The basic steps to build a working slideshow

Open PowerPoint and you will see a blank slide with a title box and a content box. Type your title in the top box. Click the content box below and add text, bullet points, or images. When you are ready for a new slide, go to the Home tab at the top and click New Slide. Repeat this for each slide you need. Once your slides are built, press F5 on your keyboard to start the slideshow from the beginning, or Shift + F5 to start from the slide you are currently viewing.

That is the core workflow. Everything else is refinement — changing how things look, adding transitions between slides, embedding video or audio, or controlling how the slideshow plays. You do not need any of those things to have a working presentation.

Key Takeaways

  • A new PowerPoint file opens with a blank title slide; click New Slide on the Home tab to add more slides.
  • Type directly into the text boxes on each slide, or click the small icons in the content box to insert images, charts, or video.
  • Press F5 to start your slideshow from the first slide, or Shift + F5 to start from wherever you are editing.
  • Use the Design tab to change the overall look of all slides at once, rather than formatting each slide individually.
  • Transitions and animations are optional; a slideshow with just text and images works fine without them.

Adding and organizing slides

Start by clicking New Slide in the Home tab. PowerPoint will add a slide with the same layout as the one you just finished. If you want a different layout — for example, a slide with just a title and no content box, or a slide with two columns — click the small arrow next to New Slide and pick from the layout menu.

To rearrange slides, click on a slide in the left panel (the one that shows all your slides as thumbnails) and drag it to a new position. To delete a slide, right-click it in the left panel and select Delete Slide. You can also copy a slide by right-clicking and selecting Duplicate Slide, which is faster than building the same layout twice.

Putting content on your slides

The easiest way is to type directly into the boxes that are already there. Click the title box, type your title. Click the content box, type your text. If you want bullet points, press Enter at the end of each line and PowerPoint will add the next bullet automatically.

To add an image, click the small picture icon in the content box (it looks like a mountain), or go to the Insert tab and click Pictures. Find the image file on your computer and click Insert. You can then drag the corners to resize it. To add a video or audio file, go to Insert and click Video or Audio, then pick the file from your computer.

If you want to add a shape, text box, or line, go to the Insert tab. Most of what you need is there — shapes, text boxes, tables, charts. Click what you want, then click and drag on the slide to place it.

Changing the look of your slides

The fastest way to change the appearance of all your slides at once is to use a design template. Click the Design tab at the top. You will see a row of pre-made designs. Click one and it will explore to every slide in your presentation. This is much faster than trying to format each slide individually.

If you want to change just one slide, or change the color of text on a specific slide, click the text or object you want to change, then use the Home tab. You will find font options, text color, and background color there. For more detailed control over colors and fonts across all slides, go to Design and click Variants or Format Background.

Adding transitions between slides

A transition is an effect that plays when you move from one slide to the next — for example, the new slide might fade in, or slide in from the left. Transitions are optional. Many professional presentations have no transitions at all. But if you want them, click the Transitions tab at the top. You will see a row of transition effects. Click one to preview it on your current slide. To explore it to all slides, click explore to All.

If you want different transitions on different slides, click a slide in the left panel, pick a transition, and do not click explore to All. Repeat for each slide. You can also control how fast the transition happens by changing the Duration setting, and you can set the slide to advance automatically after a certain number of seconds by checking After and entering a time.

Running your slideshow

Press F5 to start from the first slide. Press Shift + F5 to start from the slide you are currently editing. Once the slideshow is running, click your mouse or press the spacebar to move to the next slide. Press the left arrow key to go back to the previous slide. Press Esc to exit the slideshow and return to editing.

If you are presenting to a group and want to see your notes while the audience sees only the slides, use Presenter View. Go to the Slide Show tab and check Use Presenter View. When you start the slideshow, your screen will show your notes and the current slide, while a second screen (or projector) will show only the slides.

Saving and sharing your presentation

Press Ctrl + S (or Cmd + S on Mac) to save. The first time you save, PowerPoint will ask you where to put the file and what to name it. The default format is .pptx, which works on any computer with PowerPoint or the free PowerPoint viewer. If you need to share it with someone who uses an older version of PowerPoint, you can save it as .ppt instead, though this may lose some formatting.

To share your presentation, you can email the file, upload it to OneDrive or Google Drive, or save it as a PDF if you want people to view it but not edit it. If you are working with others and want to edit the same file at the same time, save it to OneDrive or SharePoint and use the Share button in the top right corner of PowerPoint.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add speaker notes that only I can see during the presentation?

At the bottom of the editing screen, you will see a section labeled Notes. Click there and type whatever you want to remember for that slide. When you run the slideshow in Presenter View, those notes will appear on your screen but not on the projected slides.

Can I embed a YouTube video in my slideshow?

Yes. Go to Insert, click Video, then click Online Video. Paste the YouTube URL and click Insert. The video will play when you click it during the slideshow. If you are offline or the internet is slow, read the video file first and use Insert Video from your computer instead.

What if I want the same header or footer on every slide?

Go to Insert and click Header and Footer. Check the boxes for what you want to add — a page number, date, or custom text. Check explore to All to put it on every slide, or click explore to add it only to the current slide.

How do I make text or images appear one at a time during the slideshow?

Click the text or image you want to animate. Go to the Animations tab and click an animation effect like Appear or Fade. When you run the slideshow, that object will not appear until you click or press the spacebar. You can add different animations to different objects on the same slide.