extractor-n8n-google-sheets): Drop a photo of a receipt into an n8n chat. An AI agent reads it, pulls out the date, vendor and amount, picks a category, and adds a row to Google Sheets. - [AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-email-responder-gmail-drafts-n8n): Build an n8n agent that watches your Gmail, reads each new customer email, and writes a reply as a draft in the same thread, ready for you to check and send. - [Daily Job Alerts: Email Each Tech Their Jobs from Google Sheets with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-daily-job-alerts-google-sheets-gmail): Every morning at 7, n8n reads a plumbing company's jobs sheet, skips anything not assigned yet, and emails each job to the tech it's assigned to — customer, address… - [Build an AI Follow-Up Agent for HVAC Service Calls](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/hvac-service-follow-up-ai-agent-n8n): Build an AI agent for Cedar Ridge Heating & Air that writes follow-up messages for completed service calls and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent… ## From the blog - [AI Training for Employees: A Free Plan for Small Teams](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/ai-training-for-employees): AI training for employees on a small-business budget: one rule set, three shared ChatGPT lessons, then role-based picks, all free in practice copies. - [Mail Merge from Google Sheets to Gmail with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/mail-merge-google-sheets-gmail): Mail merge from Google Sheets to Gmail with n8n: one personalized email per row, with a filter, safe test sends and the settings that matter. - [AI for Lawn Care Businesses: 3 Off-Season Projects](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/ai-for-lawn-care-business): AI for lawn care and landscaping owners: three off-season projects, from ChatGPT customer emails to morning crew job emails and an online estimate form. [All blog posts](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog) ## Visual guide This lesson’s key ideas as quick visual guides: swipe through the slides, or read the same guide as text. - [5 Steps to Find, Import and Run an n8n Template](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/5-steps-use-an-n8n-template): A visual guide: find an n8n template, import it, connect your own Google Sheets and Gmail accounts, make it yours and run a test. [All visual guides](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual) ## Related terms Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson. [Autoresponder](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/autoresponder) · [Merge field](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/merge-field) · [n8n template](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n-template) · [OAuth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/oauth) · [Workflow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/workflow) · [Self-hosting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/self-hosting) · [Zap (Zapier)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/zapier-zap) · [Append row](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/append-row) [The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) ## Related prompts - [Automation candidates prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/automation-candidates-prompt): Rank your repetitive tasks by which to automate first, using only your own counts and minutes, with a first workflow sketched… - [Customer intake form questions prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/customer-intake-form-questions-prompt): Design the questions for a booking or intake form: only what you need to do the job, each with a field type, help text and a… - [Appointment reschedule reply prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/appointment-reschedule-reply-prompt): A ChatGPT prompt for replying to a reschedule request with only your real open slots, the right weekday for every date and no… - [Missed appointment follow-up prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/no-show-follow-up-prompt): Reach out after a customer misses an appointment: no blame, your real fee policy stated once, two open times to rebook, and an… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) ## Browse related tutorials [n8n tutorials (23)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/n8n)