Grouping objects keeps your slide layout from falling apart

Grouping in Google Slides means linking multiple objects — text boxes, images, shapes — so they move and resize as one unit. When you group objects, clicking one selects all of them at the same time. This matters because a slide with many separate pieces is fragile: nudge one element by accident and your carefully aligned logo, border, and headline scatter across the page.

Grouping is the fastest way to protect a layout you've built. Once grouped, those objects stay in the same relationship to each other no matter how many times you move them or resize them. You can still ungroup them later if you need to edit one piece separately.

Key Takeaways

  • Select multiple objects by holding Shift and clicking each one, or by dragging a selection box around them all at once.
  • Right-click the selection and choose "Group" from the menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+G on Windows or Cmd+Option+G on Mac.
  • Grouped objects move together, resize together, and stay aligned — but you can still rotate or recolor individual pieces after grouping.
  • Ungroup objects by selecting the group, right-clicking, and choosing "Ungroup" when you need to adjust one element without affecting the others.

Select the objects you want to group

Start by clicking the first object you want to group — a shape, image, or text box. Then hold Shift and click each additional object. Google Slides will highlight all of them in blue as you select them. This method works best when the objects are spread across the slide.

If your objects are clustered together, you can also drag a selection box around all of them at once. Click and hold in an empty area of the slide, then drag diagonally across all the objects you want to include. Release the mouse when the box surrounds everything you need. Any object that touches the selection box will be selected.

Make sure you have selected at least two objects before you try to group. Google Slides will not let you group a single item — the group command straightforward will not appear in the menu.

Open the group menu and confirm the selection

Right-click anywhere on one of your selected objects. A menu will appear with several options. Look for the word "Group" near the middle of the menu. Click it once.

Google Slides will when ready link all the selected objects together. The blue selection handles around each object will now form a single rectangle around the entire group. You can click anywhere inside that rectangle and the whole group will select at once.

If you are using a keyboard shortcut instead, press Ctrl+Alt+G on Windows or Cmd+Option+G on Mac while the objects are still selected. The result is identical — all objects become one grouped unit.

Move and resize your grouped objects

Click anywhere on the grouped objects and drag them to a new location. The entire group moves as one, and all the objects inside maintain their exact spacing and alignment. This is the main reason to group: you can reposition a complex layout without worrying that one piece will shift out of place.

You can also resize the whole group by dragging one of the corner handles outward or inward. All objects inside the group will scale proportionally. If you drag a side handle instead of a corner, the group will stretch in that direction only, and the objects inside will stretch with it.

Rotation works on grouped objects too. Hover over one of the corner handles until a curved arrow appears, then drag to rotate the entire group. All objects will rotate together around the group's center point.

Edit individual objects within a group

You do not have to ungroup objects to make changes to them. Double-click on a specific object inside the group, and that object will enter edit mode while the rest of the group stays locked. For text boxes, double-clicking lets you edit the text directly. For shapes, you can change the fill color, border, or other properties.

If you need to change the color of just one shape in a grouped set, double-click that shape, then use the fill color tool in the toolbar. The change applies only to that shape, not the whole group. When you click outside the group, all objects return to their grouped state.

This approach is faster than ungrouping and regrouping when you only need to tweak one or two elements. Save ungrouping for situations where you need to move one object to a completely different location or delete it from the layout.

Ungroup objects when you need to separate them

Click the grouped objects once to select the entire group. Right-click and choose "Ungroup" from the menu. All the objects will when ready separate and become independent again. Each object will have its own selection handles, and clicking one will no longer select the others.

You can also ungroup using the keyboard: press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G on Windows or Cmd+Option+Shift+G on Mac. The result is the same — the group breaks apart and all objects become separate.

After ungrouping, you can move, delete, or edit any object without affecting the others. If you want to group some of them again later, just select them and use the group command again. There is no limit to how many times you can group and ungroup the same objects.

Nesting groups for complex layouts

Google Slides lets you group objects, then group those groups together into larger groups. This is called nesting and is useful for slides with many layers of organization. For example, you might group a logo with a border, then group that with a title block, then group all of that with a footer.

To nest groups, select multiple groups (or a mix of groups and individual objects) and group them together just as you would with individual objects. Google Slides treats a group as a single unit, so you can select and move entire sections of your slide without disturbing the internal alignment of each group.

Ungrouping a nested group breaks it into its component groups, not all the way down to individual objects. If you grouped A with B to make group AB, then grouped AB with C to make group ABC, ungrouping ABC gives you back AB and C, not A, B, and C separately. This gives you control over how much you want to break apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I group objects on different slides?

No. Grouping only works on objects that are on the same slide. If you need the same layout on multiple slides, build it once, group it, then copy and paste the entire group to other slides.

What happens to a group if I delete one object from it?

You cannot delete a single object from a group without ungrouping first. If you select the group and press Delete, the entire group disappears. To remove just one object, double-click to edit that object, then delete it, or ungroup first and delete the object you want to remove.

Can I change the order of objects in a group?

Yes, but you have to ungroup first. Use the "Arrange" menu to send objects forward or backward in the stack. Once you have them in the order you want, select them all again and regroup.

Does grouping affect how my presentation looks when I present it?

No. Grouping is only a tool for editing — it does not change how the slide appears to your audience. The presentation looks identical whether objects are grouped or separate.

Can I group text boxes with images?

Yes. You can group any combination of objects — text boxes, images, shapes, lines, and more. Select them all and group them the same way you would group objects of the same type.