Highly ordered and straight microwires of polypyrrole (PPy) are synthesized in high yield by an electrochemical method in the presence of a special (hydroxyethyl)cellulose (HEC) template. For the preparation of such a template, an old but simple dip-coating method is used to spread the HEC molecules on the indium tin oxide (ITO) glass. PPy microwires with diameters of 0.6-2.0 mu m and lengths of tens to hundreds of micrometers are obtained when the HEC template is used as the working electrode. Otherwise, winding PPy nanowires will be formed in the presence of HEC in solution, or a cauliflower-like PPy film is formed without HEC.