Root cause analysis

Free 5 Whys &
root cause analysis
tools & templates

The 5 Whys is a root cause analysis method that asks “why” five times in sequence, so a fix lands on the system that produced the failure instead of the symptom you noticed first.

Eight tools and 51 templates for 5 Whys, Fishbone, Pareto, FMEA, 8D, A3, CAPA, incident postmortems and kaizen events. No login, no upload, nothing installed — what you type stays in the tab.

Run a 5 Whys analysis → See the templates →

Works offline / Exports PNG, CSV, PDF / Free, no account

5 Whys — filling line 3
Problem statement

Filling line 3 stopped for 47 minutes on July 14 — third stoppage this month.

01The capping head jammed on a misaligned bottle.
02The infeed guide had drifted 4 mm out of position.
03The guide bolt loosens under vibration between shifts.
04Nobody checks guide alignment during changeover.
05The changeover checklist was never updated after the 2025 line retrofit.ROOT CAUSE
Countermeasure · owner · due date PNGPDF
8
Interactive tools
51
Template files
66
Guides & examples
0
Accounts required
Offline
Installable (PWA)
01
Start here

Three ways in — pick the one that matches your next hour

Most people arrive mid-problem. No tour, no signup wall: go straight to the thing you need.

01 / Analyze now
Run the analysis in your browser
Guided 5 Whys, fishbone builder, Pareto chart, FMEA scoring. Validation as you type, export when you are done.
See all 7 tools →
02 / Take it to a meeting
Take a template into the meeting
Seven methods, three formats each — Excel, Word, PDF. Each with a page that shows a filled-in example first.
Browse 51 templates →
03 / Not sure which method
Answer four questions, get the method
Timing, evidence, stakes, audience — the selector names the method, its pairing, and when you need an 8D wrapper.
Open the method selector →
02
Free tools

Root cause analysis tools that run in the browser

Nothing to install, nothing uploaded to a server. Every tool ends with a file you can attach to a report.

All tools →
01 5 Whys Analysis Tool Guided why-chain with checks that stop you at symptoms and blame. PNG / PDF 02 Fishbone Diagram Maker Ishikawa cause-and-effect diagrams — 6M, 6P or custom categories. PNG 03 Pareto Chart Maker 80/20 ranking with the cumulative line drawn for you. PNG / CSV 04 FMEA / RPN Calculator Severity × Occurrence × Detection with a Pareto-ranked RPN review. CSV / PNG 05 Problem Statement Generator Red-flag validation catches blame, hidden solutions, vague wording. Copy / PDF 06 RCA Method SelectorNew Four questions → the right method, its pairing, the 8D/A3 wrapper. Recommendation 07 Cost of Poor Quality CalculatorNew Rework, scrap, escapes and the firefighting hours nobody books. Annual cost 08 8D Report GeneratorNew D0–D8 with occurrence and escape kept apart, and a rejection-risk check. PDF / JSON
— 8D Report Generator D0–D8 walkthrough. Not built yet — tell us you need it and it moves up the list. Under evaluation
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Downloads

Root cause analysis templates — Excel, Word, PDF

Each method has its own template page: a filled example, what each column is for, and the file in three formats. No email gate, no watermark, no trial.

All templates →
Method
Excel
Word
PDF
Template page
5 Whys templateWhy-chain + countermeasure table XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Fishbone / Ishikawa template6M layout, print-ready A3 XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Pareto analysis templateData table with cumulative % XLSX DOCX PDF Open → FMEA templateS×O×D scoring with action priority XLSX DOCX PDF Open → 8D report templateD0–D8, customer-ready XLSX DOCX PDF Open → A3 templateToyota one-pager, seven sections XLSX DOCX PDF Open → RCA report templateFindings, actions, owners, verification XLSX DOCX PDF Open → CAPA formCorrection / corrective / preventive, with effectiveness check XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Blameless postmortem templateTimeline with sources, contributing factors, typed actions XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Is / Is Not worksheetProblem specification for 8D step D2 XLSX DOCX PDF Open → 5W2H worksheetSeven questions with an evidence column XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Kaizen event agendaFive-day agenda plus a role card XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Corrective action planTracker with owners, criteria and impact-effort matrix XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Incident investigation reportNine sections plus a first-24-hours EHS checklist XLSX DOCX PDF Open → Control planEleven columns, three phases, reaction plan XLSX DOCX PDF Open → SIPOCProcess scope on one page, with output requirements XLSX DOCX PDF Open → 8D progress trackerGate criteria per discipline, owners, and the customer clock XLSX DOCX PDF Open →
Every file opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Word or Docs — download it from the template page.
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How it works

How to do a 5 Whys analysis in five steps

The Toyota sequence, minus the folklore. Step four is the one most teams skip — and it is why their fixes do not hold.

1
State the problem
One factual sentence: what you observed, when, how often. No cause, no culprit.
2
Ask the first why
Name the direct cause, not the category it belongs to.
3
Keep going to why five
Each answer feeds the next question, until you reach a system rather than a person.
4
Read the chain backwards
Root cause → problem, joined by “therefore”. If a link breaks, the chain is wrong.
5
Assign countermeasures
Owner and date per root cause, plus how you will verify it worked.
The point is not the five questions. It is that the fifth answer names something you can change.
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Library

Root cause analysis guides, examples and comparisons

Written for people who have to run the session on Monday, not for people writing a thesis.

All 66 articles →
8D · 10 min
8D Report Examples: 5 Real Case Studies
Automotive, aerospace, medical devices, food processing, electronics — every discipline D0 through D8 filled in.
Read article →
RCA · 14 min
Root Cause Analysis: A Complete Guide for Teams
The six-step process, five methods compared, and how to turn findings into fixes that hold.
Read article →
A3 · 11 min
A3 Problem Solving: The Complete Toyota Guide
Seven sections, the PDCA backbone, a worked example, and the coaching loop that makes A3 a development tool.
Read article →
5 Whys 14RCA methods 198D problem solving 6Fishbone / Ishikawa 6FMEA 5Pareto analysis 5A3 thinking 5
06
FAQ

Questions people ask before they start

Six things worth knowing before you type anything in. Tap a question to open it.

What is the 5 Whys method?
A root cause analysis technique from Toyota: you ask “why” about the problem, then about each answer, five times over. The fifth answer should name a system, a process or a missing control — something you can change — not a person who made a mistake.
Is it really free, and what is the catch?
The tools, the 51 templates and all 66 guides are free with no account. There is one paid product — a workshop kit for consultants who run RCA sessions professionally. Nothing on the free side is degraded to sell it.
Do you store what I type into the tools?
No. The tools run entirely in your browser; the analysis is never sent to a server. That is also why they keep working offline once the page has loaded.
Which method should I use — 5 Whys, Fishbone, FMEA or 8D?
Single clear failure with a short chain: 5 Whys. Many candidate causes and a group in the room: Fishbone. Ranking what to fix first: Pareto. Risk before the failure happens: FMEA. Customer-facing corrective action with an audit trail: 8D. The method selector asks four questions and decides for you.
Can I use the templates at work, or with clients?
Yes — internal use and client work are both fine, including editing and re-branding the files. Reselling the templates as your own product is not.
Can I export the analysis into a report?
Each tool exports what fits it: PNG for diagrams, CSV for scored data, PDF for the write-up. The exports are plain files, made to be pasted into your own report or QMS record.
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For consultants & internal facilitators

The RCA Workshop Kit

Everything above is free and stays free. The kit is the other half: what you need when you are the one at the front of the room, being paid for the session.

  • Facilitator scripts, minute by minute
  • Crisis cards for the moments a session goes sideways
  • 3 / 7 / 30-day follow-up system and action tracker
  • Co-branding rights — your logo on the slides
$199 $399 Waitlist
Launching soon. Waitlist members pay half the launch price — a commitment, not a promo.
Join the waitlist →
One email, when it goes live. Nothing else, ever.

Start with the problem in front of you

Open the tool, type the first line, and see where the chain ends. About four minutes.

Run a 5 Whys analysis →
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