open powerpoint from office 365 in presentation mode

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SharePoint Online: How to Open PowerPoint in Presentation Mode?

Requirement: Open PowerPoint files in slideshow mode in SharePoint Online.

How to Open PowerPoint in Presentation mode from SharePoint Online?

Any link to PowerPoint presentations (PPT, PPTX, or PPSX files) takes users to the Edit mode of the file. Even if the users don’t have permission to edit, SharePoint opens it in edit mode with a banner saying you can’t edit the file. So, How to force slide show mode for PPT’s?

Well, here is the trick to open PowerPoint files in presentation mode: use the below URL format to have PowerPoint open in presentation mode:

https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing /_layouts/16/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc= https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing/Branding/SharePoint-Training-Presentation.pptx &action=embedview

This link directly launches the PowerPoint presentation in the slideshow mode in full browser screen!

How about SharePoint On-Premises?

Similarly, in SharePoint On-premises, use the below format to open PowerPoint in presentation mode:

https://Your-Site-URL /_layouts/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc= <path-to-your-ppsx> &action=embedview

Related Posts

• ← Microsoft 365: How to Set the Password to Never Expire?
• SharePoint Online: How to Enable Missing Apps (Picture Library, Announcements, Survey, Etc.) in Communication Sites? →

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two-decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. He has held various positions including SharePoint Architect, Administrator, Developer and consultant, has helped many organizations to implement and optimize SharePoint solutions. Known for his deep technical expertise, He's passionate about sharing the knowledge and insights to help others, through the real-world articles!

5 thoughts on “ SharePoint Online: How to Open PowerPoint in Presentation Mode? ”

It also appears if you have any GIFs the are displayed as static images – any advice?

Thanks for this great article. You are the best. I would like to know if there is a trick to start the presentation in full screen presentation mode so that slides run automatically?

Hey, thanks for that! Very helpful! Spend half a day to get that work and you provided finally the solution!

Too sad, if you have links in your PPT you can’t click these…

Hi Salaudeen,

Thanks for your post. We are experiencing the same problem with PowerPoint presentation links not opening up in slideshow mode – even if “view only”. I have used your URL format and this works to open the PowerPoint in presentation mode but ONLY for those that are logged into SharePoint Online.

We want to share the URL for anyone to view (outside of the organisation too) with the only necessary requirement being a web browser to open it. When the URL is clicked the presentation should open straight into slideshow mode without a need for any log in.

Do you think this is something that is possible? Any advice?

Thanks, Emily

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How To Get Into Presentation Mode In PowerPoint

Are you looking to take your PowerPoint presentations to the next level?

We will discuss why you should use Presentation Mode, how to enter it, its key features, and how to navigate through your slides.

Key Takeaways:

What is presentation mode in powerpoint.

Presentation Mode in PowerPoint refers to a feature that allows presenters to display their slides in a full-screen view, enhancing the visual impact of their presentation.

This mode is particularly useful during formal presentations, as it eliminates distractions and ensures that the audience’s focus remains on the content being discussed. In Presentation Mode , presenters can navigate through their slides smoothly, interact with their content, and make annotations in real time. One notable advantage of this mode is the Presenter view , where speakers can see upcoming slides, and speaker notes, and even manage time effectively without disrupting the flow of the presentation.

Why Use Presentation Mode in PowerPoint?

Using Presentation Mode in PowerPoint offers numerous advantages, such as creating a more engaging and professional presentation experience for both the presenter and the audience.

Allows for a more engaging and professional presentation

One of the key reasons to use Presentation Mode in PowerPoint is that it allows presenters to deliver a more engaging and professional presentation by providing advanced control over their slides, including features like a laser pointer .

Helps the presenter stay on track and organized

Presentation Mode in PowerPoint aids presenters in maintaining focus, organization, and efficiency throughout their presentation by offering tools like Presenter View, where notes and slide previews can be accessed.

This feature is particularly useful as it allows presenters to keep an eye on upcoming slides while also referring to their speaking notes discreetly, enhancing the flow of the presentation. The ability to adjust display settings such as screen mirroring or extending desktops simplifies the setup process, ensuring that the presentation runs smoothly. The note-taking capabilities within Presentation Mode enable presenters to jot down important points or reminders directly within the application, eliminating the need for external notes and promoting a more organized approach to presenting.

Provides a better experience for the audience

When toggling to Presentation Mode, the display settings undergo a transformation that optimizes the presentation for viewer interaction. The ability to seamlessly swap displays allows the presenter to effortlessly navigate through slides, ensuring a smooth transition between different sections of the presentation. This elegant integration of features not only captivates the audience but also enables a more fluid and engaging delivery of the content. The visual appeal of the slides is enhanced, making it easier for viewers to follow along and grasp the key points being presented.

How to Enter Presentation Mode in PowerPoint?

Step 1: open your powerpoint presentation.

The first step to enter Presentation Mode in PowerPoint is to ensure that your presentation file is open and ready for display.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Slide Show’ tab in the top menu bar

Once your presentation is open, navigate to the ‘Slide Show’ tab located in the top menu bar of PowerPoint to access presentation controls and features like zooming into specific slides.

Once you’re on the ‘Slide Show’ tab, you’ll find a variety of essential controls that aid in delivering a seamless presentation experience. Here, you can click on ‘From Beginning’ to start the slide show from the very first slide. You can choose ‘From Current Slide’ to begin from the slide you’re currently on.

Step 3: Select ‘From Beginning’ or ‘From Current Slide’ to start the presentation

When you opt for ‘From Beginning,’ your presentation will start from the very first slide, whereas selecting ‘From Current Slide’ allows you to start your presentation from the slide you are currently on. This choice depends on whether you want to begin at the start of the presentation or jump in at a specific point.

What Are the Features of Presentation Mode in PowerPoint?

The features of Presentation Mode in PowerPoint are designed to enhance the presenter’s experience and engage the audience, offering functionalities such as Presenter view with notes, laser pointer integration, and slide previews.

Presenter view with notes allows speakers to refer to their talking points discreetly, ensuring a seamless delivery. The incorporated laser pointer feature permits highlighting key areas on slides, directing the audience’s focus effectively. Slide previews provide a comprehensive overview of the presentation flow, aiding in smoother transitions between topics. The option to hide or reveal slides as needed enhances the element of surprise and control during the presentation, captivating the audience’s attention. These combined features transform the presenter’s performance into a dynamic and engaging experience for all participants.

Full-screen display of slides

Ability to use a laser pointer or pen tool.

Presentation Mode enables presenters to use a laser pointer or a pen tool to highlight key points on slides, enhancing the clarity and impact of their presentation.

Presenter view with notes and slide previews

When utilizing the Presenter view, presenters gain the advantage of accessing notes discretely without them being displayed to the audience, allowing for a more professional and polished delivery. In addition, having a live preview of the upcoming slides enables the presenter to seamlessly transition between points, enhancing the flow of the presentation. Through system preferences or the displays app, customization options such as adjusting the layout to suit individual preferences or toggling between speaker notes and slide previews can be easily configured, providing a tailored experience for each presenter.

Option to hide the presentation controls

In scenarios where presenters are utilizing a two-monitor setup for advanced display configurations, such as showing notes on one screen while presenting on the other, hiding presentation controls on the main display ensures that only the essential content is visible to the audience, maintaining a neat and streamlined appearance.

How to Navigate Through Slides in Presentation Mode?

Use the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Utilize the arrow keys on your keyboard to seamlessly advance through slides in Presentation Mode, ensuring a smooth and controlled flow of your presentation.

Click on the arrows in the bottom left corner of the screen

Users can enhance their presentation experience by utilizing the fullscreen mode . By entering fullscreen, viewers can keep the focus solely on the presentation content, removing any distractions from the surrounding interface elements. This feature is particularly useful when showcasing detailed slides or when presenting to a larger audience, allowing for a more immersive and engaging delivery.

Use the scroll wheel on your mouse

With its responsive nature, the scroll wheel ensures quick and precise movements, enabling presenters to fluidly transition between slides with the utmost ease.

How to Exit Presentation Mode in PowerPoint?

To exit Fullscreen mode in PowerPoint, you can simply press the ‘Esc’ key, the keyboard shortcut that is universally used to escape full-screen views across various applications. This action will promptly take you out of the immersive mode and back to the regular interface.

Step 1: Press the Esc key on your keyboard

Exiting Presentation Mode using the ‘Esc’ key is a simple maneuver that can swiftly transition you back to your familiar workspace. Once you press the ‘Esc’ key, the fullscreen effect will dissolve, and any Speaker Notes you might have been glancing over will no longer dominate your screen, ensuring a seamless flow as you exit the presentation. This action provides an effortless way to shift the focus back to the general view of your PowerPoint, facilitating a smooth continuation of your usual workflow.

Step 2: Click on the ‘End Show’ button on the top left corner of the screen

Step 3: select ‘end show’ from the drop-down menu.

For a more detailed exit process, users can select ‘ End Show ‘ from the drop-down menu within PowerPoint, ensuring a controlled and comprehensive conclusion to their presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i enter presentation mode in powerpoint.

To enter presentation mode in PowerPoint, click on the Slideshow tab in the top menu and then select “From Beginning” or “From Current Slide” depending on where you want to start your presentation.

Can I customize the way I enter presentation mode in PowerPoint?

Is there a shortcut to enter presentation mode in powerpoint, can i use a different display for presentation mode in powerpoint.

Yes, you can use a different display for presentation mode by going to the Slideshow tab and selecting “Set Up Slide Show.” From there, you can choose to present on a secondary monitor or projector.

How do I exit presentation mode in PowerPoint?

Can i add speaker notes while in presentation mode in powerpoint, similar posts, how to change text color in powerpoint after clicking, how to add animation in powerpoint, how to go back on bullet points in powerpoint, how to word document in powerpoint, how to record a presentation in powerpoint with video, how to highlight in powerpoint.

• NIST 800-53
• Common Controls Hub

Open/Save of PowerPoint 97-2003 presentations, shows, templates, and add-in files must be blocked.

How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation? [Complete Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Knowing how to master the PowerPoint application starts with the basics. If you are just starting out with Microsoft PowerPoint, the first thing you need to know is really how to open a PowerPoint presentation!

To open or view an existing PowerPoint file, double-click on the file from the folder. Alternatively, open the PowerPoint application. Then, click on “File>Open>Browse”, and locate the file on your computer to open it. To open a new presentation file, simply click on “File>New>Blank Presentation”.

The process of opening a PowerPoint presentation is actually quite simple and it only takes a few seconds. So, in this article, first we will take you through the process of opening a presentation step-by-step in a visual manner. Then, I will provide answers to all questions related to opening a PowerPoint presentation!

So, let’s get started!

[A Quick Note Before We Begin – for this article, I will be using one of the presentation templates from Envato Elements . With Envato Elements, you get access to thousands of presentation designs with unlimited downloads so you never run out of options again. Plus, you get free previews so you know exactly what you’re getting before buying! It is also very affordable. Check out their pricing here ]

1. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation? 

There are a couple of different methods in which you can open a PowerPoint file. Both the methods are actually quite easy.

The first method requires the least number of steps. To open or view a PowerPoint presentation simply locate the PowerPoint file on your computer, and double-click on it. You can also right-click on the file, and from the dropdown menu, click on “Open”.

The second method requires you to start the PowerPoint application first.

If you do not see the PowerPoint icon on your desktop or taskbar, just go to the search bar and type ‘PowerPoint’ using your keyboard to find it. After opening the PowerPoint application, all you have to do is select your presentation file to open it. Just follow the steps below:

1a. How to Open a New PowerPoint Presentation?

Follow the steps below to open/create a new PowerPoint Presentation:

Step-1: Click on the “File” Menu button

At the top left side of your Microsoft PowerPoint application, you will find the ‘File’ menu option. The first step is to click on it.

Step-2: Click on “New”, and select the “Blank Presentation” button

Then, from the PowerPoint Backend view, you need to click on “ New “.

Now on your screen, you will find an option that says ‘Blank Presentation’ for you to click on. A new PowerPoint presentation with a blank slide will be created once you click on it.

You can also choose to click on any of the templates below to go with a pre-made design theme.

1b. How to Open an Existing PowerPoint Presentation?

It is common to have PowerPoint presentation files saved in different folders of your computer. There are two very easy ways to open these existing PowerPoint presentation files.

You can either open an existing PowerPoint file by browsing to the folder it is stored in and double-clicking on the file. Or you can open it from the Microsoft PowerPoint application itself. I’ll discuss both of the ways below:

Opening an existing PowerPoint Presentation file from the file location

Step:-1: Go to the folder your PowerPoint Presentation file is stored in

Open the folder where you had saved your PowerPoint presentation file. It could be on any of your local drives, or if you have recently downloaded the file, it could be on the ‘Downloads’ folder.

Step-2: Double-click on the PowerPoint Presentation file.

‘ Left click’ on the file twice using your mouse to open it. You can also ‘Right click’ on the file once and from the dropdown menu click on the ‘Open’ option to open the file on your Microsoft PowerPoint application.

Opening an existing PowerPoint Presentation from the Microsoft PowerPoint Application

Step-1: Open the Microsoft PowerPoint application and go to the “File” menu

The first thing you have to do is open the Microsoft PowerPoint application and click on the “ File ” menu option on the top-left corner of the screen.

Step-2: Click on ‘Open’, and then ‘Browse’

Clicking on the File option will open the background view of PowerPoint. Then, click on “ Open “

In the ‘Open’ tab, you will find all the Presentation files you have used/viewed recently under the ‘Recent’ section. If the file you want to open is not present here, simply click on ‘Browse.’

Step-3: Go to the file location click on it to select it.

After that, a window will pop up using which you can use to choose the file you want to open. Go to the folder containing the PowerPoint presentation file and select it by ‘Left-clicking’ on its name.

Step-4: Click on ‘Open.’

After selecting the file, click on ‘Open’ to get the job done. You can also edit the slides by clicking on ‘Enable Editing.’

You can follow any of the two methods mentioned above to open an existing PowerPoint Presentation file.

1c. Shortcut Key to Open a Presentation in PowerPoint 

You can open both a new PowerPoint Presentation as well as an existing PowerPoint file using shortcut keys.

Here are the shortcut keys to open a PowerPoint presentation –

• To open a new PowerPoint presentation – Press “Ctrl+N” (Cmd+N on Mac)
• To open an existing PowerPoint presentation – Press “Ctrl+O” (Cmd+O on Mac)

Remember, in order to use the above shortcut keys, you need to open the PowerPoint application first on your computer.

2. How to Open a PowerPoint Online? (Using OneDrive)

Microsoft PowerPoint can also be saved online. Microsoft actually has integration with its own cloud service called OneDrive. In fact, if you are using Microsoft Office 365 , you also get free cloud storage of up to 1 TB with your account!

When you try to open an online version of a PowerPoint file, you will need to do so using OneDrive. In the following steps, I will show you how to open a PowerPoint Presentation file online using OneDrive:

Step-1: Click on the “File” menu

The first step, as usual, is to click on the “ File ” menu option. This will open the backend view of PowerPoint.

Step-2: Click on “Open” and choose “OneDrive”

From the backend view, click on the “ Open ” option. Then, click on “ OneDrive “. You may need to login into your OneDrive account. Then, navigate to the respective folder containing the PowerPoint file.

Step-3: Select the File and Click “Open”

Navigate to the designated folder on OneDrive that contains the PowerPoint file. Select it and then click “Open”.

PowerPoint will then download the file for you. Once it opens the online file, you will notice that the “ Autosave ” feature in PowerPoint will be turned on.

This basically means, every time you make a change to the file, it will automatically reflect in the file saved online in OneDrive!

How to Open and View a PowerPoint file in OneDrive?

You can also view the same PowerPoint file using your internet browser. All you need to do open the OneDrive login page and log in to your OneDrive account using your email address and password.

Once you are logged in into your OneDrive account, follow the below mentioned steps –

Step-1: Locate your PowerPoint file and Click on it

If you already have the file uploaded, then simply navigate to the respective folder, locate the file and click on it.

Step-2: Start Editing the File

Your file will be opened in a new tab on your browser. You can directly start editing the PowerPoint file online!

The best part is, you don’t even need to have the PowerPoint application installed to edit, open or view a PowerPoint presentation online file!

3. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation in Google Slides? 

Google Slides in one of the most popular online tools out there for creating and opening presentations. You can also use Google Slides to open you PowerPoint Presentation file with just a few clicks. Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Go to Google Slides and click on ‘Open File Picker’ option

To open a PowerPoint Presentation in Google Slides, the first step is to log in to your Google account and go to Google Slides. Then, click on the “ Open File Picker ” option – the icon that looks like a file folder (see the image above).

Step-2: Go to the ‘upload’ section for uploading the presentation file

Since Google Slides is cloud-based, the next step is to upload the Presentation file. To do that, from the pop-up window, go to the ‘Upload’ section. Now click on ‘Select a file from your device.’

Step-3: Locate your PowerPoint Presentation file and click on ‘Open.’

From the pop-up window, go to the folder containing the Presentation file and select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to upload the file from your computer. It might take a few seconds to upload and load the Presentation file on Google Slides. That’s it!

4. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation in Keynote on Mac? 

To open a Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation on Apple’s Keynote application, just follow the steps below:

Step-1: Open ‘Keynote’ and locate your PowerPoint Presentation file

On your Mac Computer open the ‘Keynote’ application. From the window, navigate to the folder containing the PowerPoint Presentation file.

Step-2: Select your Presentation file and click on ‘Open.’

After locating your PowerPoint Presentation file on Keynote, simply click on it to select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to access it. A window might appear stating that some changes were made while importing the file, which is quite normal for highly customized PowerPoint files.

Step-3: View or Edit the PowerPoint file in Keynote

Once the file is opened in Keynote, you can now view or edit the file directly in Keynote just as you would on any other presentation design application!

5. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation Without PowerPoint? 

Incase you do not have PowerPoint installed on your computer or do not have access to PowerPoint, you can still open a PowerPoint presentation file through various means. I’ll be discussing some of the ways to open a PowerPoint Presentation without PowerPoint below:

Method 1 – Using Online Tools

If you don’t have PowerPoint installed on your computer, you can still view a PPT or PPTX file. One of the best ways to view it is using online tools.

Two of the most commonly used FREE online tools are ‘Google Slides’ and ‘One-Drive’ . Both these methods have been discussed previously in this article. Thus, I would recommend going through them once again if you need some help on that.

Method 2 – Using Aspose Slides Viewer

Another method is using the “Aspose Slides Viewer”. Using this online tool, you can open your Presentation files. It supports PPT, PPTX, PPS, and ODT files that are amongst the most common PowerPoint Presentation formats.

Here’s how to use Aspose Slides Viewer tool to open PowerPoint Presentations –

Step-1: Go to Aspose Slides Viewer using an Internet Browser

The first step is to open your Internet Brower and go to: https://products.aspose.app/slides/viewer

Step-2: Click on ‘Drop or upload your file’

Once the webpage is done loading on your browser, click on ‘ Drop or upload your file.’

Step-3: Locate your file and click on ‘Open’

From the pop-up window, go to the folder containing the PowerPoint Presentation file and select it. Then click on ‘Open’ to upload the file from your computer to Aspose Slides Viewer. Once the upload is finished, you will be able to view the PowerPoint Presentation on your screen.

The good part about Aspose Slides Viewer is that it is completely FREE. When viewing the ppt file, it shows a surprisingly accurate representation of the presentation. You can also edit the PPT file. However, the options are quite limited. So, it can be used for basic text editing at the very best!

Method 3 – Using Third-Party Applications

There are a few Third-Party Applications out there, which you can use to Open PowerPoint Presentation files. Two of the most common among them are ‘LibreOffice Impress’ and ‘Kingsoft Presentation Professional.’

LibreOffice supports almost all types of PowerPoint files including PPT, PPTXS, PPTX, PPTS. It allows you to not only open PowerPoint presentations but also make necessary customizations. You can download it for free from here .

Kingsoft Presentation Professional is another standard presentation tool with lots of in-built features. It is quite similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and supports PPT and PPTX files. Download Kingsoft Presentation Professional from here .

6. How to Open PowerPoint in Presentation Mode? 

You can directly open your PowerPoint Presentation file in Presentation Mode, instead of having to normally opening it first and then changing the view mode. This might be time saving for some, as you will be able to start your presentation with just a few clicks. Follow the step-by-step guide below to find out the process:

Step-1: Go to the folder which contains your PowerPoint Presentation file

Go to the folder on your computer where you have saved your PowerPoint Presentation file. ‘Right Click’ on the file to open a dropdown menu.

Step-2: Click on ‘Show’

From the dropdown menu, click on the fourth option that says ‘Show.’ This will directly open the PowerPoint file in Presentation Mode.

If you have a “.pps” or “.ppsx” file, you don’t need to right-click on it. These files are designed to be directly open as slideshow!

7. How to Open PowerPoint in Safe Mode? 

Opening Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode means opening the application without any add-ons, extensions, or other forms of customizations you might’ve made.

AutoCorrect and a few other features will also not work while in Safe Mode. You can both open the Microsoft PowerPoint application in safe mode or a particular PowerPoint Presentation file.

I’ll be discussing both of them below:

Opening the Microsoft PowerPoint Application in Safe Mode

Step-1: Press ‘Ctrl’ while opening the Microsoft PowerPoint Application

To open the Microsoft PowerPoint application in Safe Mode, hold the ‘Ctrl’ button of your keyboard and ‘Left Click’ on the Microsoft PowerPoint Icon on your taskbar, start-menu, or desktop.

Step-2: Click on ‘Yes’ to enable Safe Mode.

A dialogue box will appear where you will be asked if you want to start Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode or not. Click on ‘Yes’ to open the PowerPoint in Safe Mode.

Opening a specific PowerPoint Presentation on Safe Mode:

To open a specific PowerPoint Presentation file on Safe Mode, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Hold the ‘Ctrl’ Key and click on the PowerPoint file

Browse to the folder on your computer where you have you have saved your presentation file. Now, while holding the ‘Ctrl’ button on your keyboard, ‘Left-click’ on the file to open it on Safe Mode. A dialogue box will appear on your screen.

Step-2: Click on ‘Yes’ in the Prompt that opens up

You will now be asked if you want to open this PowerPoint file in Safe Mode. Click on ‘Yes’ to get the job done!

8. How to Open a PowerPoint Presentation on Zoom?

Zoom meetings has now become an integral part of our lives, both in terms of work and education. The global pandemic has forcefully replaced on-stage presentations with virtual ones and Zoom is one of the most popular choices for it.

Related Article – How to Give a Presentation on Zoom? [A Complete Step-by-Step Guide!]

If you want to open a PowerPoint presentation on Zoom, follow the steps mentioned below –

Step-1: Open the PowerPoint presentation on your device

The first step is to open the PowerPoint Presentation file on your computer using Microsoft PowerPoint. You can do that by either ‘ Left-Clicking’ on the file from its location or going to the ‘Open’ tab on Microsoft PowerPoint and selecting the file from the ‘Browse’ option.

I have discussed this in detail on the points above.

Step-2: Open Zoom meeting and click on ‘Share Screen’.

Join or launch a Zoom meeting where you will be sharing your PowerPoint presentation. Click on the option that says ‘Share Screen’ at the bottom.

Step-3: Click on ‘Share’ option

A new window will pop-up where you will find all the applications opened on your computer. Hover your cursor over the ‘ PowerPoint Slide Show’ window and click on it. Now click on the option that says ‘Share’ at the bottom right corner of your screen.

Step-4: Open the PowerPoint presentation in Zoom

Once you click on ‘Share’ , the PowerPoint presentation file will be opened in Zoom and all the participants in the meeting will be able to view your screen. You can stop sharing your screen by clicking on the option that says ‘Stop Share.’

More PowerPoint Related Topics

• How to Crop a Picture in PowerPoint? [Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial!]
• What is a Presentation Clicker? [And How to Use it!]
• How to Convert a PowerPoint to PDF? [A Simple Guide!]
• PowerPoint vs Google Slides: Which is Better? [ULTIMATE Test!]
• How to Change Bullet Style in PowerPoint? A Complete Guide

Credit to drobotdean (via Freepik) for the featured image of this article

How-To Geek

Everything you need to know about animations and transitions in powerpoint.

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If Your PC Won't Run Windows 11, Here Are 5 Great Linux Operating Systems to Try Instead

I put these tech items in the dishwasher and you should too, how 3d printing is changing the nerf hobby, quick links, what are animations, what are transitions, things to note before you begin, how to add, amend, and remove an animation, how to add, amend, and remove a transition, using the morph transition.

PowerPoint's animations and transitions can help you grab your audience's attention, present information in bite-sized chunks, and—when used sparingly—deliver a more professional presentation. In this article, we'll run through the nuts and bolts of these useful PowerPoint tools.

Animations are effects you can add to your slides' text, pictures, shapes, graphics, tables, and other elements. There are four different types of animations:

• Entrance animations—These are the effects you can add to make an object appear on your slide in different ways.
• Emphasis animations—You can add an emphasis animation to an object already visible on your slide, such as changing its size or color.
• Exit animations—The opposite to entrance animations, exit animations make objects disappear from your slide through different effects.
• Motion paths animations —You can make an element on your slide move to a different place, with your audience seeing this movement from where it started to where it ends up.

You can use more than one animation on a single object. For example, you can apply an entrance animation to some text, followed by an emphasis animation.

A transition effect dictates how your presentation progresses from one slide to the next, and you can choose from three different levels of complexity:

• Subtle—These are the most basic types of transitions in PowerPoint, aiding speed and slickness as you jump from one slide to the next.
• Exciting—You can make your transitions more visually entertaining.
• Dynamic—A dynamic transition applies to all parts of a slide, except for the background, giving the illusion that the content is rolling through on a single page.

Only one transition effect can be added to each slide, and it's important that you apply the transition to the slide that will be visible once the transition is complete. For example, if you have two slides and want to create a transition effect as you move from slide 1 to slide 2, you will need to apply the transition to slide 2.

Before you add animation and transition effects to your PowerPoint presentation, bear in mind the following tips:

• Don't add too many animations and transitions . Overusing these features can distract your audiences in ways you didn't intend to, and they can also look tacky and unprofessional. Ask yourself, "Does this make my presentation better?" If the answer is no, don't add it.
• Another issue with using too many animations and transitions is that it could significantly slow down your PowerPoint file's processing speed , as it adds volume to your file size.
• Keep things professional in the right contexts. For example, if you're presenting a formal business plan, you don't want to add funky transitions that take ten seconds to complete. Try sticking to slick effects that last less than a second.
• Use the same transition effect for each slide and, if you can, the same animation for each item.

It's a widely shared opinion that Microsoft 365's desktop apps offer more flexibility and functionality than their web-based counterparts. However, the exact opposite can be said for adding animations, which is significantly easier to do on PowerPoint for the web than via the subscription-only app. So, to create the animations for screenshots in this section, we have used PowerPoint online, rather than the desktop app, and we recommend that you do the same.

Before you add any animations, click "Animation Pane" in the Animations tab on the ribbon. This will open a pane on the right side of your window, which will make seeing and managing your animations much easier.

Now, select the item you want to animate. If you want several items on a slide to animate in the same way at the same time, hold Ctrl while clicking them all. Then, click the down arrow in the Animations tab, and choose the appropriate effect.

You will then see an animation card in the Animation Pane for the effect you just added. Here, you can change the animation type, how it is activated (whether via a click, with the previous animation, or after the previous animation), and the duration and delay.

If you have more than one animation on a slide and want to reorder them, click and drag the six dots next to the relevant animation card upwards or downwards.

Finally, to remove an animation, click the trash icon on the appropriate animation card.

You can also animate paragraphs of text within a text box. To do so, select the relevant text, and follow the same process.

Whether you're using PowerPoint's desktop app or the online version of the program, adding transitions involves a very similar process.

First, select the slide you want to transition to (for example, you'll select slide 2 if you want to create a transition from slide 1 to slide 2) in the slide thumbnail pane, and then click the "Transitions" tab on the ribbon.

To see more transitions, click the down arrow on the right-hand side of the Transition To This Slide group.

Clicking any of the transition effects on display will do two things—first, it will show you a preview of what that transition will look like, and second, it will apply that transition to that slide.

You can then amend the options (such as the direction of the transition) and timing of the transition using the settings on the right side of the Transitions tab. This is where you can also add a sound effect to the transition, or decide whether the transition effect occurs when you click your mouse or automatically after a given length of time.

If you want to apply the same transition effect and options to all slides, click "Apply To All" in the Timing group of the Transition tab when you have finished setting up your transition's parameters. You can then select individual slides to make further adjustments if needed.

To remove a transition, select the slide in the slide thumbnail pane, and click "None" in the Transitions tab.

PowerPoint's Morph is a transition effect that recognizes differences between the same items on two slides, and smoothly transitions between them when you proceed from one slide to the next. For example, you might have an image on slide 1, and the same image in a different position on slide 2. The morph transition gives your audience the impression that you're still on the same slide, but the objects are merely moving and resizing.

This is different to the motion path animation, which you can set for different items and activate at different times on your slide. The morph transition, however, moves all items together as you move from one slide to the next, saving you from having to apply motion path animations to individual objects. Any objects on the first slide but not the second will simply fade away during the morph transition. Similarly, any new items on the second slide will appear gradually.

In this example, we have a title and an image on slide 1, and the same objects on slide 2 but in different places and different sizes. We created this scenario by copying and pasting the whole of slide 1, and then changing the text and image on slide 2. However, you can also create a blank slide, and then copy and paste the different elements you want to morph.

Then, we need to select slide 2, and click "Morph" in the Transitions tab on the ribbon.

Then, press F5 to see your presentation, and witness the smooth morph transition from one slide to the next. You can also use this transition effect to zoom into an image or fade an image into the background. Just ensure that you copy and paste from one slide to the next before you create the transition, so that PowerPoint recognizes them as the same.

If animations and transitions are new to you, check out these other tips that you should also know before you design your next presentation.

• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft 365

Mar 4, 2021

Switch between editing and viewing in PowerPoint for web

Robin Miller

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Hi, Office Insiders! I’m Robin Miller, a Program Manager on the PowerPoint team. I’m happy to announce that we have made it even easier to switch between editing and viewing presentations in PowerPoint for the web.

Editing and viewing in PowerPoint

As you are reviewing and getting familiar with the content of a presentation, use the Viewing mode, and don’t worry about accidentally moving things around or making unintended changes. When you’re ready to provide feedback and make updates, switch to the Editing mode.

We’ve updated PowerPoint for the web so you can now quickly change between both modes with a couple of clicks.

How it works  

As long as  you have  Edit  permissions  for a given pres entation, you  can choose to be in Editing or Viewing mode.   

• To switch between the modes, click  Editing   in the ribbon  and  then  choose  Viewing .   To switch back, choose  Editing .  

Requirements  

• You must have Editing permissions. Users with View-only  permissions   won’t  be able to switch into Editing mode.  

Tips and tricks  

• The option to  Open in Desktop   can   also now be found in this menu.  If   you are running PowerPoint in Teams,  the  Open in Desktop  button remains outside the mode menu  for now.   

Known  issues    

The mode menu options are disabled and difficult to see when in Slide Sorter View while also using High Contrast Mode.  

Availability   

This feature is  rolling  out  to  PowerPoint for the web users. We are working on bringing the  feature  to PowerPoint for Windows and Mac in the future. 

Feedback  

If you have any feedback or suggestions, you can  send  them by clicking  Help > Feedback .  

Learn what  other information you should include in your feedback  to ensure  it’s actionable and reaches the right people. We’re excited to hear from you!  

Sign up for the  Office Insider newsletter  and get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

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PowerPoint for the web

• 11 contributors

PowerPoint for the web (formerly PowerPoint Web App) extends your Microsoft PowerPoint experience to the web browser, where you can work with presentations directly on the website where the presentation is stored. Microsoft 365 customers with Microsoft 365 for the web can view, create, and edit files on the go.

The PowerPoint Editor is a web front-end component that creates a browser-based editing surface, which lets users work on documents without losing fidelity.

If you select the Open in PowerPoint button on the PowerPoint for the web toolbar, the presentation opens in the PowerPoint desktop app (if Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 or later is installed on the computer).

Learn how to download and install Office using Microsoft 365 for business on a PC .

Alignment, bullets, numbers

With PowerPoint for the web, you can change paragraph alignment, apply bullets or numbering, and change the level of bulleted or numbered text. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Apply basic transitions and animations

Choose from a gallery of animation and transition effects. PowerPoint for the web supports eight transitions and 37 animations. Additional animations and transitions not supported by PowerPoint for the web are preserved in the presentation and displayed in the slide show, but they can't be modified in PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Apply rich formatting to text, shapes, and pictures

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. Advanced formatting features, such as more colors, gradients, eyedropper, effects, and styles, are available in the PowerPoint desktop app. With PowerPoint for the web, you can add a text box or choose from a gallery of shapes and apply styles, which define fill, outline, and shadow effects.

Apply themes and theme variants

Choose from a gallery of built-in themes and variants when you add a new slide to the presentation. Themes not supported by PowerPoint for the web are preserved in the presentation, but the ability to modify themes is not available in PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Office add-ins

PowerPoint for the web only supports content add-ins for Office. Content add-ins integrate web-based features as content that can be shown in line with a presentation. Learn more about types of add-ins for Office .

Arrange objects

Move, resize, rotate, or order shapes and text boxes in layers, back-to-front in PowerPoint for the web. Ungroup shapes to work with them individually. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Broadcast slide show

The PowerPoint desktop app is required to broadcast a slide show to a remote audience through PowerPoint for the web. Viewers can watch lives presentations through PowerPoint for the web, regardless of whether they have the PowerPoint desktop app installed. Learn more about broadcast slide show .

With PowerPoint for the web, you can cut, copy, and paste content in a presentation. A user can copy and paste text between Microsoft 365 for the web programs, as well as between Microsoft 365 for the web and the Microsoft Office desktop apps on the computer. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Create and manage slides

Add, reorder, duplicate, hide, and delete slides in PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Create custom animation

PowerPoint for the web includes a gallery of animation effects. Animations not supported by PowerPoint for the web are preserved in the presentation and displayed in the slide show, but they can't be modified in PowerPoint for the web. To create custom animations, you'll need the PowerPoint desktop app installed on your computer. Learn more about creating custom animations with PowerPoint 2013 desktop app .

Design tools, advanced

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. Advanced design features, such creating slide masters and modifying layouts, are only available in the PowerPoint desktop app. With PowerPoint for the web, you can use your own template file as the basis for creating new files or choose from a predefined list of themes.

Dropbox is a file hosting service that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software.

Embed presentation on web or blog page

With PowerPoint for the web, you can embed presentations on websites or blogs so that anyone can view your information even if they don't have the Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app. Embedded viewers show animations, transitions, and audio/video—the same as full fidelity reading view. Learn more about embedding presentations on a web or blog page .

Font downloading and formatting

The font service is a CDN based solution to ensure Office applications are able to render documents and presentations in full fidelity by downloading the required fonts to the local machine.

When sharing PowerPoint presentations with recipients via PowerPoint for the web, only use the fonts detailed in the cloud fonts list here . Why? These fonts are available in the cloud and are downloaded as needed and installed on our servers. Other fonts, including locally installed fonts not on this list and embedded fonts, will not be installed on our servers and will be replaced with fallback fonts, resulting in content reflow and formatting issues.

PowerPoint for the web lets you apply bold, italics, underline, font, size, and color to text. You can also use the Format Painter to copy the format of entire shapes.

To use your organization’s custom font on PowerPoint for the web, upload your font as an Organization Asset Library .

Full fidelity reading view

View presentations as they were intended to be seen—showing animations, transitions, and audio/video.

Full ink support

Ink can't be inserted in PowerPoint for the web, but PowerPoint for the web displays them as expected.

Full selection of animations and transitions

PowerPoint for the web supports eight transitions and 37 animations. For a larger selection, use the PowerPoint desktop app.

Headers and footers

Headers and footers, including date and slide numbers, can't be inserted, edited, or deleted in PowerPoint for the web, but PowerPoint for the web displays them as expected. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Insert, edit, and follow hyperlinks. Bookmark links work, but can't be edited in PowerPoint for the web.

Insert online video

Video and audio content plays in Reading view and Slide Show, with a file size limit of 100 MB. Online video can be inserted from YouTube, and media controls can be resized, moved, and deleted in PowerPoint for the web. But to insert audio and video other than YouTube, you need the Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app.

Integration with Excel for charts

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. With PowerPoint for the web, you can view Excel charts in an existing presentation, but you can't edit or insert an Excel chart in a presentation using PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about copying an Excel chart to PowerPoint .

Navigation - slide sorter

Slide sorter view, which gives you a view of your slides in thumbnail form, makes it easy to sort and organize your slides. You can use slide sorter view to organize your slides, add sections, and sort slides into different categories.

Offline viewing and authoring

PowerPoint for the web is launched from a web browser and relies on an internet connection. To access presentations offline, Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app must be installed on your computer and used to view and edit slides.

Picture cropping

Improve the framing of a subject in a picture with the cropping tool. Simply click one of the cropping handles at the edge of the picture and drag it until you achieve the picture you want.

With PowerPoint for the web, you can insert pictures stored on your computer, or insert pictures from Bing Images. You can move, resize, and crop pictures, and apply a number of picture styles. More sophisticated features for working with pictures, such as applying effects, are not available in PowerPoint for the web. You can't create screenshots in PowerPoint for the web, but screenshots that are in a presentation display as pictures in PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Present online through Skype for Business or the Office Presentation Service

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app lets you deliver your presentations using the Office Presentation Service, a free, public service that allows others to follow along in their web browser. Learn more about Office Presentation Service .

Presenter view

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. Only Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app allows a presenter a behind-the-scene control of the presentation flow, notes, annotations, and zooming tools. PowerPoint for the web does not support these features.

Print to PDF

With PowerPoint for the web, you can print your presentation to a PDF reader, where all the layout and formatting of your slides will print the way you expect. Learn more about basic tasks you can do using PowerPoint for the web .

Proofing tools

You can check spelling and set the proofing language, using the built-in dictionary with PowerPoint for the web. But PowerPoint for the web does not use a custom dictionary and does not include translation or a thesaurus.

Real-time co-authoring

Multiple authors can work simultaneously in PowerPoint for the web and PowerPoint 2016. Real-time presence helps you see where your co-authors are working in the presentation so that you don't create conflicts as you edit, and you can see changes as they're being made. PowerPoint 2013 supports simultaneous editing, but there is no presence indication, and changes can't be seen by multiple authors until the document is saved. For more information about real-time co-authoring in PowerPoint, see Work together on PowerPoint presentations .

Reviewer tools, advanced

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. Advanced reviewer features, such as merge conflicts and compare presentations, are only available in the PowerPoint desktop app. With PowerPoint for the web, you can view, add, edit, or delete comments.

Rights management: Apply and consume IRM and password protection

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. PowerPoint for the web displays presentations that are protected with Information Rights Management (IRM). However, these presentations can't be edited in the browser, and you can't create IRM-protected presentations in PowerPoint for the web. PowerPoint for the web can't open presentations that are digitally signed or encrypted with a password.

Run slide show

With PowerPoint for the web, you can run your presentation with just a web browser and an internet connection. Learn more about basic tasks you can do using PowerPoint for the web .

Save as or Download a copy

PowerPoint for the web saves your work every time you make a change. There is no Save command. You can download a copy, but you must have the Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app to edit a local copy.

Word Art and charts can't be inserted in PowerPoint for the web, but PowerPoint for the web displays them as expected. In Editing view, edit and format text. If you want to apply text effects to Word Art, you'll need the Microsoft PowerPoint desktop app.

If your presentation is saved in a SharePoint document library, then your presentation is online and you can share it by sending a link instead of an email attachment. People with proper permissions can view it in their web browser or mobile device. Learn more about sharing a presentation .

PowerPoint for the web plays slide shows in a full-screen window. Press the spacebar to advance the slides. Slide animations play, but only Fade and Wipe transitions between slides are supported. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

You can insert SmartArt, switch to a different layout or color scheme, apply SmartArt styles, and edit text with PowerPoint for the web. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

Table creation, editing, and formatting

Tables can be created and edited in PowerPoint for the web, and PowerPoint for the web supports most table functions. For advanced functions, such as merging and splitting cells, use the PowerPoint desktop app. Learn more about the differences between using a presentation in the browser versus the PowerPoint desktop app .

When you need to accomplish something in PowerPoint for the web but don't know how, you can use the Tell Me search feature to quickly find what you're looking for. Tell Me understands what you're trying to accomplish and helps you do it faster by making suggestions.

Undo and redo

Undo (Ctrl + Z) and redo (Ctrl + Y) an infinite number of recent actions during the current editing session in the active presentation. If the editing session times out or if you switch to Reading View for more than 30 seconds, the undo history is reset. Learn more about keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint for the web .

View and add comments

If your files are stored on SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, you can add, edit, or delete comments.

If your files are stored on OneDrive, you can add, edit, or delete comments while in Editing View, and you can view and update comments while in Reading View.

View and edit slide notes

With PowerPoint for the web, notes for each slide can be displayed or hidden. You can also add notes in Edit mode.

WYSIWYG viewing

Edit your presentation in a form closely resembling its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product.

Feature availability

To view feature availability across plans, standalone options, and on-premises solutions, see Microsoft 365 for the web service description .

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Additional resources

• Interface and Basics

Presenter View in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

Learn about Presenter view in PowerPoint 365 for Windows. This is the view that allows you to use two displays effectively to deliver your slides in PowerPoint.

Author: Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: PowerPoint 365 for Windows

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 and higher

Date Created: February 12, 2020 Last Updated: September 14, 2023

Learn PowerPoint

Exploring Neuxpower Slidewise

Presenter View in PowerPoint 365 for Windows is a purpose-built view that accompanies  Slide Show view . This view is beneficial in an environment that has at least two displays such as a laptop and a projector, or even two monitors attached to your desktop system. The projector or the secondary display then shows the actual slides, in what is commonly called Slide Show view. However, you see Presenter view on the laptop or on the primary display.

Figure 1 below shows Presenter view. Notice that you get to see much more than just the slide. Rest assured that the audience viewing the projector or secondary output only sees the slide!

While Presenter view in older versions of PowerPoint had to be manually turned on, newer versions of PowerPoint automatically detect if you have two displays, and turn on Presenter view. You should however still check and ensure that this view shows up on your primary display and not on the secondary display. We show you how you can swap displays using the Display Settings option, later in this tutorial.

If you are using only a single display, you can still choose to change to Presenter view from within Slide Show view. Hover your cursor over the bottom left area of the slide to find seven watermarked navigation icons that you can see in Figure 2 . Click the last icon and from the resultant menu, choose the Show Presenter View option (see Figure 2 again).

This brings up PowerPoint 365's Presenter View, as previously shown in Figure 1 . Notice that PowerPoint 365's Presenter View has an enhanced Web 2.0 style interface and there are many other features in the Presenter view's console such as zooming onto a specific part of the slide, and then panning across the slide area. Also you have dedicated Pause , Resume and Restart buttons to give you more control over slide timings. Additionally, you have easy access to the Laser Pointer tool, which directs the audience’s eye with a bright-colored point of light.

We explain all these features, and more next, as marked below in Figure 3 .

Here you find three options:

• Show Taskbar: A toggle that alternates between showing your Window taskbar. Click once to make the taskbar available. You'll then find that the option is now highlighted as shown in Figure 4 , below.

• It can be useful to have access to the taskbar if you need to access any open application. Then once you get back to your slide show, you can click the Show Taskbar option again to hide the taskbar. The option is then no longer highlighted.
• Display Settings: This option, when clicked spawns a drop-down menu, as shown in Figure 5 . Here you'll get options to Swap Presenter View and Slide Show , and also another option to Duplicate Slide Show .

• If you are on a single display environment, these options will be grayed out. On a dual-display environment, you can use the Swap Presenter View and Slide Show option to swap displays between your primary and secondary displays. The Duplicate Slide Show option will show Slide Show view on both displays.
• End Slide Show: Exits the presentation. You can also duplicate this option using the Esc keyboard shortcut.

Shows above the Slide Preview area, as shown in Figure 6 , below. The Timer determines the time elapsed since the slide show started. Additionally, PowerPoint provides two buttons for Pause/Resume and Restart .

C. Preview area

This shows the active slide (see Figure 6 , above). The same slide is simultaneously displayed full screen on the projected screen (secondary display).

D. Next Slide

On the top right side, you'll find a preview of the next slide.

E. Notes pane

F. extra controls.

There are six extra controls available below the Slide Preview (see Figure 7 ). These are explained from left to right:

• Pen and Laser Pointer tools: Click on this button to bring up a menu, as shown in Figure 8 , below.

• The options within this menu are explained below:
• Laser Pointer: Directs the audience's eye with a bright-colored point of light. You can set the Laser Pointer color within the Set Up Show dialog box. To access this dialog box, choose the Slide Show tab of the Ribbon, and then click the Set Up Slide Show button.
• Pen : Lets you draw or annotate with a pen. Learn more in our Using the Pen and Highlighter Tools in Slide Show View in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Highlighter: Almost like a virtual highlighter pen. Learn more in our Using the Pen and Highlighter Tools in Slide Show View in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Ink Color: Changes the pen color.
• Eraser: Lets you erase any pen or highlighter marked areas (grayed out if there are no marked areas on the current slide).
• Erase All Ink on Slide: Removes all ink markings (grayed out if there are no marked areas on the current slide).
• Arrow Options: Brings up a sub-menu with options to show ( Visible ) or hide ( Hidden ) the cursor while presenting. The Automatic option is turned on by default, this shows the cursor when you move your mouse or trackpad for a while, and hides it again when there's no moving activity for a while.
• See All Slides: Click on this button to bring up the whole slide stack (see Figure 9 ), and choose any slide. With this option, you can easily switch slides in or out of sequence from a grid that only you see. Your audience only sees the slide you’ve selected.

• Zoom into the slide: With this tool, you can zoom a part of the slide and then pan around. Figure 10 shows the zoom option as active.

• Black or Unblack Slide Show: This is the toggle button to turn the screen completely black, click again to un-black the screen. You can get the same results by pressing the B shortcut key. Similarly you can press the W shortcut key to get a white screen, and press W again to un-white the screen.
• Captions and Subtitles: Shows subtitles automatically generated from what you speak, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 11 . These captions are also shown on the secondary display in Slide Show view. This Captions and Subtitles feature needs a connected microphone to work.

• More Slide Show Options: Click this button to bring up a drop-down list, as shown in Figure 12 .

• Within this list you'll find more options:
• Last Viewed: Goes to the last viewed slide.
• Custom Show: Opens a sub-menu that lists all custom shows available in the open presentation. This option is grayed out if there are no Custom Shows created within the presentation being viewed.
• Hide Presenter View: Hides Presenter View and takes you back to Slide Show view on a single display environment.
• Screen: Lets you show a Black or White screen to the audience, Show / Hide Ink Markup (pen, highlighter, etc.), and reveal the Windows taskbar (Switch Programs) .
• Help: Brings up a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use while presenting (see Figure 13 ).

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Do you want more keyboard shortcuts?

Explore our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences Ebook that is updated for all PowerPoint versions.

• Pause: Lets you pause your slide show. Animations pause too, and you click Pause again to restart, or just press the Pause/Break key on your keyboard. Most laptop keyboards may not have this key but bigger desktop keyboards have the Pause/Break key.
• End Show: Exits Slide Show and Presenter view.

G. Navigation

Use the Previous Slide or the Next Slide arrow buttons to navigate to those slides. Also, the area between these buttons shows which slide is active.

01 07 11 - Views: Presenter View in PowerPoint (Glossary Page)

Presenter View in PowerPoint 365 for Mac Presenter View in PowerPoint 2019 for Windows Presenter View in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows Presenter View in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac Presenter View in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows Presenter View in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac Presenter View in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

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Automatically open Powerpoint in presenter mode, on correct screens

We have a laptop that we only use to present an induction course which is just a powerpoint presentation.

We have a second screen hooked up and when the presentation opens up someone has to navigate to and hit the start presentation button, at that point and it opens in presenter view with the notes on the laptop and the presentation on the second screen.

What I'd like to be able to do is avoid that on element of interaction.

Is it possible to launch a power point directly into presentation mode with no additional user interaction?

• microsoft-powerpoint

3 Answers 3

Save the file in PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx) format . It will open automatically in presentation mode.

From Microsoft's site :

PowerPoint Show .ppsx A presentation that always opens in Slide Show view rather than in Normal view. Tip: To open this file format in Normal view so that you can edit the presentation, open PowerPoint. On the File menu, click Open, and then choose the file.

Note: If you need macros enabled save as a .ppsm. If you're in PowerPoint 2003 the older format you need is .pps.

• it opens the presentation on screen 2 correctly but you don't get the presenters view on screen 1. Can't see an option for configuring it... –  Patrick Commented Jul 7, 2017 at 14:59
• 1 Hmmm. Seems you're right, there's no way to force visibility of the Presenter View in .ppsx files. That's annoying, and weird. So, my next method would be to save as a .pptm (macro-enabled .pptx) and use VBA to launch the slideshow, which would bring up Presenter View. But irritatingly, PowerPoint doesn't allow you to execute macros on open - so we need another workaround. You could download an auto_open PowerPoint add-in to give this functionality, or you could use something like a macro-enabled Excel file to call the .pptx on open. Bit painful but it can be done. –  Andi Mohr Commented Jul 7, 2017 at 15:51
• Frustrating, so close and yet so far. I think I'll just leave an instruction on screen 'open powerpoint, click these two buttons' and be done with it. There is only so much you can automate away :) Thanks for you help. –  Patrick Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 8:38

I achieved this by the following

I Added a macro to the Powerpoint presentation

Then start the powerpoint presentation from the command line with

I used a 2003 presentation in 2016 - so the extension for presentations containing macros is ppt not pptm.

The remaining issue I have is that when I close the presentation it prompts to save - it does not do this if I load and run it using the GUI.

I think I'm a bit late, but this might be helpful to others.

The best way I could find to start in presenter mode is by pressing Alt F5 . It will start from the first slide, though. If you want to start from the current slide, you might need to use the sequence Alt S C . But it doesn't work if you press each individually, they have to be pressed at the same time. Also, this second metho does a weird error sound and I couldn't figure out why.

Anyway, if you are ok about starting on the first slide, Alt S will do just fine.

Source: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/use-keyboard-shortcuts-to-deliver-powerpoint-presentations-1524ffce-bd2a-45f4-9a7f-f18b992b93a0

• (1) The question says “with no additional user interaction”. It sounds like you’re just offering a different form of user interaction. (2) Or rather, three different forms. What’s the relationship between Alt+F5 and Alt+S? –  Scott - Слава Україні Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 23:38

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Productivity

The PowerPoint Online Guide: How to Make and Present Slideshows Anywhere

Over the past thirty years, PowerPoint has become synonymous with presentations. Give a speech, present a new product, share finances in a board meeting—all are typically done with a PowerPoint presentation. That’s easy enough if you’re presenting from your laptop and have Microsoft Office installed.

Or it can be far more difficult. You might need to email your slide deck to the event organizer—and hope they have the same version of PowerPoint installed. Or you may carry your PowerPoint file around on a flash drive to open it on the presentation computer. Neither are great solutions, especially for all the times you need to make a last-minute change to your slides or if you don’t typically use Microsoft Office.

A Quick Guide to Office Online

If you’ve ever used the iPad or Android tablet versions of Office, Office Online will feel instantly familiar. The basics are the same. Each Office Online app includes an Office-style toolbar with Home , Insert , Design , and other tabs to organize core editing tools. Office Online apps don’t include all of their Windows features. They include instead a focused set of editing tools that, for most documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, are all you need.

The big difference is that the apps are online. Instead of emailing files back and forth, or syncing changes via OneDrive or Dropbox then sending messages to colleagues when something’s finished, changes happen automatically in Office Online. Your team can open files at the same time, make changes or add comments, and Office will save and sync it to all your OneDrive accounts automatically. Office Online apps also work everywhere. Open any browser, go to Office.com, and your work is ready to pick up where you left off.

Office Online is free for personal use—log into Office.com with a Microsoft account and fill up OneDrive’s free 5GB of storage with all your Office files. A business version is included with Office 365 for business and enterprise accounts as well.

The basics are the same. If you’ve used PowerPoint before, you’ll feel at home in PowerPoint online. Here are the things to keep in mind, the tips to help you work efficiently in your browser, and ways to work around Office Online’s limitations.

A Quick PowerPoint Online Tour

Select a template or open an existing presentation to open it in PowerPoint Online. With a similar design to recent versions of PowerPoint for Mac and Windows, you’ll find the core text and design tools on the main Home tab, options to add images and embedded videos and tables in the Insert tab, slide and template options in the Design tab, animations in the Transitions and Animations tab, and so on. If you can’t find the feature you need, type what you need in the Tell me what you want to do box to search through PowerPoint’s features and documentation.

Need to edit a picture or tweak a SmartArt graph? Select it, and a new Format tab will appear with additional tools as in desktop PowerPoint.

You may not need to look through the toolbars for tools, though. Select text in a slide and PowerPoint shows quick formatting options in a pop-over to change the font, color, and more. Or right-click on most other elements to find their quick editing options. You can then double-click on the toolbar to hide it and increase your workspace, if you’d like, relying on the popover tools to work faster.

Add a new slide: Ctrl + M or CMD + M

Move slides up or down: Ctrl + arrow or CMD + arrow

Add a comment: Alt + N

Go to next slide in Slideshow view: N

Go to previous slide in Slideshow view: P

Go to a specific slide in Slideshow view: G , then type slide number

Exit Slideshow view: Esc

How to Add Presentations to PowerPoint Online

PowerPoint Online is part of Microsoft’s OneDrive file storage. Open a PowerPoint file in OneDrive, and it’ll first show a preview with the option to edit it online.

But surprisingly, PowerPoint Online also works with Dropbox. That gives you another way to open your presentations online. You can save your presentations to either OneDrive or Dropbox, and then when you open PowerPoint Online, you can search through your presentations from both services. Either way, any change you make will automatically be saved to the original file.

The Dropbox integration only works for newer .pptx files. To open .ppt files, download them first, then upload them to PowerPoint Online or OneDrive. When you open them there, PowerPoint will automatically make a copy then convert the presentation to the new format so you can edit it online.

Or, if you have a PowerPoint file on your computer, open PowerPoint Online first, click the Upload a Presentation button, then select your presentation to upload it to OneDrive and open it for editing in PowerPoint Online at the same time.

How to Collaborate on PowerPoint Presentations

Want someone else to proofread your slides, or add their research to a team presentation? That’s easy in PowerPoint Online. From your presentation, click the Share button in the top right toolbar.

The default option is to email an invite link along with a message to your collaborators. You can choose to make the presentation editable or view only and can require a Microsoft account or not.

Or, you can copy a share link to send to anyone or share publicly online if you’d like. Select the Get a link tab to copy a link to your presentation—again, as a view-only presentation or with permission to edit. Here, if you make an editing link, anyone can tweak the presentation without signing into an account.

PowerPoint Online will show an icon beside the slide your collaborator is currently editing and will mark the section they’re working on in the same color. You can’t see the exact changes they make while they’re editing—changes take a few seconds to sync—so it’s best not to edit the same slide others are editing at the same time.

Want to chat with your collaborators? As long as everyone has a Skype account, you can open a Skype sidebar and talk with them in your PowerPoint presentation.

What’s Not In PowerPoint Online?

The core editing features are all here. You can add and edit text, photos, shapes, and SmartArt in PowerPoint online, add core transitions and animations to slides and elements, and present your presentation all from PowerPoint Online.

One of the main differences from PowerPoint’s desktop apps are the embedding options. In desktop versions of PowerPoint, you can embed video and audio from your computer, along with data from other Office apps and macros. In PowerPoint Online, you can embed online videos from YouTube—along with graphs and data from PowerBI and other add-ins in the Office Add-ins pane.

Animations are also more limited in PowerPoint Online. It includes only eight transitions, including Fade and Push , with animations that don’t require graphics acceleration. If you add a presentation that uses other animations from PowerPoint for Windows or Mac, you’ll need to select others or present without animations.

Fonts are another core difference. PowerPoint Online includes 18 fonts, including Arial, Comic Sans, Courier New, Garamond, Georgia, Rockwell, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Verdana. You can’t install 3rd party fonts or choose fonts you have installed on your computer.

So, to make sure your PowerPoint presentations look great everywhere, stick with the fonts included with PowerPoint Online. That’s easy as they’re the only options in PowerPoint Online, but if you use another PowerPoint app, try using the Web fonts as they’re mainly fonts that work everywhere.

If you upload a presentation that uses a font not included in PowerPoint Online, you can still view the text in the correct font in PowerPoint Online on your computer or another computer with that font installed. If you don’t have the font installed, PowerPoint Online will replace that font with another similar font.

Beyond that, though, PowerPoint Online is surprisingly full-featured. It includes everything you need for making and showing presentations online—as long as you don’t need to use custom fonts, embed non-YouTube videos, or build advanced animations.

How to Present PowerPoint Presentations From Your Browser

Once you’ve finished creating your presentation, it’s time to present it. That’s as easy in PowerPoint Online as in the desktop apps. You can start the slideshow from the slide you’re currently editing via the Slide View button in the lower right-hand corner. Or, click the View tab and select to start the slideshow from the beginning or current slide.

PowerPoint Online will switch your browser to a full-screen preview mode. Click anywhere on the screen to go to the next slide, or tap your right and left arrows on your keyboard to navigate between slides. When finished, click again at the end of the presentation or press the Esc key to exit the slideshow and switch back to the windowed editor mode.

PowerPoint also includes controls on the lower left of the slideshow view, along with options in the right-click menu to switch slides or jump to a specific slide.

PowerPoint Online doesn’t include presenter view to show lecture notes on one screen while presenting your presentation on another—but there’s a workaround. While you’re giving your presentation full-screen, your browser with the original PowerPoint Online tab won’t show your slide content (Chrome hides the original window; Safari shows a Exit Full Screen placeholder). Instead, you can open a new tab or window and open your presentation there as well.

When you switch slides, move your mouse to your projection screen and click to advance—then move your mouse back to your laptop’s screen and select the next slide in your other PowerPoint Online window. Another option is to open your presentation in PowerPoint’s mobile apps and use your phone or tablet to view lecture notes while presenting from your laptop.

How to Convert PowerPoint Presentations Online

PowerPoint Online—unlike PowerPoint for Windows or Mac—can only open .pptx presentation files made with a newer version of PowerPoint. If you open an older .ppt file or a .odp presentation from another app, PowerPoint Online can convert the file to .pptx on the fly so you can edit the presentation.

But once you’ve opened the presentation, you can export it in 3 formats: PowerPoint, ODP (used with OpenOffice), or PDF. Click the File tab in the toolbar to open the core PowerPoint menu, select Download As , then choose the file format you want. PowerPoint Online will convert your presentation and save it to your computer so that you can share the original file with others.

The best option is to share the PowerPoint presentation directly in PowerPoint Online—but when you need a traditional presentation file, that’s a handy way to get it.

How to Save All Your Presentations to PowerPoint Online

There’s one trick to make PowerPoint Online the presentation app that’s always ready when you need it is: Save all your presentations to OneDrive or Dropbox. That way, whenever you need to present something, it’ll be a few clicks away inside PowerPoint Online.

If you already use OneDrive or Dropbox to sync your files, you’re halfway there. Save every new presentation there, every time. Whenever someone sends you a presentation, save it there also.

App automation tool Zapier can do that for you automatically. One of the most common ways to share presentations is through email—so Zapier can watch your Gmail or IMAP-powered email account for new presentation files. With Gmail, you can include a search to watch for presentation files. Use has:presentation to watch for any presentation—though note that this will also include Google Slides presentations which won’t work with PowerPoint Online. Or, use filename:pptx OR filename:ppt to watch for all PowerPoint attachments.

Then, Zapier can save the presentation file to online storage to open and edit it in PowerPoint Online. The simplest is OneDrive since it’s PowerPoint Online’s core storage, though you could use Dropbox instead as it only takes a few extra clicks to open your presentations there.

You can save the presentation in any folder, and add a customized file name if you’d like. Then select the attachment from Gmail or your IMAP email and have Zapier copy that file to OneDrive or Dropbox. Next time you need to present something someone emailed you, don’t open your email app—instead, open PowerPoint Online and open the presentation there directly.

Ready to save any presentation you get emailed to PowerPoint Online? These Zaps will help you get started in a few clicks—remember to set up your search or filter to watch only for PowerPoint files:

Save new Gmail attachments to OneDrive

Save new email attachments to OneDrive

Save new attachments in Gmail to Dropbox

Back up new IMAP email attachments to Dropbox

That’s PowerPoint Online. It’s a handy way to tweak and present your presentation, even if you don’t have a copy of PowerPoint installed. And it just might be the new presentation app you need for a more focused, free way to make presentations anywhere.

Need more presentation tips and tools? Check out these other Zapier guides:

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Matthew Guay

Matthew Guay is an editor and writer in Bangkok. When he's not writing, he's likely reading a new book or exploring random streets in a new city. Follow Matthew at @maguay.

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Use compatibility mode to work with different versions of PowerPoint

Even if you don’t have the latest version of PowerPoint, you can open and work with an older PowerPoint file. If you do have the latest version, compatibility mode makes it possible to work with the older file formats, too. You can also Run Compatibility Checker to ensure that your presentation does not have compatibility issues, and if you no longer need compatibility with earlier versions of PowerPoint, you can convert a presentation to the current file type.

For more information about compatibility mode, see About compatibility mode in PowerPoint .

Turn on compatibility mode

Saving your PowerPoint presentation (.pptx) as an earlier version, such as PowerPoint 97-2003 (.ppt), automatically turns on compatibility mode.

Open a PowerPoint presentation.

On the File tab, click Save As , and then click Browse .

In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation (*.ppt) .

Click Save .

Note:  After you click Save , you might get a compatibility checker alert like the one below, telling you which features might be lost or degraded when saving the presentation in the earlier version.

Open the file in an earlier version of PowerPoint.

Note:  To find out which PowerPoint features could change or become unavailable, see PowerPoint 2013 and 2016 features behave differently in earlier versions .

Turn off compatibility mode

To turn off compatibility mode, simply save the presentation in PowerPoint (.pptx) format.

Open the presentation in PowerPoint.

In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click PowerPoint Presentation (*.pptx) .

Run Compatibility Checker

To ensure that your presentation does not have compatibility issues that cause reduced functionality or fidelity in earlier versions of PowerPoint, you can run the Compatibility Checker. The Compatibility Checker finds any potential compatibility issues in your presentation and helps you create a report so that you can resolve them.

Open the presentation that you want to check for compatibility.

Click the File > Info , and then next to Inspect Presentation , click Check for Issues > Check Compatibility .

Note:  To check your presentation for compatibility every time that you save it, in the Microsoft PowerPoint Compatibility Checker dialog box, select the Check compatibility when saving in PowerPoint 97-2003 formats check box.

Convert your presentation to a later version of PowerPoint

If you no longer need to work in compatibility mode because people you work with have upgraded to later version or you want the full functionality of PowerPoint, you can convert a PowerPoint 97–2003 presentation to a file formatted for your version of PowerPoint. Converting saves the presentation as a .pptx file.

In PowerPoint, open the presentation that you want to convert to the most recent PowerPoint format.

The presentation automatically opens in compatibility mode.

Click the File > Info .

Next to Compatibility Mode , click Convert ., and then click Save in the Save As dialog box.

About compatibility mode in PowerPoint

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