Start with a blank presentation or a template

Open Canva in your browser or app and click the search box at the top. Type "presentation" and you will see hundreds of templates organized by category — business pitches, school projects, social media announcements, nonprofit reports. Each template is a starting point with layouts, fonts, and color schemes already chosen.

If you want to build from scratch instead, click "Create a design" and select "Presentation" from the dropdown. Canva will open a blank slide with a title and subtitle placeholder. Either way, you are starting with a canvas that is already the right size and shape for presenting.

Templates save time if you are not sure what your slides should look like. Starting blank gives you complete control but requires you to make every choice yourself — layout, colors, fonts, spacing. Most people find a template close to what they want and then change the text, images, and colors to match their actual content.

Key Takeaways

  • Canva presentations are edited in your browser or the mobile app, and you can share a link to let others view or comment without downloading anything.
  • Each slide can use a different layout — title slide, two-column, image-heavy, text-only — and you switch layouts by clicking the layout panel on the left.
  • You add images, icons, and shapes from Canva's library by dragging them onto the slide, and most free images are included with the free plan.
  • Presenter notes live below each slide and do not appear when you present, so you can write talking points or speaker reminders there.
  • You present directly from Canva by clicking the play button, which hides the editing toolbar and shows slides full-screen with speaker notes visible only to you.

Add and arrange content on each slide

Click inside any text box to type your own words. The text will use the font and size already set by the template, but you can change both by highlighting the text and using the toolbar at the top — font name, size, bold, italic, color, and alignment all live there. If you want to change the background color of a slide, click the background panel on the left side.

To add an image, click the "Elements" tab on the left and search for what you want — "office", "celebration", "chart", "arrow". Drag the image onto the slide and resize it by dragging the corners. You can also upload your own photos by clicking "Uploads" and then "Upload a file". Canva will store them in your account so you can use them on any slide.

Icons and shapes work the same way. Click "Elements", search for "arrow" or "circle" or "star", and drag it onto the slide. You can change the color of any shape or icon by clicking it and using the color picker in the toolbar. If something is in the way of something else, right-click and choose "Send to back" or "Bring to front" to change the stacking order.

Duplicate slides and build consistency

Once you have one slide the way you want it, right-click the slide thumbnail on the left and click "Duplicate". Canva will copy the entire slide — all the text boxes, images, colors, and layout. You can then change just the text and images on the duplicate while keeping the design the same.

This is much faster than building each slide from scratch, and it keeps your presentation looking like one unified thing instead of a collection of random slides. If you decide you want to change the font or background color on every slide, you only have to change it once on one slide, then duplicate that change to the rest.

You can also right-click a slide and choose "Delete" to remove it, or drag slides up and down in the left panel to reorder them. Canva will not let you undo a deletion, so if you are not sure you want to remove a slide, hide it instead by right-clicking and choosing "Hide slide" — you can unhide it later.

Use presenter notes to write talking points

Below the slide preview, you will see a text box labeled "Notes". Click inside it and type anything you want to remember when you present — key statistics, a joke, a reminder to pause and ask a question, a transition to the next topic. These notes appear only to you when you are presenting; the audience will never see them.

Presenter notes are especially useful if you are presenting to a large group or if you are nervous about forgetting what to say. You can write full sentences or just bullet points — whatever helps you remember your flow. If you are sharing the presentation with someone else to present, they will see their own notes but not yours.

Share the presentation and present it

Click the "Share" button in the top right. You can send a link to anyone, and they can view the presentation in their browser without downloading anything. If you choose "Can edit", they can make changes to your presentation. If you choose "Can view", they can only look at it. You can also read the presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint file if you need to send it to someone who does not use Canva.

To present, click the play button (triangle icon) in the top right. Canva will go full-screen and show one slide at a time. Use the arrow keys or click the arrows on the screen to move between slides. Your presenter notes will appear at the bottom of your screen but will not show to the audience. Press Escape to exit presentation mode and go back to editing.

If you are presenting on a projector or external monitor, your notes will appear on your computer screen while the slides appear on the projector. This is called "presenter view" and it happens automatically — you do not have to set anything up.

Change fonts, colors, and the overall look

If you want to change the font on every slide at once, click "Design" in the top left (or the paintbrush icon on the left panel). Canva will show you color schemes and font combinations. Click one and Canva will explore it to every slide in your presentation. You can still change individual slides after that if you want something different.

To change just one slide's background, click the slide, then click the background panel on the left and choose a color, gradient, or image. To change the font of a single text box, click the text box and use the font dropdown in the toolbar. These changes affect only that slide or that text box, not the whole presentation.

If you have already chosen a template and now want to switch to a different one, you cannot swap templates directly. Instead, create a new presentation with the template you want, then copy and paste your text and images into the new slides. It takes a few minutes but is faster than rebuilding from scratch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add video or audio to a Canva presentation?

Canva presentations do not support embedded video or audio. You can add a still image from a video or a link to a video, but you cannot play video directly inside Canva. If you need video in your presentation, read the Canva file as a PowerPoint and insert video there, or present from Canva and open a video in a separate window when you need it.

What happens if I lose internet connection while presenting?

Canva presentations require an internet connection to present. If your connection drops, the presentation will stop. Before presenting, read the presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint file as a backup, or make sure you have a stable connection and a backup plan like a mobile hotspot.

Can multiple people edit the same presentation at the same time?

Yes. Click "Share", choose "Can edit", and send the link to anyone you want to collaborate with. They can open the presentation and make changes, and you will see their edits appear in real time. Canva shows you who is editing and what they are changing, similar to Google Docs.

How do I make the text bigger or smaller on all slides?

You have to change each slide individually. Click a text box, highlight the text, and use the size dropdown in the toolbar. If you want consistent sizing across all slides, change the font size on your first slide, duplicate that slide for the rest of your presentation, and then edit only the text content on each duplicate.

Can I present without an internet connection?

No. Canva presentations are stored online and require internet to present. read your presentation as a PowerPoint file before you present if you are worried about losing connection, then open it in PowerPoint or another presentation app that works offline.