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Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows

• V  2021

Microsoft PowerPoint: Create attractive presentations without complicating your life

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation software application that has been the industry standard for decades. It is used by millions of people worldwide to create presentations for a variety of purposes, including business, education, and personal use. PowerPoint is known for its user-friendly interface and its wide range of features , making it a powerful productivity tool for creating visually appealing and informative presentations.

What is Microsoft PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows is the latest version of PowerPoint that is available for Windows PCs. It is included with the Microsoft 365 suite of applications, which also includes Word , Excel , and Outlook . PowerPoint for Windows can also be purchased as a standalone application .

Key features of Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint for Windows offers a wide range of features that make it a versatile tool for creating presentations. Some of the key features include:

• Templates : PowerPoint offers a variety of templates that can be used to create presentations with a professional look and feel.
• Themes : PowerPoint themes allow you to change the overall look of your presentation, including the colors, fonts, and layout.
• Slides : PowerPoint presentations are made up of individual slides, each of which can contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia content.
• Transitions : PowerPoint transitions allow you to smoothly move between slides in your presentation.
• Animations : PowerPoint animations can be used to add visual interest to your presentations.
• Multimedia : PowerPoint supports a variety of multimedia content, including images, videos, and audio.
• Collaboration : PowerPoint allows you to collaborate on presentations with others in real time.

Creating a presentation with Microsoft PowerPoint

Creating a presentation with PowerPoint is a straightforward process. To create a new presentation, simply open PowerPoint and select the desired template . Once you have selected a template, you can start adding content to your slides.

Adding content to slides

To add content to a slide, you can simply type text into the text box. You can also add images, videos, and other multimedia content by clicking on the appropriate button on the ribbon.

Customizing slides

You can customize the appearance of your slides by changing the background color, font, and layout. You can also add transitions and animations to your slides.

Reviewing and saving your presentation

Once you have finished creating your presentation, you can review it in slide show mode to see how it will look when presented. You can save your presentation in a variety of formats , including PPTX, PPT, and PDF.

Why Microsoft PowerPoint so popular?

Microsoft PowerPoint is incredibly popular for several reasons, making it the go-to presentation software for individuals and businesses worldwide. Its widespread adoption can be attributed to its user-friendly interface, comprehensive feature set , and ability to create visually appealing and informative presentations.

User-friendly interface

PowerPoint's intuitive and straightforward interface makes it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise. The drag-and-drop functionality, familiar menus, and clear visual elements enable users to navigate and utilize the software effortlessly . This simplicity has been a key factor in its widespread adoption, particularly among non-technical individuals who need to create presentations.

Comprehensive feature set

PowerPoint boasts a robust feature set that caters to a wide range of presentation needs. Its extensive library of templates and themes provides a foundation for professional-looking presentations, while its design tools allow for customization and personalization. Additionally, the inclusion of multimedia elements, transitions, animations, and interactive features enhances the visual appeal and engagement of presentations.

Visual appeal and informational content

PowerPoint's ability to combine text, images, videos, and other multimedia content makes it an effective tool for delivering information in a visually engaging and impactful manner. Users can effectively communicate their message through a combination of visual elements and clear, concise text . This combination of visual appeal and informational content holds the audience's attention and enhances the overall effectiveness of the presentation.

Widespread familiarity and compatibility

PowerPoint's widespread use and familiarity among individuals and organizations have made it the de facto standard for presentation software. This commonality ensures compatibility across platforms and organizations, facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing. Moreover, PowerPoint's integration with Microsoft Office suite further enhances its practicality and accessibility.

Global adoption and educational usage

PowerPoint has become an essential tool in educational settings , empowering instructors to effectively deliver lectures, presentations, and course materials. Its versatility enables teachers to incorporate various multimedia elements, interactive exercises, and collaborative activities to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

Business and corporate use

In the business world, PowerPoint is indispensable for meetings, presentations, and communicating information to clients, partners, and stakeholders. Its ability to visually present complex data, highlight key points, and engage the audience makes it a valuable tool for effective communication and decision-making .

Microsoft PowerPoint's enduring popularity stems from its user-friendliness, comprehensive feature set, ability to enhance visual appeal and informational content, widespread familiarity, and exceptional compatibility across platforms and organizations. Its versatility makes it a preferred choice for individuals, educators, and businesses worldwide, cementing its place as the industry standard for presentation software.

Minor tweaks

A small batch of updates for Microsoft PowerPoint irons out some kinks on specific workflows. Saving a file no longer auto-fills the Title field within the File Info menu, a minor detail yet helpful in managing your files. Plus, working with linked charts from SharePoint gets a lot easier. The Change Source dialog now defaults to the chart's current location , saving you time digging through outdated paths. Finally, the Edit Photo Album option is now accessible in Slide Sorter for quicker photo adjustments while organizing slides.

Final words about the app

Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows is a powerful tool for creating presentations. It is easy to use, offers a wide range of features, and can help you create presentations with a professional look and feel. However, PowerPoint is a paid software application and can be limited in terms of creativity.

• Ease of use
• Wide range of features
• Professional look and feel
• Collaboration
• Limited creativity

PowerPoint for telling your story. A new, modern take on the familiar PowerPoint application to design and share your most impactful presentations

Get your ideas across with beautiful design, rich animation, cinematic motion, 3D models and icons. Let intelligent technology help you bring your presentation to life with a few clicks.

Tell your story with confidence with slide-by-slide notes only viewable by you. Easily translate your slides into the preferred language and use the built-in accessibility checker to be sure your audience doesn’t miss a thing.

Get premium versions of PowerPoint and other Office apps like Word and Excel by subscribing to Office 365. With Office 365 you'll get great PowerPoint features like Designer, Editor, and real-time co-authoring. Plus, you'll receive exclusive, new features every month ensuring you're always up-to-date.

Also available in other platforms

• Microsoft PowerPoint for Android
• Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac
• Microsoft PowerPoint for iPhone

Microsoft PowerPoint for PC

User reviews about microsoft powerpoint.

to continue there improving this important application because it downloading weakly

by محمد ناصر

I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM AND RESTORE IT IN MY COMPUTER

by francis t lopaz

Would've given it a better rating had you let me downloaded it!

by Anonymous

i love it. it works well and it has very good animations transistions and fonts

Why do we need to pay now. why do we have to pay i mean before we had it for free why now tho i cant pay even tho i need to do presentations bu t how im i supposed to pay for a powerpoint when i cant convince my parents to give me money to go to the cinema?  More

yes we can summarize. power point no there was problem for receive their own point Pros: to add the file in power point Cons: t o save correctly not anywhere  More

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PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Are you struggling with PowerPoint? You need a quick design in PowerPoint but don't know where to start? Don't worry, you have nothing to be ashamed of.

In this article, we're going to refresh the most important PowerPoint basics so you can take advantage of this Microsoft software and create high-impact presentations at any time!

Millions of users worldwide use Microsoft 365 services , making PowerPoint the presentation design software with the highest market share. And with good reason! PowerPoint's features stand out for its usability and originality . We can tell you that PowerPoint is pretty intuitive software, and it's a great option to choose when working with presentations on a daily basis. So, are you ready for a quick PowerPoint 101 class?

Let ' s see what you ' re going to learn today with this PowerPoint Guide :

What is PowerPoint?

What are the best uses of powerpoint, powerpoint basics: what are the components of powerpoint workspace, mastering powerpoint: what are the main features of powerpoint, what are powerpoint templates and where to find them, time to practice how to make a presentation in powerpoint.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365 . This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way.

Over time, PowerPoint has evolved and improved its accessibility to users. For this reason, it has been adapted to the main operating systems and modalities:

• PowerPoint Online

Additionally, you can use Word and Excel in this online version. That way, you'll be able to make real-time changes in the cloud without fearing losing your files. Sounds great, right?

PowerPoint has a versatile range of uses. Here's a list of the different tasks you can complete with this presentation design software:

• Business presentations or Pitch decks.
• Marketing, Sales and HR plans.
• Project briefs and timelines.
• Inductions to new employees.
• Seminars and educational classes.
• Professional portfolio of photos or designs.
• Presentations of a research summary.
• Presentations for special occasions.

These are just a few examples of the multiple possibilities this Microsoft software offers. Your imagination is the only limit!

Stay tuned as we continue with this PowerPoint 101 Guide...

In order to deeply understand this presentation design software, you need to recognize its main components. Now it's time to learn about the PowerPoint basics!

A quick note before going any further: when opening PowerPoint, some of the commands in the ribbons will look grayish and won't be highlighted when you hover the mouse over them.

This happens since some commands need to be selected in order to function. For example, if you want to change the color of a text, you first need to select it.

That being said, let's start with this Guide for PowerPoint beginners:

PowerPoint Main Window

The first aspect to learn is PowerPoint Main Window. To facilitate the explanation, we've organized its main elements with numbers from 1 to 10:

Based on that, the main components of PowerPoint window are the following:

1. Quick Access Toolbar: allows you to customize commands to have them at hand. You only have to select it and go to "More commands."

2. Title Bar: shows you the name of your file and other "Suggested options" like Slide Master View . These options will vary depending on the use you give to the commands.

3. File Tab: you will see the Home Menu (PowerPoint backstage) by selecting it. There, you can create a new presentation, save it, print it, export it, and many other options.

4. The Ribbon: it's where PowerPoint tabs and tools are. These tools can also be called "commands" or “features.”

5. More Button or Down Arrow: these arrows allow you to view more tools or layout options in PowerPoint.

6. Slides Pane: shows your slides in thumbnail size. By right-clicking, you can access additional options for customizing each slide. Perfect for PowerPoint beginners!

7. Slide: PowerPoint's blank canvas and the frame to be seen when presenting the file.

8. Placeholders: they are dotted boxes that will store your content.

9. Status Bar: allows you to view the slide number, grammatical errors, speaker notes, and the comments on your file.

10. Zoom: allows you to enlarge or minimize your PowerPoint workspace. The range goes from 10 to 400%.

PowerPoint Tabs

The PowerPoint tabs are the control desk of your presentation . Since PowerPoint's features are too many, they're organized in tabs.

You can come and go between tabs as you need. Once you click on a tab, it will open its ribbon, and there, you'll be able to see all the tools related to that particular category.

This PowerPoint tutorial for beginners will give you an overview of all PowerPoint tabs . Pay attention to the following list:

• Transitions Tab
• Animations Tab
• Slide Show Tab
• Recording Tab

1. Home Tab

The Home tab is the most common tab of PowerPoint. This is the tab you'll probably use the most if you're designing a presentation deck from scratch.

It allows you to add new slides and change the text characteristics : font, size, boldness, underlining, alignment, etc. If you've ever used Microsoft Word, these features will be familiar to you.

Also, you will find commands to edit the characteristics of the geometric shapes you insert. This includes: fill color, line color, sharpe effects, among others.

2. Insert Tab

The Insert tab is exactly what its name says it is. In this ribbon, you'll find all the options concerning adding a new element to your PowerPoint presentation .

You can insert a picture, some geometric shapes, icons, WordArt graphics, among others. We can tell you that this tab is really helpful for PowerPoint beginners!

For example, if you have a lot of data in PowerPoint , you could add a chart or diagram to show your information in a more visual way. Also, you can embed videos or music into PowerPoint really easily.

• PowerPoint tip for beginners: To be able to write text on your slides, you need a text box. So, if you're designing your presentation from scratch, remember to go first to the Insert tab and add a text box to start writing.

3. Design Tab

If you are one of those people who enjoy choosing the design of a PowerPoint presentation, this tab will be your favorite.

The Design tab offers a wide range of premade designs , allowing you to get more polished slides. Even better, if you explore its ribbon, you can adjust the color palette and change the overall style of your PowerPoint deck.

The PowerPoint interface, as this basic PowerPoint Tutorial, is really intuitive. We believe that you won't have any problem with this tab!

4. Transitions Tab

Using transitions in PowerPoint is a dynamic way to move from one slide to the next during a presentation. This feature is PowerPoint's stamp, so don ' t miss it!

Some PowerPoint transitions are really classic, like wiping the old slide to present the new one. Others are somewhat over the top, like the “Vortex” or the “Airplane” effect.

If you click on each kind of transition, you'll see a preview on how it would look when presenting. Really cool, right?

5. Animations Tab

In case you want to add special effects for certain elements in your slides , the Animations tab in PowerPoint will interest you.

Like the Transitions tab, you will find various animation effects in this ribbon. It's a matter of trying and choosing the best one according to your needs!

6. Slide Show Tab

As its name says, the Slide Show tab is about presenting your slides . We really like that it gives you several options to show up your presentation!

Considering that you're a PowerPoint beginner, you're not likely to use the Slide Show tab very much.

But if you're curious about this command, you must read our article: How to Make a PowerPoint Slideshow that Runs Automatically?

7. Review Tab

The Review tab is not often used by PowerPoint beginners either.

However, if your job is related to writing or if you work at an international company, this tool can be extremely useful!

With this tab, you can check the slide's spelling, translate the text in real-time, and add comments to your slides . This last function can be helpful to give feedback to a colleague.

8. View Tab

This View tab allows you to change the view of your PowerPoint slides and make handouts from them, among other things.

As you can see, the majority of its commands are really specific. So you won't have any issues while designing, test and see!

In this section, our favorite command for PowerPoint beginners is Slide Master . Explore more about this tool in our guide!

9. Recording Tab

In the last versions of this design presentation software, PowerPoint added the Recording tab. As its name says, it allows you to record all your presentation slides .

This ribbon has advanced commands, so the most common action for a PowerPoint beginner is to take a screenshot or record the screen sequentially .

10. Help Tab

Finally, there is the Help tab. If you have any problem or question concerning how to use PowerPoint, you may go here to look for a solution.

In the latest versions, Windows has added a “Show Training” option. You can click this command to practice the PowerPoint basics since it will download training templates.

As a beginner in PowerPoint, you must recognize the objective of each PowerPoint tab to be able to master the software . But, in order to conduct an outstanding presentation deck, you also need to dominate its most important features. Let's see some of them in the next section!

If you feel ready to delve deeper into PowerPoint's tools, this section is for you.

As you may know , 24Slides specializes in creating outstanding presentations for any Design Project . So, we asked one of our experts about her favorite PowerPoint features, and we want to share them all with you!

Carmen Navarrete , Graphic Designer at 24Slides, highlighted the following features that will make your presentations stand out from the crowd:

PowerPoint Feature #1: Crop to Shape

This first PowerPoint feature is simple but effective!

Let's see how to use it:

• First, choose an image you want to cut and insert it into your workspace.
• Once inserted, select it with the mouse.
• Go to the "Picture Format" tab.
• Press the arrow of the "Crop" button (right side of the screen).
• Select "Crop to Shape."
• Choose your favorite shape and customize your PowerPoint presentation!

PowerPoint Feature #2: Merge Shapes

If you don't like any figure enough, you can create one from scratch!

This is possible thanks to the "Merge Shapes" option. Follow these steps to unleash your creativity:

• First choose an image you want to cut.
• Check the list of PowerPoint shapes (Insert tab > Shapes).
• Choose two or three figures you want to merge (they can be the same figure).
• Select the figures you are going to merge (see the image).
• Once selected, go to the "Shape Format" tab.
• Press the "Merge Shapes" option and the type of merge you want (test and choose!).

• A new figure will appear, and you must fill it with the image from the first step.
• Stay on the Shape Format tab and go to "Shape Fill" (button in the middle of the ribbon).
• Select "Picture Fill" and browse for your image.
• Select the image to fill your new figure, and that's it!

• PowerPoint tip for beginners: When your merged figure is ready, paste the image to the background of your slide to achieve a better result. This way, you can use your image as a canvas and see if both elements fit well.

PowerPoint Feature #3: Insert Icons

This PowerPoint feature is quite easy to follow for PowerPoint beginners!

Just follow these steps:

• Go to the Insert tab.
• Select the "Icons" option.
• A Microsoft 365 library will open, where you can search for the required icon.
• Now, you must insert it into your presentation and adapt it to your design.
• If you have an active Microsoft 365 subscription, you'll have access to a larger number of icons in PowerPoint.

• PowerPoint tip for beginners: If you want to learn more about icons in PowerPoint, read our article on How to Use Icons to Make Amazing PowerPoint Presentations .

PowerPoint Feature #4: Insert SmartArt

PowerPoint's SmartArt is one of the most popular and accessible tools to dominate while learning about PowerPoint basics.

To use it in your slide deck, you must:

• Select SmartArt.
• See all SmartArt categories and choose your favorite based on your needs.
• Add the text you have prepared and adapt it to your presentation.

We want to give you some ideas to master this SmartArt tool in PowerPoint: you can make timelines , flowcharts , and even a Venn diagram in just a few seconds. Try and see!

PowerPoint Feature #5: Remove Background

If you don't know how to use Photoshop and want to remove the background from an image, in this PowerPoint 101 Guide, we show you how:

• First choose the image you want to remove the background from.
• Insert the image in the PowerPoint workspace.
• Select the image and go to the "Picture Format" tab.
• Select "Remove Background" (first option on the left).
• You can keep and remove parts of the image with the first two tools of the ribbon (see image).
• Keep in mind that all the sections highlighted in purple will be deleted.

• We recommend zooming in to keep or remove parts of the image with more detail.
• Once you're done, press the "Keep Changes" button.
• Finally, adapt the new image to your PowerPoint presentation.

• PowerPoint tip for beginners: Choose a high-contrast photo or image for best results. In other words, the outline of the person or object you want to cut out must have clear edges and cannot blend with the image's background color.

PowerPoint Feature #6: Add Speaker Notes

The latest PowerPoint feature is a command you can use to prepare your speech before presenting to an audience.

Learning how to add speaker notes in PowerPoint is simple:

• Select the slide that needs some notes.
• Usually, there is a footer below the slide, but if not, you will have to activate it.
• Go to the View tab and select "Notes."
• The Speaker Notes section will appear, and you can add whatever you want!

• PowerPoint tip for beginners: In case you want to practice your entire presentation and have a lot of notes, go to the View tab and select "Notes Page" (fourth command). You'll be able to see all your Speaker Notes faster!

PowerPoint Feature #7: PowerPoint Translator

If you've ever wondered how to translate your PowerPoint Slides, we'll explain the step by step here:

• Go to the Review tab.
• Select the text you want to translate.
• Press the “Translate” button.
• A panel will open on the right side of the screen.
• Choose the language you need and you'll see the translation in real-time.
• If you press Insert, the text will change to the new translation!

PowerPoint Feature #8: Screen Recording

The process of recording your screen in PowerPoint is straightforward and intuitive. Let's see:

• Go to the “Record” or “Recording” tab.
• Press the "Record Slide Show" button or the “From Beginning” button (depending on your PPT version).
• A new window will open.
• Select the red record button and start recording!
• When you're done, select “Export.”
• By default, the video will be 1080p. If you want to lower the video quality, go to "Customize export."
• Name the video, save it to a folder and that's it!

As you may have noticed, this software has endless PowerPoint design options for beginners. We encourage you to try and test each functionality!

However, we're clear that PowerPoint has different features, so it can be hard to know where to start. That's why understanding PowerPoint basics is crucial if you truly want to master this software!

Our PowerPoint 101 Guide continues; stay tuned to discover more great stuff about this Microsoft software. Keep reading!

A PowerPoint template is a pre-made design that you can use for your own means, and that will save you a lot of time!

Templates in PowerPoint are a great resource for designing since all the structure is already done, and you only have to update the content . We can tell you they're the perfect resource for PowerPoint beginners!

They can be incredibly specific. For example, there are templates for a SWOT analysis or a complete Marketing report. Otherwise, templates can also be very general, with several slides with a similar design.

If you struggle with the artistic part of designing presentations, downloading PowerPoint templates will be a life changer!

How to download PowerPoint templates for free?

If you didn't know, 24Slides has an extensive repository of PowerPoint templates. But how to obtain them? It's really simple:

• First, create an account on our Free Templates Website with the button “Register” (that way, you can download everything without problems!).
• Think about the graphics you need and the ideal structure for your presentation deck (you can also change the color palette later!).
• Download it in PowerPoint format (if you prefer it in Google Slides format, you'll also find this type in our repository).
• Edit and change everything you need for your PowerPoint presentation!

24Slides Designers specialize in business and corporate PowerPoints, but you'll also find other types of templates on our website: Data templates, Timelines, Roadmaps, Matrixes, Diagrams, and more.

Keep in mind that a well-designed PowerPoint deck helps you communicate stronger messages to your audience . Don't waste this opportunity to make your presentation shine!

If you want to learn more about how to master PowerPoint, do not miss the last section. We'll show you some PowerPoint basics from the software itself!

A PowerPoint 101 Guide wouldn't be that useful with no examples. So, if you enjoy the step-by-step guides, this section is for you.

Below, we'll show you how to make a simple PowerPoint presentation. But first, here are some tips to be more efficient in the process:

• Be clear about what type of presentation you're going to create (is it corporate, playful, or more creative?).
• Make a draft with the most important information you need to add and, thus, generate a good structure in your presentation .
• Get inspired by examples on the internet , but adapt them to your needs and audience.
• If you will create a business presentation, keep in mind your brand identity .
• Make sure your PowerPoint works , you may need to update to the latest version or pay for the subscription.

Step 1: Make a draft to structure your presentation

As we said before, writing a draft or script of your content will be vital to start on the right foot as a PowerPoint beginner.

This advice is so important that we choose it as the first step to learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation. Remember: Planning is key!

Regarding the process of planning, we share some good practices:

• If your presentation will be very long , write down all subtitles and content in a Word document. This will help you organize your ideas and give a correct sequence to your narrative. In addition to avoiding redundancies in the message you want to communicate.
• If your presentation will use many visual resources , we recommend choosing high-quality images. This will help you have a starting graphic base. Some good free image repositories are Freepick , Unsplash , and Adobe Stock .
• If your presentation is based on data , have all your results summarized or your most relevant conclusions at hand. The idea of making a PowerPoint presentation is to show your information in the simplest way possible for your audience.

Step 2: Create a new document in PowerPoint

Once you check that all the functions are working fine with the software, please open it and go to the File tab. If you've ever used Word or Excel, you'll probably find this Home Menu familiar.

In short, this is the main page of PowerPoint, where you can create a new presentation or open an older one. Let's see:

In order to follow this part of our PowerPoint Tutorial correctly, take into consideration the following points:

• On the lower side of the screen, you'll find your recently opened PowerPoint files. This option is great for saving some time.
• If you don't find the presentation you're looking for, click on the “Open” option at the left bar and find older files.
• Don't forget to save your presentation with a relatable name so you won't lose sight of it!

Step 3: Choose the perfect design for your presentation

With your information ready in a draft, it's time to choose the design of your PowerPoint slide deck. You must imagine that the available design options are endless!

For practical reasons, you have three options regarding the design:

• Start a design from scratch (very difficult for a PowerPoint beginner).
• Choose an established PowerPoint design or layout.
• Download a PowerPoint template and modify some details.

Don't worry if you don't know how to continue! In this PowerPoint 101 class, we're going to explain step by step the second option:

How do you set a default design in PowerPoint?

• First, go to the Design tab.
• Open the list of options by clicking on the third arrow.
• Choose the design you like the most for your PowerPoint presentation.

If you want to explore more PowerPoint designs, there is a way to research online. For that, you only need to:

• Go to the File tab (first tab, next to the Home tab).
• Select "More themes" (see image).

• Use the search engine and write the keyword you want (it can be related to your business or it can be a color).
• Check the list of PowerPoint themes and choose your favorite.
• Wait a few minutes while it loads and keep designing in PowerPoint!

How do you change the layout of one slide in PowerPoint?

In this PowerPoint 101 Guide, you will also learn how to configure the layout of each slide.

Keep in mind that to have a high-impact presentation, you must adapt your slides' design to the type of content you'll add. And using layouts is perfect for this purpose.

To change the layout type in PowerPoint, follow these steps:

• Right-click on the slide you want to change.
• Select the "Layout" option.
• You will find more than ten layout models.
• Choose the one that best suits your content.
• Repeat these steps for each slide (if you wish or require).

How do you customize your slides in PowerPoint?

The design process in this PowerPoint 101 Guide doesn't stop there.

You also can customize your presentation's color palette , font style, background format , and graphics effects .

Just go to:

• Design tab > Variants.
• Select Colors, Fonts, Effects or Background Styles (as you need).
• If you're inspired and want to create your own background in PowerPoint, select Background Styles > Format Background.
• Finally, custom your slides as you want!

Step 4: Add all your information to your presentation

Now, it's time to add all your information to your slides. If your script is long, take your time to copy each part of it.

In this PowerPoint Tutorial, we're going to show how our design is going so far. We design at your side!

Step 5: Add transitions or animations to your presentation

The stamp of PowerPoint is its transitions and animations! Naturally, our PowerPoint 101 has considered these essential commands.

If you want to add them to your presentation and make your speech more fluid, follow these steps:

• Go to the tabs section of PowerPoint.
• Select "Transitions" or "Animations" and try your favorite effects.
• Remember that if you select Transitions, these will modify the entire slide, while Animations can be added to each element individually.

When choosing one Animation, you can eliminate it if you aren't 100% convinced. You only need to:

• Select the Animation number that appears on the corner.
• Press the "Delete" or "Backspace" button on your keyboard.
• Choose another Animation in PowerPoint if you want!

This “PowerPoint for dummies” is full of tips and tricks! So here is one more: Don't overuse transitions or animations in PowerPoint ; they can make your presentation slower and unprofessional . Use this tool in a subtle way!

Step 6: Refine the final details

As always, every final product must be reviewed. Especially if you're learning the PowerPoint fundamentals with us.

We recommend reviewing each slide of your PowerPoint presentation one final time. In this process, you will be able to:

• Add icons if your presentation requires it.
• Change any image or illustration if they don't convince you.
• Change transitions or animations.
• Customize your presentation's color palette .
• Proofread your slides' text or add more information.
• Add speaker notes to your presentation.

Step 7: Slideshow your presentation

When your presentation is finished, it's essential to know how to make a PowerPoint slideshow. This way, you can see your slides from the exact same perspective your audience will see them.

To slideshow your presentation in PowerPoint, follow these simple steps for PowerPoint beginners:

• Position yourself on your first slide.
• Go to the bottom right of the software.
• Select the "Slide Show" button (see image).
• Have a look of your presentation by clicking on each slide or pressing the right arrow on your keyboard.
• To go out from the Slide Show mode, you have to press the ESC key.

Now you can present your slides like an expert!

When you master this presentation design software, you'll be able to create amazing things in PowerPoint : infographics, diagrams, charts, pitch decks, business cards, calendars, you name it!

This was our PowerPoint Guide for beginners. We hope that our compilation today will be useful for conducting more professional presentations in the future and, why not, achieve all your goals!

Don't forget to share this PowerPoint 101 Guide with your co-workers or whoever you want!

Want to boost your beginner PowerPoint skills? Check out this content:

• How to Work with Multiple Images in PowerPoint
• How to Add a Timer to Your Powerpoint Presentations
• PowerPoint Charts, Graphs, & Tables Made Easy | Tips & Tricks
• How To Use PowerPoint Design Ideas - All Questions Answered!
• 36 Fun Icebreakers for Your Next Presentation
• The Cost of PowerPoint Presentations: Discover the hidden expenses you might overlook!

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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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How to Install and Download PowerPoint on Any Device

Last Updated: April 26, 2024 Fact Checked

Installing the Mobile App

Downloading powerpoint on a computer, using powerpoint in a browser, troubleshooting, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido and by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 268,081 times.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation application included with Office 365. It can be installed on your desktop or mobile device. You can even use it on a web browser. Here's how to download PowerPoint on your Windows or Mac computer, iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

Quick Steps

• Purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription or start a free trial at https://www.office.com/ .
• Log into your Microsoft account.
• Click Install to download the setup file to your computer.
• Double-click the setup file to install all Microsoft Office 365 desktop apps.

• You must have a Microsoft 365 subscription to use PowerPoint. If you don't have an account, you won't be able to save your project.
• Keep in mind that the mobile app has some limitations depending on your plan. For example, some plans have a screen size limit of 10.9 inches. If you're using an iPad Pro (12.9 inches), you'll need to have a plan with desktop access. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

• You can now use PowerPoint on your mobile device.

• You can also choose to purchase PowerPoint separately .

• Click on Try for Free to gain free access to PowerPoint for a 30-day trial period. After the trial period ends, your credit card will be charged the monthly subscription fee for Office.
• If you purchased Microsoft Office elsewhere and have a product key, go to the Office setup page at https://setup.office.com/ and enter your 25-character product key. This key can be found in the confirmation email you received at the time you purchased Microsoft Office, or inside the Office product package.

• Select the option to register for a Microsoft account if you don’t already have one, then follow the on-screen instructions to create an account.

• If you don't see this button, click your profile icon in the top-right corner and select My Microsoft account . Click Install underneath the Microsoft 365 header.
• If prompted, select a save destination for the Microsoft Office setup file.

• When PowerPoint is fully installed, you'll find it in your app list.

• You can use PowerPoint on the web without downloading any additional software, but it will have limited features compared to the desktop version.

• When this file is created, it will automatically save to your OneDrive . You can access this at any time.

• Navigate to the Microsoft Office folder on your computer, double-click on the Setup file, then follow the on-screen instructions in the setup wizard to install PowerPoint on your computer.

• If you don't have a subscription, Google Slides is a free option and functions similarly to PowerPoint. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-you-can-do-in-the-office-apps-on-mobile-devices-with-a-microsoft-365-subscription-9ef8b63a-05fd-4f9c-bac5-29da046833ea?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us
• ↑ Luigi Oppido. Computer & Tech Specialist. Expert Interview. 1 April 2020.
• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/get-started-with-powerpoint-for-the-web-6303da7a-402a-4300-8b1c-160e8940cc34
• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/system-requirements-and-supported-accounts-46a8d501-0d1f-4145-ab0f-286bc7dcf780

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4 ways to download PowerPoint straight from Microsoft

PowerPoint is the most popular slideshow presentation app in the world. It is developed and sold by Microsoft as part of its Office suite, together with other productivity apps such as Word, Excel, Outlook or Access. However, it is also available online as a web app. Unless you have already worked with PowerPoint, you might wonder how and where to download it. If you go online and search for it, many of the search results you get are misleading, so we thought it would make a good idea to show you a few ways in which you can download PowerPoint safely, straight from Microsoft:

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What you should know before downloading powerpoint, 1. download powerpoint from the office.com website, when you have an office 365 subscription, 2. download powerpoint mobile from the microsoft store, for free, 3. download powerpoint from the office website, when you own a license for microsoft office 2019, 2016 or 2013, 4. download powerpoint using the microsoft windows and office iso download tool, bonus: you do not need to download powerpoint. use it for free, online, what is your favorite way to download powerpoint.

Before we go ahead and show you how to download PowerPoint on your PC straight from Microsoft, we must first tell you something important: PowerPoint is an app that is offered by Microsoft only as part of the company's productivity suite called Office. That means that to be able to download and install the full version of PowerPoint, you must own the Microsoft Office suite or have a subscription to Office 365 .

However, if you are not ready to spend money, there are two alternatives that you might like and which you can find in the second and last methods from this guide. The first one lets you download and install PowerPoint Mobile, which is a free and lightweight version of PowerPoint. The last one does not involve downloading PowerPoint but lets you use it nonetheless, legally, for free.

If you have a valid Office 365 subscription or if you want to install a trial version of Microsoft's productivity apps, including PowerPoint, open your favorite web browser and visit office.com . Click or tap Sign in .

Authenticate yourself with the Microsoft account that you used to buy the subscription to Office 365.

After you have signed in, you should see a webpage like the one in the screenshot below. On the right side, immediately under the header, there should be a link called Install Office . Click or tap on it.

This action opens a new tab in your browser, where you can see your Office 365 subscription. Among other information, you should also see a section that's called "Install Office on all your computers" or something similar. Click or tap the Install Office button.

Choose the version and language that you prefer, and then click or tap Install .

The previous action gives you an executable file that you can use to install Office 365, including PowerPoint.

Download the file, run it, and install the Office apps, including PowerPoint.

There is another way to download PowerPoint on your PC, for free. If you are using Windows 10, you can use the Microsoft Store to download and install PowerPoint Mobile. It's not the full-fledged version of the PowerPoint you get in Office 365 or Office retail editions, but it lets you use every basic feature. If you're looking for the free PowerPoint, this is the method you should use.

Start the Microsoft Store by clicking or tapping on its shortcut from the Start Menu .

Then search for PowerPoint: when the results are shown, click or tap on PowerPoint Mobile . If you don't see it in your results, you can use this direct link to PowerPoint Mobile . On the app's page, click or tap on Install .

Wait for PowerPoint Mobile to download and install. It shouldn't take long, as it doesn't have a large size: only about 50MB.

When the installation is over, click or tap on Launch to open PowerPoint Mobile . Later on, you can start it using its shortcut from the Start Menu .

This is what PowerPoint Mobile looks like:

As you can see, it's not the full-fledged version of PowerPoint, and it's clearly addressed to mobile users who prefer touch, not to desktop PC or laptop users who are used to using a keyboard and mouse.

If you do not like subscriptions and you preferred to buy a license for Microsoft Office 2019, 2016 or 2013, use this method to download PowerPoint on your PC: open a web browser on your PC and visit setup.office.com . Once it loads, click or tap Sign in and authenticate using your Microsoft account, or create a new one if you do not have one already.

The webpage asks you to enter your Office product key. If this is the first time you have used it, you can enter it and tie it to your account. However, we assume that you have already done that in the past. To get to the download links, although it Is not intuitive, click or tap the Office icon from the top-left corner of the page, and then the " Install from your Microsoft account " link under your name.

Then, you can see all the Office standalone products that you have bought in the past. You can go ahead and click or tap on the Download button from the Office product you prefer. That lets you download Office and PowerPoint with it.

If you have a retail license for Microsoft Office 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010 and want a faster way to download PowerPoint, you should consider using the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool . You can get it from the heidoc.net website . It is a free app that lets you do just that: download Windows and Office using direct links to Microsoft's servers. Find out more in this tutorial . If you choose to use it, it is good to know that this method also lets you download just PowerPoint instead of having to get the entire Office suite.

To download Office or PowerPoint only, open the Office tab on the right side, select the edition and the language you want, and then click or tap Download .

Finally, for those of you who do not have a license to use Office and do not want to use trial versions or PowerPoint Mobile, you should know that you do not need to spend any money to use PowerPoint. Instead of trying to download it on your PC, you can use its online version. Microsoft provides a PowerPoint web app that, although is not the full-fledged software, offers all the basics you need.

To get to the online version PowerPoint, visit office.com and log in using your Microsoft account. Then, click or tap PowerPoint . Alternatively, you can also use this direct link: PowerPoint Online .

PowerPoint Online loads and lets you create the presentation you need.

These are the ways we know for downloading PowerPoint straight from Microsoft. Some of them are easier than others, and some of them work only for some types of Office editions. Which one did you use? Do you know other methods to download PowerPoint? Do not hesitate to let us know in the comments below.

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You can get PowerPoint templates that have modern designs, animated ones, or even hand-drawn art in each slide. The color schemes range from bold to subtle. Each template's slides are also organized based on what you may want to include in your presentation . You can use the template as a starting point and customize its specific details from theme.

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Microsoft PowerPoint 2016

Powerpoint presentation for windows 2016.

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Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program designed for a very wide audience and is therefore as easy to use as possible. Even people who are very rarely aware of the existence of this Microsoft Office component are aware of it and are not familiar with the software.

PowerPoint doesn't have many functions: the program allows you to add unlimited number of slides, transitions, music and simple animations to your presentation. The slides themselves can contain text and graphics, videos, hyperlinks and interactive keys. Generally speaking, in the latest versions of the program there appeared quite a lot of tools for setting up the slide structure in it. The user can select an area for header, footers, footers, etc. There are tools to create charts, simple tables and charts, as well as a small library with sounds and clip-art.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 provides users with an easy-to-use platform to create comprehensive, multimedia presentations.

Switching of presentation slides can be done automatically (according to the set schedule) or manually - by mouse click. The user has a timer, a timeline and a preview function. All of this helps to "put" the presentation to bed" in the allotted time.

When adding graphical elements to a project, Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to "play" with sliders responsible for various color parameters, add frames and make all kinds of changes to the images using the tools from the "Draw" panel. New versions of PowerPoint use their own codecs to play multimedia elements (audio, video), so that no additional software is required. Another benefit added to the program relatively recently is support for cloud-based synchronization of project changes using the OneDrive cloud service.

Those who are not going to create their own presentations, but only want to see the ready-made ones, not necessarily download and install the full version of the program. Just use the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer tool.

- Create slides and use text, graphics, interactive and multimedia elements

- their own libraries with transitions, clipart and sounds;

- preview of the project directly in the program interface;

- a handy slide show;

- Synchronize project changes with the OneDrive;

- tools for drawing and creating charts/diagrams;

- a built-in timer;

- ready-made templates for presentations on a variety of topics.

Aidan Thu, Apr 4, 2024 Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 is a Microsoft application for presentation. This software allows users to save their presentation files to the OneDrive cloud. Users can also access all presentation files directly using their OneDrive account. All of the presentation files are in sync with all the devices for users. This software has a lot of newer updates than the older ones. However, Microsoft does not provide all the updates that much. Still, this software is highly compatible with almost all of the users still in today. It does not require that much system resources to function properly. Therefore, older computers can still perform better in this software.

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Microsoft PowerPoint has been around for a long while and so far it has served users well. However, because it's a paid program, not everyone can afford it.

Thankfully, there are many options available for users who want the functionality of Microsoft PowerPoint in a free-to-use package. In fact, some of them don't even require any downloads and are completely web-based.

1. Google Slides

By far the most popular PowerPoint alternative out there, Google Slides shines when it comes to collaboration. Multiple people can work simultaneously on a presentation and add new slides.

This is further strengthened by its availability. Google Slides works on your web browser and has apps for both iOS and Android.

Additionally, Google Slides keeps a record of all the changes users have made to a presentation, and you can easily restore your slideshow to a previous version. While anyone with a Gmail account can use Google Slides, G Suite users get added data protection.

Compared to PowerPoint, the number of templates, animation forms, and fonts is somewhat lacking. However, businesses tend to overlook these shortcomings on a day-to-day basis.

While Canva is primarily known as a photo editor and design tool, it is also a competent MS PowerPoint alternative.

One of Canva's main strengths is its ease of use. There are many beginner tutorial videos on the website if users do not understand something. Complete beginners can easily navigate through the minimalistic interface.

With the free version of Canva, you get access to over 8000+ presentation templates that exponentially speed up your workflow. Additionally, Canva still remains one of the easiest services to create infographics and charts in.

The only limiting thing with Canva is that it offers a basic set of tools and transitions at users' disposal. It's apparent that the company places more focus on photo editing and design aspect than anything else.

The Prezi presentation format is unique in the way that it lets you view slides. Instead of addressing multiple elements at once, Prezi gives viewers a single canvas that allows them to zoom in on different presentation parts. This provides a much more immersive experience.

Similar to Google Slides, Prezi supports the real-time collaboration of up to 10 users. Users can also add comments to indicate changes or report missing information. Prezi works on any modern web browser, and there are Android and iOS apps available as well.

Related: Powerful Google Chrome PDF Extensions and Apps

The Prezi software also has an analytics feature that helps users optimize their presentation by showing them which slides were the most viewed as well as which ones were skipped.

Even though the basic version of Prezi is free to use, it doesn't allow users to control the privacy of their presentation, which could be a dealbreaker for many. Additionally, due to the way Prezi works, there is a steep learning curve associated with it.

4. WPS Office Free

WPS Office is the closest alternative to PowerPoint when it comes to functionality and user interface. Plus, unlike the other web-based services on this list, you don't always need an active internet connection to use it.

With its complete support for PowerPoint files, users can edit existing PowerPoint documents with ease in WPS Office. They can also embed videos and animate individual objects, just like in Microsoft PowerPoint. It also offers many templates, so users can pick their favorite.

However, users should keep in mind that while the software is free, it is supported by ads, which may be a bit intrusive at times. In addition to this, collaboration is less straightforward than with Google Slides.

WPS Office is available across all major platforms such as Windows, macOS, Linux. iOS, and Android. There is a web-based version available as well. Alternatively, you can check out this handy guide to smoothen your transition to WPS Office from Microsoft .

Xtensio is one of the best options for business users. It has many templates available regarding various organization sections, such as marketing, UX design, etc.

With Xtensio's easy-to-use interface, even newbies can create professional-looking reports and presentations. Additionally, they offer even greater flexibility in terms of design. You can edit each object in a template to suit your specific needs.

But it does have some shortcomings. For one thing, users cannot export their presentations in PowerPoint format. Additionally, the free version supports only one user at a time with a storage space of 1MB.

6. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is open-source presentation software that does everything PowerPoint can do. Although it lacks functionality such as OneDrive Integration, its PowerPoint-like functionality more than makes up for it.

LibreOffice has its share of useful features, such as the ability to import Keynote files. In addition, LibreOffice has a vast collection of free templates that users can use to create their presentations.

If that's not enough, you can download additional templates from LibreOffice's online repository. LibreOffice is available across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

7. Zoho Show

There are several reasons to use Zoho Show for your next presentation. It's a great presentation tool that's similar to Google Slides, but even better. Users can also import and edit all their PowerPoint files in the online tool.

Users can create tables, infographics, and data charts within Zoho Show itself. In addition to this, the service also has in-built Google Image Search functionality that lets you search and insert images quickly.

Related: Tools to Give an Online Presentation From Anywhere

Additionally, Zoho Show supports collaboration in real-time and multiple users can edit presentations. Although there's not much to complain about in Zoho Show, many users would like to have more options when it comes to templates and animations.

Worthy PowerPoint Alternatives

Essentially, all these tools and services function the same way as PowerPoint without the cost. Furthermore, the web-based alternatives are more advanced such as automatic saving and cloud storage.

Despite this, PowerPoint remains the front-runner when it comes to presentation software. As such, it is important for users to know how to make the best out of its features.

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View a presentation without PowerPoint

If you don't have PowerPoint installed on your computer, you can still open and view presentations by using PowerPoint for the web or PowerPoint on your mobile device.

Use PowerPoint in a web browser

If you have a Microsoft account (hotmail.com, outlook.com, live.com, msn.com) or a Microsoft 365 work or school account, you can view and edit a presentation for free in a web browser. Save the file to OneDrive or Dropbox and use PowerPoint for the web to open it.

If you don't already have a Microsoft account, you can create one for free .

Get PowerPoint for a smartphone or tablet

The free mobile versions of PowerPoint let you open presentations on your smartphone or tablet:

Get PowerPoint from Google Play

Get PowerPoint from iTunes

PowerPoint Viewer has been retired

PowerPoint Viewer was retired on April 30, 2018. It's no longer available for download.

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