A free mood tracker template — color one square a day
This mood tracker template is a one-page, 30-day color grid — one square per day, a color key on the side, the whole month visible at a glance. Print the PDF, edit it in Canva, or do the same thing in five seconds on iPhone.
Get the template
One page, 31 squares, five colors. Five seconds a day. No email needed.
What's inside this mood tracker template
The template is one page. Print it at US Letter or A4 and use it for a single month. The Canva version is the same layout, fully editable — swap colors, change the typeface, or add a habit row underneath the grid.
Five elements on the page:
- Month label — top-left. Write the month and year by hand so the page is unmistakable in a stack.
- 31 numbered squares — laid out as a 7×5 grid, days 1 through 31. February gets three empty squares; you can leave them blank.
- Five-color key — five swatches with one-word labels. The template ships with "great / good / fine / low / hard," but you can rename them.
- Notes strip — a row of five lines below the grid. Use these for days that surprised you, not every day.
- Totals box — at the end of the month, tally how many days hit each color. A simple counter, not a chart.
That's it. The page is intentionally austere. A mood tracker template that asks you to fill in eight fields is one you'll skip on a busy night.
How to use the mood tracker template
Five steps. The whole loop takes a minute per day, less once you stop thinking about which color to pick.
- Pick five colors. One per mood level: worst, low, average, good, best. Write the key once, in the box on the left side. Use what you have — colored pencils, highlighters, fine-tip markers — not a curated set you'll forget.
- Color one square a day. End of day, pick the color that matches how the day felt, color the numbered square. Five seconds. Don't overthink the borderline calls; "fine" is a complete answer.
- Use the notes strip sparingly. Only write a note on a day that surprised you — a 5 or a 1, or a square that doesn't match the rest of the week. Daily notes turn the page into homework.
- Don't skip bad days. Even a hard day gets a square. A missing square hides exactly the data you'd want six months from now.
- Start a new sheet each month. Print or duplicate the Canva version monthly. Keep finished sheets in chronological order so you can fan them out and read a season.
Why a color grid works
A grid is faster than a journal entry, and faster usually beats more detailed. The act of picking a label — even just choosing a color — does the part of the work that science can actually measure. Putting feelings into words (or in this case, into a chosen color tied to a word) measurably lowers the amygdala's stress response (Lieberman et al., 2007). The grid format also makes patterns visible without you having to draw a chart: a row of three hard days in a row jumps out before you've even read the dates.
Where a color grid is weaker than a written journal: it doesn't capture why. You won't remember in November what made May 14 a 2. That's the trade. If the why matters, pair this template with a feelings journal or a one-line written log. If the pattern matters more than the story, the grid alone is enough.
Variations and related templates
Three close cousins if this layout isn't quite right:
- Mood tracker printable — a bundle of five printable layouts including a weekly spread and year-in-pixels, for people who want to compare formats before committing.
- Mood tracker PDF — just this template as a standalone PDF without the Canva file, for printing only.
- Mood journal PDF — the writing-first cousin: same five fields, but with room for a sentence instead of a square.
For broader practice, pair the tracker with long-form journaling on days that need more than a square. For the long view on why this practice works, read our complete mood journaling guide.
FAQ
Where do I download the mood tracker template?
The PDF is a free one-click download from the top of this page. The Canva version is a public template you can open and edit in your own Canva account in one click. No email required.
Can I edit the colors or layout in Canva?
Yes. The Canva version is fully editable — change the color key, swap the typeface, adjust the grid spacing, or add a habit row underneath. The PDF is fixed, but it's the same underlying layout as the Canva file.
How many colors should I use in my key?
Five is the sweet spot. Three colors don't capture enough variation; seven or more make the chart hard to read at a glance. Match the colors to the 1–5 scale: 1 (worst day in memory) through 5 (best you can imagine).
What's the difference between this and the mood journal template?
The mood journal template is writing-first — date, feeling, rating, one-line note. The mood tracker template is visual-first — one colored square per day, a month at a glance, almost no writing. Use the journal template if you want to remember days; use the tracker template if you want to see patterns.
Not medical advice. Mood tracking is a self-reflective practice, not a diagnosis or treatment. If you're in crisis in the US, call or text 988. If you're concerned about your mental health, talk to a licensed clinician.