---
title: Edit the shift template or create a new one?
description: For a permanent change, create a new shift template as a copy, fix small mistakes in the existing one and put one-off changes in the schedule.
---

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3. [Shift templates and automatic scheduling](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/for-planners-and-team-leads?hsLang=en#shift-templates-and-automatic-scheduling)

# Edit the shift template or create a new one?

## For a permanent change, create a new shift template as a copy, fix small mistakes in the existing one and put one-off changes in the schedule.

When something changes in your team, the question is: do you edit the shift template or create a new one? The answer depends on what is changing.

### Which option fits?

| Situation | What do you do? |
| --- | --- |
| One-off: illness, annual leave, a meeting, a swap | Edit the **Schedule**, not the shift template |
| Permanent: new employee, someone leaving, different skills or working times, a new pattern | Create a new shift template as a copy |
| A mistake or small correction in the shift template | Edit the existing shift template |

### Why a new shift template?

A shift template applies from its start date. If you edit a running shift template, the schedule for weeks that have already passed also changes. Your history and statistics are then no longer correct. With a new shift template, the past stays as it was.

### How to create a new shift template as a copy

1. Go to **Shift templates** and click **New shift template**.
2. Fill in a **Name**. In **Active**, set the start date to the day the change takes effect.
3. In **Starting point**, choose **Copy other shift template**. In **Copy shift template**, choose the current shift template.
4. Fill in the other fields as in the current shift template and click **Create**.
5. Only make the change, for example the new employee's shifts. Click **Save**.
6. Click **Publish**.

![New shift template with Copy other shift template selected under Starting point](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/hubfs/kennisbank/basisrooster-kopie-en.png?v=20261020f)

### Good to know

- The old shift template does not need an end date. As soon as the new one is published, it applies from its start date.
- Individual changes in the schedule and processed leave stay in place when you publish a new shift template.
- A new employee only appears in a shift template if they are already employable on its start date (**From (optional)** in the **Availability** block on their profile). Do they start later? Then create a new shift template that starts on or after their start date. You can also bring the start date on the profile forward, but then the history makes it look as if they were employed earlier.
- In the schedule, you only see an employee without a skill on that day if you tick **Off** in the filter (see [Editing the schedule](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/editing-the-schedule?hsLang=en)).
- You cannot restore a deleted shift template.
- Employees do not get an email about changes in a shift template. Let them know yourself what is changing.

### See also

- [Editing the schedule](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/editing-the-schedule?hsLang=en)
- [How does scheduling work in Teamlead? Shift template and continuous schedule](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/how-does-scheduling-work-in-teamlead-shift-template-and-continuous-schedule?hsLang=en)
- [Creating and publishing a shift template](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/creating-and-publishing-a-shift-template?hsLang=en)
- [A new employee is not in the schedule](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/a-new-employee-is-not-in-the-schedule?hsLang=en)

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    - [Schedule](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/for-planners-and-team-leads?hsLang=en#schedule)
    - [Shift templates and automatic scheduling](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/for-planners-and-team-leads?hsLang=en#shift-templates-and-automatic-scheduling)
    - [Leave](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/for-planners-and-team-leads?hsLang=en#leave)
    - [Staffing and forecast](https://kennisbank.teamlead.io/en/for-planners-and-team-leads?hsLang=en#staffing-and-forecast)
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