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Build slides, add media, record presentations, and prepare speaker notes.
Search this topicIn a supported desktop PowerPoint version, choose Record and check your microphone and camera before starting. Record a short first slide, then play it back to confirm the sound. Continue through the deck, pausing speech during transitions because PowerPoint does not capture narration while slides are changing.
Yes. PowerPoint stores recordings by slide, so open the slide that needs a correction and use the recording controls to clear or replace that slide's recording. Preview it before moving on. Avoid clearing all slides unless you intend to replace the entire presentation's recorded narration.
After recording, open the recording window's Export screen and choose the video output. Review the export settings, filename, and destination before starting. In the current Windows recording experience, the default is a 1080p MP4. Slides without recorded timings display for five seconds by default unless you customize that setting.
Choose Design, Slide Size, then Widescreen for a 16:9 presentation or Standard for 4:3. If PowerPoint asks how to scale existing content, compare the options carefully. Ensure Fit keeps content visible by shrinking it; Maximize can push content beyond the edges. Inspect every slide after the change.
Open Design, Slide Size, and Custom Slide Size, then choose Portrait for the slides. Confirm the change and review how the existing content fits. The orientation applies to the entire presentation: PowerPoint does not give individual slides separate portrait and landscape settings within the same deck.
Use Design, Slide Size, Custom Slide Size and enter the required width and height. You can enter supported measurements with units such as inches or centimeters. Choose the orientation before confirming. Set the dimensions early when possible, since resizing a finished presentation can require repositioning text and pictures.
In Normal view, enter your notes in the notes pane beneath the slide. Use View, Notes Page when you need to inspect their printed layout or add pictures to a notes page. Objects added there appear in the printed notes, not as objects on the presentation slide itself.
Open File, Print and change the layout from Full Page Slides to Notes Pages. Preview the pages before printing and choose the orientation and color settings you need. This layout prints one slide thumbnail with its accompanying notes per page, rather than several slides with notes beneath each.
Open each slide in Notes Page view and remove the slide thumbnail from that notes page. This does not delete the slide from the deck. Then print using the Notes Pages layout. Check the preview and enlarge the notes area if you need more room for the text.
Choose View, Slide Master and select the large master thumbnail above its associated layouts. Make the shared formatting changes, then close Master View. If a change belongs only to one type of slide, edit that layout instead. Check representative slides afterward, especially ones with manual formatting.
Finish your slide-master and layout changes, then close Master View. On Windows, use Save As or Save a Copy and choose the PowerPoint template file type. On Mac, use Save as Template. Give the file a recognizable name so you can start later presentations from the same layout.
Select the slide, choose Insert, Audio, and pick an audio file from your computer. Select the inserted audio icon and review its playback settings. Decide whether it should start automatically or on a click, then test it in Slide Show. Use audio you have permission to include.
Select the audio icon and open its playback controls. Choose Play Across Slides; use Play in Background when you want continuous background playback. Enable looping if the clip should repeat. Test transitions through several slides, and avoid hiding the icon if the audio still depends on clicking it.
Select the audio icon on the slide and open Playback. Choose Trim and adjust the start and end controls to keep the section you need. Preview the result, then consider fade-in or fade-out settings for abrupt edges. Also check the volume against any narration elsewhere in the presentation.
In PowerPoint for Windows, open File, Info and choose Compress Media. Select a quality level appropriate for viewing, then inspect playback in a saved copy. Compression can remove embedded subtitles and alternate audio tracks, so retain the original. This particular feature is unavailable in PowerPoint for Mac and the web.
Select a slide, then use Insert, Video and choose the option for a file on your device. Select the video and insert it. Microsoft recommends MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. Preview the clip and save the presentation; embedding it increases the presentation's file size.
Check whether the video is linked instead of embedded. A linked file can be missing when only the presentation is transferred. Keep the presentation and its linked videos together, or embed the video when appropriate. In Windows PowerPoint, File, Info can show links and their file locations.
Select the video frame, open Playback, and set Start to Automatically. Preview the slide in Slide Show rather than relying only on the editor's play button. If other animation steps come before the video, those may run first; review the sequence if playback does not begin when expected.
In desktop PowerPoint for Windows, open the PDF with the needed area visible, then switch to PowerPoint and choose Insert, Screenshot, Screen Clipping. Drag around the content to capture it as an image. Check readability after resizing; this inserts a picture, not editable PDF text.
In desktop PowerPoint for Windows, close the PDF first, then use Insert, Object, Create from file and select it. To open it during a slide show, add an action to the inserted object and choose Open. Test on the presentation computer; this workflow is unavailable in PowerPoint for the web.
Select the text or object, open Animations, and choose an effect. Use Effect Options to adjust its behavior. Decide whether it starts on a click, with the previous effect, or afterward, then preview the slide. Keep the sequence understandable instead of adding motion to every object.
Select the object that already has an effect and use Add Animation to add another. Review both effects in the Animation Pane and set their sequence and timing. Choosing a replacement from the main gallery can change the existing effect instead of building the sequence you intended.
Duration controls how long an effect takes to run; Delay adds waiting time before it starts. The Start setting controls whether it follows a click or another effect. Adjust these separately and preview the slide so a slow animation is not mistaken for a long pause before playback.
Select the slide that should enter with the effect, open Transitions, and choose a transition. Adjust its options and duration, then preview it. Apply to All copies that transition across the deck. A transition belongs to the incoming slide, which matters when changing just one boundary.
Source checks for these answers: September 21, 2026. Product instructions and local requirements can vary.