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How to set a custom template as the default in powerpoint.

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Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides: Which Is Best?

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Microsoft PowerPoint allows users to set a custom template as the default theme when creating a new presentation. This provides a way for users to immediately start building a slideshow using a template specially designed for them.

Creating a custom template in PowerPoint is quite easy. To get started, go ahead and open a blank PowerPoint presentation. You can do so by opening PowerPoint, selecting “New” in the left pane, and then selecting “Blank Presentation” from the template library.

Now, with your blank presentation ready, go ahead and select the slide orientation and size, which you can do by choosing the “Slide Size” option in the “Customize” group of the “Design” tab.

Once you’re finished with that, it’s time to open PowerPoint’s Slide Master, which is where the rest of the customization will take place. To access the slide master, click on the “View” tab and select “Slide Master” in the “Master Views” group.

The Slide Master will appear in the left pane. Here, you can customize the fonts, headings, colors, text and image box placement, and more.

Related: How to Create a Custom Template in PowerPoint

Once you’re happy with your setup, save your template and exit out of PowerPoint. After that, it’s time to set it as the default template that PowerPoint opens with.

To set your custom theme as the default, open PowerPoint, select “New” in the left pane, and then click the “Custom” tab.

Next, select the “Custom Office Templates” option.

Your custom templates will appear. Select the one you want to make the default template.

A new window will appear, giving you a preview of the template and some basic information (if you input any). Click the  “Create" button.

Next, head over to the “Design” tab and select the “More” arrow in the “Themes” group.

A list of themes will appear. Right-click your custom theme and then select “Set as Default Theme” from the drop-down menu.

Now, the next time you open PowerPoint, it will automatically begin with this theme.

• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• office 2019

How to Start PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Starting PowerPoint is as easy as opening the program and selecting a template or a blank presentation. Once you’ve got the program open, you’ll be greeted with various options to create your perfect presentation, whether it’s for a business meeting, a school project, or just for fun. Just be sure you have PowerPoint installed on your computer or you have access to it online through Microsoft 365.

After you’ve opened PowerPoint and selected your template, you’ll be able to add text, images, videos, and other elements to your slides to make your presentation unique and engaging.

Introduction

PowerPoint is a versatile tool used by millions to create engaging and dynamic presentations. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or someone who just wants to make a fun slideshow for friends and family, knowing how to start PowerPoint is a must-have skill in today’s digital world. This program has been around for decades, evolving with technology to offer a wide range of features that can make any presentation go from bland to brilliant.

But why is it so important to know how to start PowerPoint? Well, think about it. Presentations are a key part of communication in various settings. They can make or break a business pitch, help or hinder a teacher’s lesson, and add a lot of fun to personal projects. PowerPoint is relevant to just about anyone who needs to convey information in a visual and organized way. So let’s dive in and get started on mastering the basics of opening and using PowerPoint.

Step by Step Tutorial: Starting PowerPoint

Before we begin, make sure you have PowerPoint installed on your computer. If you do, fantastic! If not, you can download it from the Microsoft website or access it online through Microsoft 365. Ready? Let’s go!

Step 1: Open PowerPoint

Launch PowerPoint by clicking on the program icon on your computer.

Once you’ve found the PowerPoint icon, either on your desktop, start menu, or taskbar, give it a click, and the program will open. You may see a loading screen briefly before the main window appears.

Step 2: Choose a Template

Select a template or a blank presentation to start creating your slides.

PowerPoint offers a variety of templates to fit every need and occasion. Whether you want something simple and professional or colorful and creative, there’s a template for you. If you prefer to start from scratch, you can choose a blank presentation.

Step 3: Customize Your Slides

Add text, images, videos, and other elements to your slides.

Once you’ve picked your template or opened a blank slide, it’s time to make it your own. You can add title text, bullet points, images, and even videos. PowerPoint has a range of tools for customizing each slide to fit your content perfectly.

Additional Information

When starting PowerPoint, it’s essential to keep your audience in mind. Who will be viewing your presentation? What is the main message you want to convey? Answering these questions can help you choose the right template and design elements. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different fonts, colors, and layouts to find what works best for your content.

Remember, a well-organized and visually appealing presentation can significantly impact your audience’s engagement and retention of information. Also, consider using PowerPoint’s various features like transitions and animations sparingly – while they can add a dynamic touch, overuse can be distracting. And always save your work regularly!

• Open PowerPoint by clicking on the program icon.
• Select a template or a blank presentation.
• Customize your slides by adding text, images, videos, and other elements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do i need a microsoft account to use powerpoint.

Yes, to download and use PowerPoint, you’ll need a Microsoft account.

Can I access PowerPoint online?

Absolutely, PowerPoint is available online through Microsoft 365, which allows you to work on presentations from any browser.

Is PowerPoint free?

PowerPoint is not free, but it is included in the Microsoft Office Suite, which is available for purchase. However, you can use the online version with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Can I collaborate with others on a PowerPoint presentation?

Yes, PowerPoint supports collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same presentation simultaneously.

Can I convert a PowerPoint presentation to a video?

Indeed, PowerPoint has a feature that lets you save your presentation as a video file.

Starting PowerPoint is just the beginning of creating compelling and memorable presentations. Whether you use a template or start from a blank canvas, the key to a great PowerPoint presentation is creativity, clarity, and audience engagement. Remember, practice makes perfect!

So go ahead and play around with all the tools and features PowerPoint offers. The more you use it, the more proficient you’ll become. And if you ever get stuck, there’s a vast community of PowerPoint users and an array of online resources to help you out. Now that you know how to start PowerPoint, where will your presentations take you?

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• Presentation Design
• January 22, 2024

In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.

While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.

Table of Contents

Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:

• Change the slide order
• Reset your layout
• Change the slide dimensions
• Use PowerPoint Designer
• Format text
• Format objects
• Play a presentation (slide show)

With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.

Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?

Take your PPT skills to the next level

Start with a blank presentation.

Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.

For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation  here .

The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.

This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).

For now, go ahead and click on the  Blank Presentation (1)  thumbnail.

Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.

The PowerPoint interface

Here is how the program is laid out:

• The Application Header
• The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
• The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
• The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)

The Slide Area

The notes pane.

• The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)

Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.

Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.

The PowerPoint Ribbon

The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.

For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).

Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:

• Online Pictures
• Screenshots
• Screen Recording

The Slides Pane

This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.

Right-clicking on a slide  in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as  Duplicate Slide ,  Delete Slide , and  Hide Slide .

In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by  right-clicking anywhere in this Pane  and selecting  Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.

The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.

Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.

The  Notes Pane  is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.

To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .

Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .

You can resize the  Notes Pane  by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).

Note:  Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .

Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.

Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation

Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called  Placeholders  and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .

To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .

As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.

Note:  For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.

If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the  Autofit Options  icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting  Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .

Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the  Paragraph area  of the  Home  tab of the Ribbon.

The Reset Command:  If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .

Insert More Slides into Your Presentation

Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the  Home tab  and click on  New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.

You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .

Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.

If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.

After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.

If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:

• Title Slide
• Title and Content
• Section Header
• Two Content
• Picture with Caption

Adding Content to Your Slides

Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.

On slide 2 we have a  Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:

• A SmartArt graphic,
• A 3D object,
• A picture from the web,
• Or an icon.

To insert text, simply type it in or hit  Ctrl+C to Copy  and Ctrl+V to Paste  from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.

For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.

Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.

On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:

• A picture from the web

To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:

• Click on the  Picture  icon
• Find  a picture on your computer and select it
• Click on  Insert

Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.

If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .

Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.

You can use either the Title Only  or the  Blank  slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.

In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.

The Reset Command:  Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the  Reset button up in the  Home tab  won’t do anything.

That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.

For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:

• Using graphics in PowerPoint
• Inserting icons onto slides
• Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
• How to embed a video in PowerPoint
• How to add music to your presentation

Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas

If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.

To use Designer , simply navigate to the  Design tab  in your Ribbon, and click on  Design Ideas .

NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .

Change the Overall Design (optional)

When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.

For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation,  read my guide here .

A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size

If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.

However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.

For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).

You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).

To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation,  read my guide here .

 B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme

The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it,  read my article here .

In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.

That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.

If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.

Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.

To select a different theme, go to the  Design tab  in the Ribbon, and click on the  dropdown arrow  in the  Themes section .

For this tutorial, let’s select the  Frame  theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.

Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .

C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint

The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the  Variants area, you can see four background options.

For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:

• The background color automatically changes across all slides
• The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
• The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)

Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .

After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.

Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:

• Gradient fill
• Picture or texture fill
• Pattern fill
• Hide background

You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.

D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint

Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.

Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).

The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:

• Go to the  Design tab in the Ribbon
• In the Variants area, click on the  dropdown arrow  and select  Colors
• Select  the color palette (or theme colors) you want

You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.

As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.

E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint

Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.

Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.

The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:

• Go to the  Design tab  in the Ribbon
• Click on the  dropdown arrow  in the  Variants  area
• Select  Fonts
• Select  the font pairing you want

You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.

If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .

If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .

Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)

The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.

A. Adding PowerPoint animations

PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.

Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.

To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:

• Select the  element
• Go to the  Animations tab in the Ribbon
• Click on the  dropdown arrow  to view your options
• Select the  animation  you want

You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.

B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation

There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:

• Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
• Click on the little star  next to the slide
• Play the slide in Slide Show Mode

To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .

To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the  Effect Options ,  Advanced Animation  and the  Timing  areas of the  Animation tab .

Note:  To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button,  read our guide here .

C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint

The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:

• Navigate to the  Animations tab
• Select the  Animation Pane

Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.

Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .

D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation

PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.

In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.

To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:

• Select the  slide
• Go to the  Transitions tab in the Ribbon
• In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the  dropdown arrow  to view your options
• Select the  transition  you want

To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the  Timing  area of the Transitions tab.

You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the  Slides Pane  and apply the transition.

E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint

There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):

• Click on the Preview  button in the Transitions tab
• Click on the little star  beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view

Note:  In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition,  see our step-by-step article here .

Save Your PowerPoint Presentation

After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.

To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:

• Navigate to the  File tab
•  Select  Save As  on the left
• Choose  where you want to save your presentation
• Name  your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
• Click  Save

You can alternatively use the  Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.

This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.

To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .

How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template

Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.

But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.

If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .

Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation

After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.

To open the Print dialog box, you can either:

• Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
• Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print

Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:

• Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
• Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
• Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
• Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
• Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white

There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:

• How to print multiple slides per page
• How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
• How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation

So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.

When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.

If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by  visiting us here .

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PowerPoint  - Creating and Opening Presentations

Powerpoint  -, creating and opening presentations, powerpoint creating and opening presentations.

PowerPoint: Creating and Opening Presentations

Lesson 3: creating and opening presentations.

/en/powerpoint/understanding-onedrive/content/

Introduction

PowerPoint files are called presentations . Whenever you start a new project in PowerPoint, you'll need to create a new presentation , which can either be blank or from a template . You'll also need to know how to open an existing presentation .

Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening presentations in PowerPoint.

To create a new presentation:

When beginning a new project in PowerPoint, you'll often want to start with a new blank presentation.

• A new presentation will appear.

To create a new presentation from a template:

A template is a predesigned presentation you can use to create a new slide show quickly. Templates often include custom formatting and designs , so they can save you a lot of time and effort when starting a new project.

• Click the File tab to access Backstage view , then select New .

• A preview of the template will appear, along with additional information on how the template can be used.

• A new presentation will appear with the selected template .

It's important to note that not all templates are created by Microsoft. Many are created by third-party providers and even individual users, so some templates may work better than others.

To open an existing presentation:

In addition to creating new presentations, you'll often need to open a presentation that was previously saved. To learn more about saving presentations, review our lesson on Saving Presentations .

Most features in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint, are geared toward saving and sharing documents online . This is done with OneDrive , which is an online storage space for your documents and files. If you want to use OneDrive, make sure you’re signed in to PowerPoint with your Microsoft account. Review our lesson on Understanding OneDrive to learn more.

To pin a presentation:

If you frequently work with the same presentation , you can pin it to Backstage view for easy access.

• Select the File tab to go to Backstage view , then click Open . Your Recent Presentations will appear.

Compatibility Mode

Sometimes you may need to work with presentations that were created in earlier versions of PowerPoint, like PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint 2000. When you open these types of presentations, they will appear in Compatibility Mode .

Compatibility Mode disables certain features, so you'll only be able to access commands found in the program that was used to create the presentation. For example, if you open a presentation created in PowerPoint 2003, you can only use tabs and commands found in PowerPoint 2003.

In the image below, you can see at the top of the window that the presentation is in Compatibility Mode. This will disable some current PowerPoint features, including newer types of slide transitions.

To exit Compatibility Mode, you'll need to convert the presentation to the current version type. However, if you're collaborating with others who only have access to an earlier version of PowerPoint, it's best to leave the presentation in Compatibility Mode so the format will not change.

You can review this support page from Microsoft to learn more about which features are disabled in Compatibility Mode.

To convert a presentation:

If you want access to the newer features, you can convert the presentation to the current file format.

Note that converting a file may cause some changes to the original layout of the presentation.

• The presentation will be converted to the newest file type.
• Open our practice presentation .
• Notice that the presentation opens in Compatibility Mode . Convert it to the current file format. If a dialog box appears asking if you would like to close and reopen the file in order to see the new features, choose Yes .
• In Backstage view, pin a file or folder.

/en/powerpoint/saving-presentations/content/

Creating a Blank Presentation

When you create a new, blank presentationby choosing Blank Presentation in the New Presentation pane or by clicking the New icon on the Standard toolbarPowerPoint generates a new presentation and displays the Slide Layout task pane (see Figure 4 ).

Figure 4. Use the Slide Layout pane to specify which placeholders will go on a slide and where they will sit.

When you begin with a blank presentation, PowerPoint starts with a single title slide. Although it's a tedious way to work, you can build your presentation from this view, one slide at a time. Aim your mouse pointer at the layout that matches the kind of slide you want to add, click the arrow to the right of the slide layout icon, and choose Insert New Slide from the menu.

In a blank PowerPoint presentation, each new slide you create is completely free of any design elements whatsoever. You get a white background, with text formatted in the Arial font (44-point for slide titles and 32-point for body text) and generic round bullets.

It is hard to imagine a layout more dull than this default design. To replace it with one that contains coordinated colors, fonts, and graphics, click the Design icon on the Formatting toolbar (or choose Slide Design from the drop-down list at the top of the task pane). The Slide Design pane (see Figure 5 ) appears.

Figure 5. Switch to this larger preview to get a better picture of what each design template looks like.

When you click the icon for a design template, PowerPoint immediately applies the design to all slides in your presentation. The icons offer a thumbnail-sized preview of the design, but there's no substitute for experimentation. Feel free to apply different designs to the current presentation and then flip through the slides to see what each design looks like; if your presentation includes important content, create a copy first so that you don't have to worry about inadvertently messing up the existing design.

If you regularly prepare presentations for an organization or company that has certain standards for all presentationslogo in a specific location, identification of title slides, and so onyou might want to customize PowerPoint's "blank" presentation so that it reflects those standards. That way, whenever you begin a new presentation you'll have the basic requirements out of the way before you type your first bullet point.

To replace the PowerPoint default blank presentation with one of your own design, follow these steps:

With a Blank Presentation file in the correct location, all "blank" presentations whether created via the New Presentation task pane or using the New icon on the Standard toolbarwill be based on that file.

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How can I make new slides in powerpoint blank by default?

enter image description here

I want to disable this stupid text that I have to manually remove from new slides globally for all current and future presentations.

• microsoft-powerpoint
• microsoft-office-2016
• 2 You shouldn't have to delete it: double-click and start typing; the place-holder text disappears. –  DrMoishe Pippik Commented Nov 20, 2022 at 21:01
• You might also wish to Create your own default presentation . –  harrymc Commented Nov 20, 2022 at 21:10
• I tried making a template but that only makes the first slide blank with no place holders, when I make a new slide within the presentation, the place holders appear. I use powerpoint to manage projects, not to make slideshows. So although they aren't visible during slideshows, the fact that they are during the main editor screen causes me an inconveinence in deleting them. –  user1740026 Commented Nov 21, 2022 at 0:03

Do you need the text box?

If not, I suggest you go to View > Slide Master, delete the text box of Office Theme Slide Master and the Title Slide layout.

Then close Master View.

Delete the first slide and insert new blank slide.

You must log in to answer this question.

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How To Import PowerPoint Template? [Step-by-Step Tutorial!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

When you want to change the design of your presentation but don’t have enough time, try using a template. Microsoft PowerPoint has a variety of built-in templates or you want to take it to another level by importing custom templates to your presentation.

To import PowerPoint Template, open your presentation and click on the “File” tab. Then, choose the “Office” option under the “Blank Presentation” option in the “New” screen. Click on your preferred template and hit “Create” to download the template.

Are you constantly using the same theme? Would you like to change the design of each new presentation? This article is a complete guide on how to import a template to a new or existing presentation as well as how can you save a custom PowerPoint template.

Let’s get started!

1. How to Insert PowerPoint Template?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can add custom templates to a presentation file using the “File” menu. Using templates in your PowerPoint presentation makes the slides look more connected and coherent. To add a PowerPoint template to a blank presentation, follow the 5 easy steps.

Step-1: Click on the “File” tab

The first step is to open any PowerPoint presentation file. Then click on the “File” tab, the first option in the menu ribbon at the top of the screen. 

Step-2: Click on the “New” option

The next step is to open a new presentation file with a template. To do so, click on the “New” option in the sidebar located at the left side of the screen in the “File” menu.

Step-3: Click on the “Office” option

Under the “Blank Presentation” option in the “New” screen, click on the “Office” option. This will show all the PowerPoint templates available in Office 365. 

Step-4: Select your preferred template

You can scroll down to find your preferred template. You can also click on the search bar under the “Office” option to look for a specific template. Then all you have to do is click on your preferred template. This will open a dialog box.

Step-5: Click on the “Create” button

The final step is to download the template. Click the “Create” button in the dialog box to download the template. The new presentation file containing the template slides will open automatically once the download is complete. 

2. How to Import Custom PowerPoint Template?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to create and add custom presentation templates. Using the “File” menu, you can import a custom template to a new presentation or even an existing presentation. 

2.1 How to Apply a Template to a New Presentation?

To apply a custom template to a new presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint, all you have to do is follow the 5 quick steps.

The first step is to open a new presentation. To do so, you can click on the “File” tab in the menu ribbon of any PowerPoint presentation file. This will open the “File” menu.

In the “File” menu, click on the “New” option. It is the second option in the sidebar located on the left side of the screen. This will open the “New” screen. 

Step-3: Click on the “Personal” option

Now you can open a custom template. Click on the “Personal” option under the “Blank Presentation” option in the “New” screen. This will show all the custom PowerPoint templates available on your device. 

Step-4: Select your preferred custom template

All you have to do now is click on the custom template that you want to use. This will open a dialog box.

In the dialog box, click on the “Create” button to open a new presentation file with the selected template automatically applied to it.

2.2 How to Apply a Template to an Existing Presentation?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you cannot apply a new custom template to an existing presentation file. However, you can import existing slides into a custom template file. All you have to do is follow the 6 simple steps.

Step-1: Apply a custom template to a new presentation 

The first step is to apply your preferred custom template to a new presentation. To do so, follow the steps detailed in section 2.1 .

Step-2: Select the existing presentation slides

The next step is to open the existing presentation where you want to apply the custom template. Then click on the slide thumbnail pane on the left side of the screen to select the slide thumbnail. Press the “Ctrl+A” keys on your keyboard to select all the slides from the slide thumbnail pane. 

Step-3: Click on the “Copy” option

You have to now copy all the existing slides. “Right Click” on the slide thumbnail pane and click on the “Copy” option in the right-click menu. Alternatively, you can press the “Ctrl+C” keys on your keyboard to copy all the slides simultaneously. 

Step-4: Select the template slides

The next step is to open the new presentation file containing the template slide. Click on the slide thumbnail pane located on the left side of the screen. Then press the “Ctrl+A” keys on your keyboard to select all the template slides. 

Step-5: Click on the “Delete Slide” option

“Right Click” on the slide thumbnails and click on the “Delete Slide” option from the right-click menu. You can alternatively press the “Delete” key on your keyboard to remove all the template slides. 

Step-6: Click on the “Use Destination Theme” option

Now all you have to do is click on the down arrow under the “Paste” option in the “Home” menu in the template file. In the dropdown menu under the “Paste” button, click on the “Use Destination Theme” option to paste the existing slides into the new template design. 

3. How to Save Custom PowerPoint Template?

To create a custom template in PowerPoint, you can simply save a presentation as a “PowerPoint Template (.potx)” file. To do so, follow the 4 easy steps.

Step-1: Click on the “File” menu

In the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen, click on the “File” tab. This will open the “File” menu. 

Step-2: Click on the “Save As” option

In the “File” menu, click on the “Save As” option from the sidebar located at the left side of the screen. 

Step-3: Click on the “File Type” box

In the “Save As” screen, click on the “File Type” box that shows “PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)” by default. Then click on the “PowerPoint Template (.potx)” option in the dropdown menu under the “File Type” box.

Step-4: Click on the “Save” button

Now all you have to do is click on the “Save” button next to the “File Type” box to save the PowerPoint file as a custom template. 

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• Presentations

How to Learn PowerPoint Quickly (Complete 2024 Beginner's Guide + Video)

Trying to figure out how to use PowerPoint? This PowerPoint tutorial for beginners will help get you started. Learn basic tools as well as how to use PowerPoint templates in this PowerPoint beginner's guide. 

In this PowerPoint tutorial for beginners, I'll help you get up and running in Microsoft PowerPoint. Ever wanted to know how to use PowerPoint templates? You'll learn how to use PowerPoint to build a presentation in less time than you ever thought possible. We'll also cover some PowerPoint best practices to make sure you're doing things the easy way.

Remember to check out Envato Elements. One low price gets you unlimited access to thousands of professional PowerPoint presentations —as well as fonts, stock photos, audio, and much more! It's the ultimate resource for fast, simple, and professional assets.

Guide to Making Great Presentations (Free eBook Download)

Before you read on, be sure to grab our free eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It'll help you master the presentation process, from initial idea through to writing, design, and delivering with impact.

How to Learn PowerPoint Quickly (Beginner Tutorial With Tips Video) 

Are you ready to start learning PowerPoint? Watch this quick screencast to learn all about what PowerPoint is and how to use it . It's a perfect PowerPoint tutorial for beginners. 

Or study the complete written tutorial below.

Jump to content in this section:

What Is PowerPoint?

How to use powerpoint's ribbon, the steps to create a powerpoint presentation for beginners, how to power up powerpoint, how to customize a premium ppt template quickly (in 5 simple steps), powerpoint tools to learn (for presenters), 5 tips and tricks for a successful powerpoint presentation, more beginner powerpoint tutorials (free to learn online).

Microsoft PowerPoint is undoubtedly the most popular app used to give presentations. You're likely to see PowerPoint presentations being used for everything from presentations at the world's largest companies to grade schoolteachers sharing lessons.

PowerPoint is often the butt of the joke. Many decry PowerPoint as boring and a crutch for poorly prepared speakers.

Only a bad carpenter blames the tools. And like any tool, PowerPoint is incredibly useful when used properly. Use it as an aid on your speaking engagements to build comfort and drive points visually with your audience.

In this tutorial, we're going to focus on working inside of PowerPoint to build a presentation. This PowerPoint guide has everything you need to get comfortable in the app. To master the app, we'll talk about and cover the most common steps a rookie PowerPoint user needs to know.

Here are the key actions you'll need to take to build a PowerPoint presentation:

• You'll need to add  slides,  the individual pages in the presentation.
• You'll add  content  to the slides, such as text boxes, images, charts and graphs.
• Change themes and styles  to make your presentation look professional and fit the occasion at hand.
• Prepare presentation aids like  Speaker Notes  and Presenter View to help you feel comfortable with presenting.

We'll cover each of these in this PowerPoint tutorial so that you can get up and running quickly. 

To get up to speed with PowerPoint, it helps to understand the layout of the app. Let's walk through the key menu options so that you can learn PowerPoint quickly. If you understand the way that the app is laid out, you're likely to find any feature you need quickly.

This part of the PowerPoint guide will focus on the interface. Note that these previews are in Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac OS, but the same will apply for PC.

1. The Ribbon

The ribbon menu is found across many of Microsoft's apps, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It lives above the main area of the application. In this example, "Home" is the selected tab in the Ribbon.

The ribbon contains a series of tabs that you can switch between. Each of these have a unique set of tools to work with your presentation differently. When you switch tabs on the ribbon, you'll see new buttons and options to change your presentation:

• Home . A general-purpose collection of the most common tools that you'll use in PowerPoint.
• Insert . An all-in-one tool to add every imagine-able type of content, such as tables, pictures, charts, video, and more.
• Draw. Use this tab to draw elements in your presentation.
• Design . Controls the look and feel of your presentation with theme and style settings.
• Transitions . Add animations when you switch slides.
• Animations . Controls the order and style that objects will enter or exit your slide with.
• Slide Show . Control settings related to the way your presentation appears when sharing it with an audience.
• Review. Check spelling, check accessibility, and leave comments on your presentation here.
• View. You can choose multiple ways to view your work from this tab. 
• Record. Record video, audio, or take a screenshot here.
• Acrobat. You can create PDF files using Adobe Acrobat from this tab.
• Tell Me. Click this to ask a question—it's an easy access help space.

Now that you understand the layout, you've got a better idea of how you can jump to the feature you need. Let's dive a bit deeper into how you can use several of these key tabs.

2. The Home Tab

Use it for: a general selection of the most popular tools in PowerPoint.

I usually stay on the Home tab when I'm working in PowerPoint. The reason is because it's got practically every tool you need. From adding a new slide to changing text and paragraph settings, the Home tab is the default for most users.

3. The Insert Tab

When you're working on adding content to a slide, the  Insert  tab has every possible tool to add new content to a slide. Choose one of these types of objects to add it to the slide.

PowerPoint has a variety of views that are simply different ways to work with the same presentation. Change the view to get a different perspective on your content.

Use views for a different way to edit and build your PowerPoint presentation.

In the screenshot below, you can see the difference between the default  Normal  view and  Slide Sorter  view. Normal view shows each slide front and center. Slide Sorter view creates thumbnails that you can drag and drop to reorder the presentation. 

Normal View in Microsoft PowerPoint

Slide Sorter View in Microsoft PowerPoint

5. The Design Tab

An attractive presentation can really grab your audience's attention. We use themes and styles in PowerPoint to add visual appeal to the presentation, and the  Design  tab really controls these settings.

On the Design tab, click one of the themes to restyle the presentation. Or try out a different Style thumbnail to overhaul the color theme.

We've tackled the interface of PowerPoint, so you should be feeling comfortable with how to get around the app. Now, let's talk about the actions you'll find yourself using repeatedly and how you can do that in PowerPoint. Whether you want to know how to use PowerPoint templates or how to build a presentation from scratch, these will be handy.

1. How to Add Slides

Think of  slides  as the individual units in your presentation that you can fill with content. To insert a new slide, go to the  Insert  tab on PowerPoint's ribbon. Then, click on the  New Slide  button to add a new slide to your presentation.

Each of the thumbnails that you'll see on the sidebar represents a slide. Then, you'll add content to each slide.

There's no practical limit to the number of slides that your PowerPoint file can contain. But you should consider how many slides it actually takes to make your point. It's often the 

2. How to Add Content

Content is what defines each slide. PowerPoint accommodates a wide range of content like text, graphs, tables, charts, and more.

The easiest way to add content is to start off by choosing a  Layout,  which you can choose from the  Home  tab. This PowerPoint template comes with premade layouts we can choose from too.

These layouts have content boxes that are easy to add your own content to. Simply choose a layout, and then start adding your content.

3. How to Choose a Theme and Style

After you build out your presentation's content, it's a great idea to think about adding visual style. For this, you'll jump over to the  Design  tab, and click on one of the thumbnails for a theme. Choosing a new theme in this PowerPoint template made it easy to switch from an orange to a green theme. Check it out. 

Using a PowerPoint theme is the preferred alternative to adding backgrounds, color and type styles to each slide. Changing the theme typically will adjust the entire presentation simultaneously. This greatly reduces the time involved with building a presentation.

With just these three steps, you've got the repeatable sequence of actions needed to build a presentation. 

With every creative app I've ever learned, there are always those insider tricks of the trade that you learn many months later. They make you wish that you had known them all along and think about the many hours you wasted on the learning curve.

PowerPoint is no exception to this rule. It's especially important that you can cut to the chase when you're rushing to prepare for your presentation.

The best way to save time on your presentation is to start with a pre-built PowerPoint theme .  And you can find those on Envato Elements, which is an unlimited download service for creatives.

Discover  simple PowerPoint template designs with powerful features on Envato Elements. The right premium PPT template  will help you make a great presentation quickly. 

Browse through these  simple professional presentation designs  that you can use today:  

Now, most of the files that you'll grab from the Elements PPTX themes will appear to be finished presentations. You might be wondering how to use these pre-built presentations for your own needs.

Curious about how to use PowerPoint templates? To use Elements themes, it's really all about cutting it down to the slide designs that you'll use. A premium theme is really about the ideas  that are included as part of it. Simply use these ideas as starting points that you can add your own content to.

Again, the value of Elements is that you can download as many files as you want while you're a subscriber. And if you stop subscribing, you'll still have the right to use the creative assets you grabbed. It's much faster than building every slide from scratch.

When you contemplate how to use PowerPoint, don’t imagine building slide decks from scratch. That’s where premium PPT templates come in. They take the hard work out of using PowerPoint. 

You can take advantage of designer styles in a simple format. That’s the ultimate PowerPoint lesson to take to heart. Let’s look at just how easy it is to customize premium PPT templates in this quick PowerPoint training tutorial!

If you want to follow along, download the beautiful Agio PowerPoint template from Envato Elements.

Let's get started:

1. Choose Slides for Your Presentation

Premium PowerPoint PPT templates often include hundreds of handcrafted slides. For you, it’s best to select only a handful to build a slide deck. In PowerPoint, find Slide Sorter on the View tab. 

In Slide Sorter view, click and drag on the slide thumbnails to reorder them. Hold down Shift , click, and press Delete to remove unwanted slides. Jump back and start working by clicking Normal on the View tab.

2. Add Your Own Text

The PowerPoint basics include text and images. Adding custom text is one of the easiest and most common edits to make. 

Pre-built layouts include text boxes already arranged on the slide. To add your own words, highlight the contents of any text box. Then, simply start typing. Repeat throughout the presentation. 

3. Add Images

Wondering how to add PowerPoint presentation images? The easiest way is to turn to premium templates with image placeholders. Identify them by finding the image icons on a given slide. Jump to where images are stored on your computer. 

Then, simply drag and drop them onto the placeholder. Not only will all your photos import automatically, they’ll also size and scale to fit perfectly!

4. Change Object Colors

Changing theme colors is a fast way to adjust the visual look of your slides. For example, change object colors to add a bit of contrast. 

To get started, click on any object, like a shape, to select it. Choose Format at the top menu, to view your formatting options. Try Format Object to open the Format Pane .

In the Format Pane, you can choose things like a new Fill Color for this shape. 

5. Customize Fonts

No Microsoft PowerPoint tutorial would be complete without customizing fonts. Sometimes, it’s easy to overlook text as a design element, but with a few quick edits you can make your words really stand out. 

Highlight a block of text, then go up to the Font section of the Home tab. You’ll see drop downs to change the font style, size, and color. After that, add quick effects like bold letters, italics, and more!

The content and design will vary greatly from one presentation next. But, no matter what the goal of your presentation is, there are common tools that every presenter can benefit from using. We've developed PowerPoint lessons for those tools.

Let's focus on the most valuable tools for speakers in this PowerPoint tutorial. I always mention these tools as a way to build confidence and comfort for presenters.

1. Speaker Notes

Forget writing out note cards or keeping a printed outline nearby. Speaker notes are a way to add the things you need to say to each slide.

Speaker notes are added to each individual slide, and the best way to add them is from  Normal  view. Click on  Notes  below the presentation area and type your slide-specific notes.

Speaker notes will show up in printed copies of your presentation. So, it's easier to build them into PowerPoint instead of scribbling note cards you may lose.

2. Presenter View

Another feature that's a must-use is Presenter View , which is perfect for two screen setups while presenting. While your audience will see the presentation you've built on the projector or LCD screen, you'll have your own private view with speaker notes, upcoming slides, and more.

Turn on Presenter View from the slideshow tab by clicking  Use Presenter View.

Check out a full guide below on getting the most from Presenter View:

3. Spelling and Grammar Check

There's nothing worse than missing a key typo before you give your presentation. To avoid this problem, it's a great help to run a spelling and grammar check before you give your presentation.

To check for common spelling issues, simply jump to the  Review  tab and click Spelling . PowerPoint will check for the most common issues and allow you to correct them as needed.

4. Insert Multimedia

You can use multimedia in your PowerPoint presentations, and they can really enhance the experiences. Remember, you can find these tools in the Ribbon, via Insert . For example, how about inserting a short audio clip of a quote or maybe a short video relevant to your topic? If you'd like to make these additions, Insert makes it very easy to do.

Want to learn more about adding Multimedia to your PowerPoint presentations? Check out these free tutorials to learn more:

5. Add Bullet Points 

How you organize your content can make a huge difference—both for your audience and for you, as the presenter. Presenting a long passage of text can be difficult and even boring for the viewer. Consider breaking your content up into easy to read and easy to digest bullet points. 

PowerPoint makes this easy. When you edit your text, select Home in the Ribbon. There, again, you'll see your text options. Need some extra help with bullet points? Check out this easy-to-follow walkthrough:

6. Transitions and Animations

PowerPoint has so many different options, when it comes to transitions and animations. You can have specific transitions from slide to slide. You can animate specific elements in your presentations.

Looking the PowerPoint Ribbon, remember to turn to the Animations section. There, you can find a host of options that you can apply to your presentation.

Never used these tools before? Check out these walkthroughs. They'll show you how it's done.

In this PowerPoint tutorial for beginners, you’ve learned how to use PowerPoint presentation templates. We walked through a quick PowerPoint lesson to customize them. But you may be wondering: is that enough to deliver a winning PowerPoint presentation? 

Part of PowerPoint training comes from adopting the tips and tricks used by the best presenters. Follow these, and you’ll have a happy (and engaged) audience every time!

1. Have a Clear Objective

Let’s face it: we’ve all endured lengthy, boring PowerPoint presentations that seem to drift without a clear purpose. When you build your own PowerPoint, start with a goal in mind. Typically, that goal will be to inform or persuade an audience. It pays to outline that goal in advance and work towards your objective with a series of clear and concise slides.

It may sound daunting, but you can learn the technique in moments with our full PowerPoint training to help build persuasive slide decks:

2. Illustrate Concepts With Infographics

A key PowerPoint lesson for beginners is this: never get bogged down trying to talk through concepts. Visual aids are essential, and audiences demand them today. Infographics are a successful presenter’s best friend. Infographics combine information and graphics to create stunning visuals. 

Learn to build them yourself. Or sample from the very best pre-built PPT templates today in our infographic-centric set of PowerPoint instructions:

3. Be Subtle Animations and Transitions

Animations and transitions: fundamental elements of any deck, they should be used sparingly. When carefully applied, they create beautiful segues between slides. They can also help introduce new ideas in exact sequence. But use too many, and they become obnoxious distractions guaranteed to annoy an audience. 

Moderation is the name of the game here. Read our full Microsoft PowerPoint tutorial on animations to use them with confidence:

4. Be Interactive to Engage the Audience

No matter how compelling your narrative, you can’t simply talk to an audience and expect full participation. Instead, you need to engage your audience. A quick and fun way is with a quiz slide. They get the audience involved and help your slide deck stay focused. 

Even better: pre-built templates make it a breeze. They're PowerPoint instructions inside a PPTX file. Get started building interactive quizzes in PPT today with our guide on how to create PowerPoint quizzes:

5. Close Strong for an Enduring Message

The very best PowerPoint presentations make a great first impression. But equally (and perhaps even more) important is the winning last impression. It’s critical to conclude with a strong close. Leave on a memorable anecdote, recap your key points, or make a big “ask.” All these techniques and more help to ensure a strong close.

Don’t go it alone. We’ve created expert PowerPoint training on building a strong close. Check it out here:

This PowerPoint tutorial helped you get off the ground with using Microsoft PowerPoint. You learned the steps for creating slides and the shortcut to a better presentation with pre-built themes.

At Tuts+, we've been building out a series of PowerPoint tutorials that can help you build your presentation skills. Check out all these PowerPoint tutorials for free. One ideal place to start is the PowerPoint Ultimate Tutorial Guide that we've developed. If you're feeling nervous about giving a presentation for your job or freelance practice, try out more of these tutorials like the ones below.

Need Help? Grab Our Making Great Presentations eBook (Free)

You can find more information in our eBook on making great presentations . Download this PDF eBook now for FREE with your subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.

It'll help you master the presentation process, from: initial creative ideas, through to writing, design, and delivering with impact.

Get Started Using PowerPoint Today

Presentations can be daunting to take on, but a bit of knowledge about Microsoft PowerPoint can ease the process. We've got tutorials that show you how to create a PowerPoint presentation, for beginners. Jump to the following links to speed up your learning process and spend less time in PowerPoint:

• Envato Elements is the best place to grab premium PowerPoint templates  that save you hours of design work and leave you with a finished presentation that you'll feel confident in.
• Courses included with Envato Elements are complete walkthroughs of how to build a presentation. They're perfect PowerPoint tutorials for beginners.
• The PowerPoint Ultimate Tutorial Guide  is a complete learning resource with the top tutorials to take you from beginner to expert. 

Editorial Note : This post was originally published in 2017. It's been comprehensively revised to make it current, accurate, and up to date by our staff—with special help from Andrew Childress and Daisy Ein .

Use a personal template to create a new PowerPoint presentation

If you want to use a template you've saved for your next presentation, here's how.

On the File tab, click New .

Select Personal or Custom . (The name varies, depending on circumstance.)

Tip:  If you don't see Personal or Custom then you probably don't have any templates stored in your templates folder.  Create and save one, or use the steps in the next section to copy a template to that folder.

Double-click your template and a new presentation will open with your template applied to it.

Got a custom template you want to use in PowerPoint?

Did you receive a template, via download, email, or other method, that you'd like to add to PowerPoint? Copy or save your template (.potx) file to the Templates folder at: 

C:\Users\< UserName> \Documents\Custom Office Templates\

Important:  Replace <UserName> with your username.

Import existing slides into your new presentation

Open the file that contains the existing slides.

Click the thumbnail pane and then select the slides you want:

Select all slides: Ctrl+A

Select a subset of the slides: Ctrl+click

Copy the slides (Ctrl+C).

Switch to the new file, right-click the thumbnail pane, and under Paste Options select Use Destination Theme :

All the copied slides are inserted in the new presentation.

Set your template as a default option

You can mark your personal template to be an option on the default Featured tab. Here’s how:

Repeat the first two steps from the first procedure above. 

Right-click your template and select Pin to List . 

Create and save a PowerPoint template

Where are my custom templates?

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How to delete a slide in PowerPoint

Do you have a slide that you want to delete from your Microsoft PowerPoint presentation? Maybe you find that a slide is unnecessary or have a slide you used to test different layouts that you can now remove.

Delete a slide in PowerPoint

Delete multiple slides in powerpoint, delete a slide in the powerpoint mobile app.

We’ll show you how to delete a slide in PowerPoint in the web, desktop, and mobile applications.

What You Need

Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint mobile app (optional)

Internet access (optional)

Luckily, it’s easier to remove a slide in PowerPoint than it is to delete a page in Word . Plus, you can delete an individual slide the same way in PowerPoint on the web as well as the desktop application on Windows and Mac.

Step 1: Be sure you’re using Normal, Outline View, or Slide Sorter view. Head to the View tab to choose one of these if necessary.

Step 2: In Normal or Outline View, display the thumbnails on the left by dragging to expand that area.

Step 3: Either right-click the slide you want to remove and choose Delete Slide or select the slide and press your Delete key (or Backspace key on Windows.)

Step 4: Note that you won’t be asked to confirm. If you delete the wrong slide, quickly select Undo in the Quick Access Toolbar to replace the removed slide.

Maybe you have more than one slide that you want to delete in your presentation. This is just as easy as removing a single slide in PowerPoint on the web or in the desktop application.

Step 1: Use Normal, Outline View, or Slide Sorter view.

Step 2: Select the slides using one of the following methods:

• For adjacent slides, select the first slide, hold the Shift key, and select the last slide in the group.
• For nonadjacent slides, select the first slide, hold the Ctrl or Command key, and select each additional slide.

Step 3: Either right-click and choose Delete Slide or press your Delete key.

Again, if you make an error in the slide selection, select Undo in the Quick Access Toolbar to replace the deleted slides.

Using PowerPoint on your mobile device is convenient for creating and editing slideshows on the go. Fortunately, you can delete individual slides in the PowerPoint app on Android or iPhone pretty easily.

Step 1: With the presentation open, be sure you’re in edit mode. Select Edit at the bottom if necessary.

Step 2: In the slide thumbnail row at the bottom or on the left, select the slide you want to remove.

Step 3: Select Delete in the pop-up toolbar.

Step 4: Continue this process if you want to remove additional slides.

If you accidentally delete the wrong slide, select Undo at the top to replace it.

What is the difference between hide slides and delete slides?

When you hide a slide in PowerPoint, this stops it from appearing while you’re presenting the slideshow. The hidden slide stays in your presentation during the editing process.

But when you delete a slide in PowerPoint, this removes the slide completely. You won’t see it while you’re presenting or editing the slideshow.

How do I delete a PowerPoint presentation?

Navigate to the location of the PowerPoint file whether in a folder or in OneDrive. Right-click the file, choose Delete , and confirm if prompted.

How do you delete a slide on Google Slides?

To remove a slide on Google Slides , start by choosing either Show filmstrip or Grid view in the View menu. Then, right-click the slide you want to remove and choose Delete or select the slide and then select the Delete key.

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While PowerPoint is widely used to develop presentations, Google Slides has become a popular alternative. Part of what makes it so popular is that it's free to use, as is other Google software such as Google Docs and Google Sheets – which is a stark contrast to the premium price you'll pay for Microsoft Office and PowerPoint.

If you're looking to jump ship from PowerPoint to Slides, Google makes it easy to do so. In fact, it takes little more than a few clicks to convert a PowerPoint to Google Slides. Whether you need to change the format for a coworker or want to permanently switch to the free platform, here's a look at how to convert your PowerPoint deck into a Google Slides presentation.

PowerPoint makes it easy to give a great presentation thanks to intuitive software that lets anyone craft an eye-catching deck. What's even better, however, is the option to use Presenter View. This lets you leave notes for yourself that can be viewed on your computer screen while everyone else is only seeing your presentation.