The PowerPoint FAQ - PowerPoint Help
PowerPoint Frequently Asked Questions
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| READ ME FIRST | New Stuff | Find More PowerPoint Help |
| Tips, Techniques, Tutorials | General Info | Programming PowerPoint |
| MacFAQs | Stupid PPT-TRIX | Troubleshooting |
Table of Contents
POWERPOINT for iPad / iPod / iPhone
OFFICE 2016 / OFFICE 365 - Can ANYBODY explain this stuff?
POWERPOINT 2013 / POWERPOINT 15 / OFFICE 365
New Add-ins / Products / Sites
Tricks, Tips, Problems, Fixes and Upgrades
PowerPoint Help from Microsoft
PowerPoint-Related Subjects - Help and Info
Working with Charts and Graphs
Distributing & Delivering Presentations
Video Projectors and Dual Monitors
Making Acrobat PDFs from PowerPoint
Printing, Overheads, 35mm Slides, Pre-press
Accessibility and Internationalization
Creating and Installing Add-ins, Toolbars, Buttons
PowerPoint events; event-handling in VBA
Exporting shapes, slides and presentations
Adding shapes, slides and presentations
Deleting shapes, slides and presentations
Changing shapes, slides and presentations
Automating one app from another
Working with Media (Audio/video)
Troubleshoot Problems, Interpret Error Messages
Other Mac PowerPoint Resources
Solutions in Search of a Problem
Troubleshooting Tips and Procedures
PowerPoint Crashes Without Error Message
Display, Screen Show & Multimedia Problems
Corrupted or unopenable PPT files
Problems with PowerPoint on the Web
OTF font problems after Windows update KB2753842 is installed
MS warns of TrueType attack vulnerability
READ ME FIRST
Do you have suggestions for the PowerPoint team?
Before you use PowerPoint [Top]
Do this before using PowerPoint seriously
Don't do this with PowerPoint. Seriously.
What about PowerPoint's AutoSave?
And if you drive PowerPoint on a Mac, see this
Before you use PowerPoint ... SHOULD you use PowerPoint?
Virus Alert - Bogus messages that seem to be from Microsoft
Thinking about buying PowerPoint or Office pre-installed on a new computer?
What if you gave a presentation but nobody watched?
Having PowerPoint problems? [Top]
RUN PROGRAM action settings don't work any longer
Error message: The image part with relationship ID rld2 (or rld3) was not found in the file"
I can no longer insert EPS graphics into PowerPoint
Problems with Intelligent Services in Office 365
Problems with PowerPoint after updating to Windows 10
PowerPoint's not acting the way the instructions say it should
Slide.Export produces low-rez images, video export fails, images lost on save and other problems
Cannot access online pictures in PowerPoint
Most Common PowerPoint Questions
Microsoft Answers: The PowerPoint Support Forum
Contact Microsoft: suggestions, wishes, lost product keys, lost or broken CDs and DVDs
Sending files to other users, especially large files
General PowerPoint troubleshooting procedures
Disappearing or blank thumbnails in task panes
How to uninstall PowerPoint (and other Office apps)
How do I send PowerPoint feedback to Microsoft?
What version of PowerPoint do I have?
POWERPOINT for iPad / iPod / iPhone [Top]
Move files from iPod / iPad / iPhone to PC and back
OFFICE 2019 [Top]
OFFICE 2016 / OFFICE 365 - Can ANYBODY explain this stuff? [Top]
Office 365, Office 2016 - an attempt at clearing the fog
POWERPOINT 2013 / POWERPOINT 15 / OFFICE 365 [Top]
PowerPoint won't start on Surface RT tablets
PowerPoint 2013 doesn't return video to mirrored after using Presenter View
Missing templates in PowerPoint 2013
Navigation stops working during a slide show
VBA: PasteSpecial method fails during slide show
"We're sorry, something went wrong" message when saving from PowerPoint 2013
Date and Time fields do not update (PowerPoint 2013)
Picture Corrections do not work on background pictures (PowerPoint 2013)
PowerPoint 2013 crashes when add-ins are in use
PowerPoint 2013 crashes when setting transparency on images
What's new/changed in Office 2013 aka Office 15?
Click to run, CTR, Office 365, Office on Demand. What does it all MEAN?
Can I get a backup disk for Office 365?
What about Office 365 RT on Surface RT tablets?
POWERPOINT 2010 [Top]
Microsoft releases Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Office 2010
Should I get 32- or 64-bit Office 2010?
How much will Office 2010 cost? What about upgrades? Technology Guarantee program?
New features in PowerPoint 2010
Microsoft Upload Center - what is it, why do I want it and what if I don't?
POWERPOINT 2007
PowerPoint 2007 crashes or hangs when moving, resizing or using arrow key in charts
Create a sample presentation from a theme
How do I send PowerPoint 2007 / Office 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
Slides, Masters, Designs, Layouts ... how do they all fit together?
Staying compatible with earlier versions of PowerPoint
Migrating to Office 2007 - Guides for IT Professionals
Why isn't the Insert Slide command on the Insert tab?
PowerPoint 2007 equivalents of older version commands (and Commando)
What's new in PowerPoint 2007?
How can I open PowerPoint 2007 files in earlier PowerPoint versions
Create your own PowerPoint 2007 Themes
PowerPoint 2007 quits when I close my presentation
PowerPoint appears in grayscale or black & white, b/w
PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2010: Slide image in notes pages is low-rez / jaggy
How can I ungroup graphs/charts in PowerPoint 2007?
PPT 2007: Text jumbled up, bullet and text effects galleries blank or corrupted
PowerPoint 2007 bugs / problems
PowerPoint 2007 Hotfixes and Service Packs
PowerPoint 2007 VBA bugs/problems
Working with text in PowerPoint 2007 (VBA)
EPS graphics print poorly from PowerPoint 2007
No more Pattern Fills in PowerPoint 2007
Using Equation Editor with PowerPoint 2007
Using MSGraph with PowerPoint 2007 (MS Graph, Charts)
Installing Office 2007 with other Office versions
PowerPoint makes pictures blurry or unsharp, loses GIF animation
Clear The Recent Document list in PowerPoint 2007 and 2003
Office files don't download correctly from a Web Server; saved as zip files instead
Red X replaces images on slides inserted into PowerPoint 2007 presentations
Links added to SmartArt don't work
PowerPoint 2007: printed text in graphics is jagged, graphics print in grayscale
PowerPoint 2007 won't update links to files on network drives
NEW STUFF / USEFUL STUFF
PowerPoint News [Top]
Ric Bretschneider (PowerPoint Program Manager at Microsoft) blogs and podcasts
Creating animated cartoons and movies in PowerPoint
PowerPoint, PundiTuftes and the Press
New Add-ins / Products / Sites [Top]
PowerPoint Blogs, Podcasts, Columns and Newsfeeds
Corporate branding and graphics standards
Make sure your media Plays For Certain
PowerPoint Add-in to delete selected content: TagErase
Slide Into Word: A kinder, gentler Send To Word from PowerPoint MVP Bill Dilworth
A PowerPoint Yellow Pages - PowerPoint-related products and services
Free Sequential Save Add-in by Shyam Pillai
Export shapes as graphics from PowerPoint 97
Tricks, Tips, Problems, Fixes and Upgrades [Top]
PowerPoint 2010 presentation broadcasting fails
Make sure that text fits slides, adding new slides as needed for "overflow"
PowerPoint unexpectedly puts content into placeholders
Links between slides don't work in PowerPoint HTML
PowerPoint connects to the internet unexpectedly
Copyright: can I use music, pictures, etc. in my presentations?
Find the color of a pixel in an image
Command Line Switches - PowerPoint and PowerPoint Viewers
PowerPoint won't open my older PowerPoint presentations
FIND MORE POWERPOINT HELP
PowerPoint Help Online [Top]
Guidelines for the PowerPoint Support Forums
Search the web for PowerPoint help
PowerPoint-Seiten auf Deutsch (PowerPoint Sites in German)
Other PowerPoint-related sites
Where can I download a copy of PowerPoint?
PowerPoint Help from Microsoft [Top]
Contact Microsoft - Support, Sales, Replacement CDs etc.
Make suggestions, report problems to Microsoft
Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 (XP) Information
PowerPoint Resources on microsoft.com
Using the MS KnowledgeBase (MSKB)
Office and PowerPoint Service Packs
PowerPoint-Related Subjects - Help and Info [Top]
I want to create a book in PowerPoint
Can I use clip-art commercially?
PostScript, EPS, PDF and related subjects
Presentations for international audiences
Web Resources: HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc.
Color Theory, File Formats, etc.
Windows troubleshooting, networking and setup resources
TIPS, TECHNIQUES, TUTORIALS
Tutorials [Top]
Example PowerPoint Presentations
Other sites with links to tutorials
Suggested PowerPoint curriculum from MS
Using the Windows Scheduler with PowerPoint
Using Virtual PC / VMWare virtual computers
Using Japanese, Chinese, Korean (CJK) languages in PowerPoint
Pixel-accurate drawing in PowerPoint; measuring in pixels
Pixel-Accurate display of images in PowerPoint screenshows
Customizing PowerPoint [Top]
Customizing PowerPoint's right-click popup menus
Creating Presentations [Top]
Add an outline showing the edges of slides
Create a fake screentip (text that appears when you mouse over a shape)
Eliminate the screentip that appears over hyperlinks
Check or change the Document Properties for your presentation
Working with two monitors; editing PowerPoint on dual monitors
Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations / PowerPoint accessibility
Slide numbering - Slide XX of YY
Set default text and drawing shape styles
Create a default "blank" presentation with your own defaults
Create your own default presentation
How can I remove the template / revert to the original blank template?
Create a table of contents (TOC) slide with links
How can I use Pantone, TruMatch, CMYK or other colors in PowerPoint?
Create your own template folder in PowerPoint 2000 and later
Control the formatting of hyperlinked text
How big should text be? What's the ideal font size?
Use more than one master in a presentation
Mix Portrait and Landscape slides in a presentation
Create a slide library (slide repository, slide library, slide management)
Create a new presentation using parts of an existing one
PowerPoint File Size Limitations: how big can my PowerPoint files be?
Drawing & Working with Shapes [Top]
How to create a spiral in PowerPoint
Hiding shapes on a gradient, textured or patterned background
Selecting shapes that are covered by other shapes
Adding editable points to a shape, editing points when PowerPoint says No
How to add arrowheads to a Cycle diagram in PowerPoint 2002
Working with Text [Top]
Create vertically stacked text
Create a PowerPoint presentation from a plain text file
Creating Equations in PowerPoint
Add special characters to text
Removing a misspelled word once it's been added to the spell check dictionary
Working with tab stops and indents
Working with Charts and Graphs [Top]
Working with colors in MS Graph
Create user-defined Custom Charts / Graphs or Chart Templates
GANTT and other project planning chart types
Reset manually edited chart labels to show automatic text
Linking or copying information/content/charts/worksheets from Excel to PowerPoint
Extracting Excel content from PowerPoint
Working with Sound and Movies [Top]
About recording narration in PowerPoint 2007 and onward
Edit the narration for a slide after it has been recorded
Adding show-length narration to a PowerPoint presentation
Playing movies in slow or fast motion
Fading sounds, changing volume of sounds in PowerPoint
Distributing & Delivering Presentations [Top]
Distributing PPTs - Pitfalls, Panics & Pleasures
Does a PPS (PowerPoint Show) need PowerPoint or a Viewer to play? Can I edit a PPS?
Password protect a presentation
Send a presentation that opens automatically in email
Make a standalone EXE that runs a PowerPoint presentation
Make sure my chosen fonts are available
Make screenshow fill a wide screen display
Make the pointer or cursor go away (screenshow)
Keep the session alive (prevent screensaver, logout problems, mouse jiggler)
Creating Teacher / Student editions of presentations
Distributing in Other Formats [Top]
Distribute presentations as Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format)
Distribute presentations as video on VHS or DVD
Distribute presentations using Microsoft Producer
Online PowerPoint Presentation Systems - web conferencing, broadcasting etc.
Distribute presentations using handhelds (PocketPC, Palm)
Make a screensaver from PowerPoint
Share a presentation on the web
Video Projectors and Dual Monitors [Top]
What type of video connection is this?
Dual monitors and PowerPoint (by Paul Iordanides) (and others)
A Multiple Monitor Tutorial by PowerPoint MVP Chirag Dalal
How do I use Presenter view without a projector or second monitor? (by Chirag Dalal)
How do I hook up this video projector?
Video Connectors: JohnO's Techie Workshop
Video Projector Reviews/Info/Utilities
Screen Shows [Top]
Disable mouse and keyboard control during a presentation
Create hotkeys ( keyboard shortcuts ) to macros and menu items
Adding or entering text during a show
Make PowerPoint go to previous slide on right mouse-click
Create menu slides with links to other presentations or links between slides in a presentation
Play sounds across multiple slides (A WAV runs through it)
Play movies across multiple slides
Launch a program w/o user seeing confirmation dialog
Reset all SLIDE TIMINGS in a presentation
Keyboard shortcut to start slide show from current slide
Auto-update linked spreadsheets or other information
Designing presentations for touch-screen - by Chirag Dalal
Animation [Top]
Animations don't play when I go back to a slide
Change animation effect for just a few slides out of a presentation (2002/2003)
Make animated text appear line by line (build slides)
Create MOVIE CREDITS-style crawling text
Making Acrobat PDFs from PowerPoint [Top]
How can I make Acrobat PDFs from PowerPoint?
Problems making PDFs from PowerPoint
My PowerPoint PDFs are cropped; footers, page numbers, dates are missing
My PDFs from PowerPoint are rotated
Importing and Converting [Top]
Importing CDs, iTunes and other downloaded sounds into PowerPoint
Import Web Pages into PowerPoint
Converting from Freelance to PowerPoint
Converting XXX presentations to PowerPoint
Converters - Sound, Movie, Graphics, etc.
Adam's Transparency Tutorial (Alpha channels and more)
Alpha Transparency from CorelDraw
Include a YouTube Flash video in your presentation
Embed FLASH effects into PowerPoint
Import PDF content into PowerPoint
BATCH IMPORT images into PowerPoint
Resize pictures to fill the slide (fit to slide)
Convert SGI graphics for use in PowerPoint
Exporting [Top]
Improve PowerPoint's GIF, BMP, PNG, JPG export resolution
Extract images and sounds from PowerPoint
Extract images from PowerPoint
Export linked narration sound files in logically named/numbered order
Convert PowerPoint to Pocket PowerPoint
Convert presentations into Movie files
Convert presentations to DVD video
Printing, Overheads, 35mm Slides, Pre-press [Top]
Printing PowerPoint: Slide size v. Printer Page size
Control how your presentation prints in B/W
Print posters or other large format output
Print large-format slides to normal size paper (tile,tiling)
Print without opening PowerPoint
PhotoEdit won't print - Not Enough Memory messages
Color Calibration on the Cheap
WEBifying your PowerPoint [Top]
Put your PowerPoint on the Web
Put your PowerPoint-generated HTML on the web
How can I convert PowerPoint 2010 to HTML (where's the Save As Web Page command)?
Optimize PowerPoint's HTML for Netscape Navigator
Make PowerPoint 2000 HTML open full screen
Make PowerPoint 2002, PowerPoint 2003 and PowerPoint 2007 HTML open full screen
How to make links open in a new window from PowerPoint's HTML
Get rid of the outline pane and navigation controls in HTML from PowerPoint 2000 and up
Sounds won't play across multiple slides on the web
How to create HTML without frames
Control how the browser opens PowerPoint files
Everything there is to know about PowerPoint's HTML
Using the Web Publishing Wizard to upload your files to the web
Cross-platform Compatibility [Top]
Colors appear different on Mac vs PC PowerPoint
Preparing Mac Files for the PC (or Doin' The Illustrator Two-Step)
Cross-Version Compatibility [Top]
Set the character PowerPoint 97 and the Viewer use in place of picture bullets
Can I move my custom settings from one computer to another?
Accessibility and Internationalization [Top]
The PPT Dictionary - PowerPoint menu commands in many languages
GENERAL INFO
Misc. HowTos [Top]
Share files and folders from Dropbox
How to install Office, PowerPoint (and other software) on a netbook
Make Windows show file extensions and hidden files
How to back up and restore the Windows registry
How to turn off CD AutoPlay (AutoRun)
How to turn off Windows Messenger service
How to turn off UAC (user account control) in Windows Vista
Batch-convert high resolution images for PowerPoint or web use (batch downsampling)
Screen shots / Screen captures
Changing a File Association, Repairing broken File Associations
Improving the view in Windows Explorer
Add Asian Language support to PowerPoint, Office, Windows
What version of Windows / PowerPoint is it?
How to find the share name and path to a network printer
Scans, Resolution, DPI [Top]
What's all this about DPI and INCHES and RESOLUTION?
What's the best resolution for images in PowerPoint screen shows?
Scanning - Bitmap Resolution - DPI
Preparing bitmap images for 35mm slides
Ideal Scan Sizes for 35mm Slides
What formats does Windows Media Player play?
Fonts [Top]
PowerPoint opens presentations as Read-Only, won't allow editing when fonts embedded
Companion Software [Top]
Versions & Compatibility [Top]
Do I have 32-bit or 64-bit PowerPoint?
Open PowerPoint 2007, 2010, 2013 files in PowerPoint 2003, 2002, 2000
Where can I get information about older Office or PowerPoint versions?
End User License Agreements (EULA)
Using Microsoft copyrighted content (clip art, sounds, fonts, etc.)
Can I install standalone PowerPoint along with Small Business Edition?
About Office and Windows XP Product Activation and Licensing
Can I install multiple versions of PowerPoint / Office?
PowerPoint 2000 Migration Guide
PowerPoint 2000 FEATURES not supported in PowerPoint 97
PowerPoint 97 vs 2000 incompatibilities
PowerPoint 2002 (XP) vs 2000 vs 97
Saving backwards to PowerPoint 95
Which version of Office 2003 is right for me?
How long will support be available?
What Is ...? [Top]
Where Can I Find ...? [Top]
Office Patches (Service Releases, Service Packs, SR-x, SP-x)
Clocks and timers for PowerPoint
Company and product logo graphics
Maps, Flags and other national clip art
The mother of all PPT LINKS pages
General Presentation Advice [Top]
LEGALITIES, RESTRICTIONS etc. [Top]
How can I use Office Clip Art?
PROGRAMMING POWERPOINT
These code samples come from various authors and are here for purposes of illustration. We can't (and don't) guarantee that they'll work on all systems, or that they are free of harmful side effects. It's your responsibility to verify the appropriateness and safety of any code you find here.
We don't offer tech support for the code here. If you have any problems or questions, please post a detailed description on the PowerPoint newsgroup. Whether the author chooses to respond is entirely up to them.
VBA code only works in PowerPoint 97 or later. It doesn't work at all in the free PowerPoint Viewer.
For VBeginners [Top]
How do I use VBA code in PowerPoint
How to set Macro Security in PowerPoint
Is VBA the answer? Is it the RIGHT answer? Will it solve my presentation problem?
Where can I learn more about VBA programming in PowerPoint?
VBA in PowerPoint / Mac vs. Windows
Self-certification to avoid macro security dialogs
Creating and Installing Add-ins, Toolbars, Buttons [Top]
Create an ADD-IN with Ribbon buttons that run macros when clicked
Create an ADD-IN with TOOLBARS that run macros
Add / install an addin via the registry
Programming for 64-bit vs 32-bit Office 2010
PowerPoint events; event-handling in VBA
How can I get my code to run automatically when a presentation opens?
Make your VBA code in PowerPoint respond to events
OnSlideShowPageChange event does not fire
AutoWideScreen: an example add-in with event handling
PowerPoint event-handling best practices, oddities and workarounds
Useful Projects [Top]
Useful general purpose code [Top]
Read a text file into an array
Show Me [Top]
Show me the location and size of a shape
Show Me the Document Properties
Show me the ID of PowerPoint's command bar controls (and launch them)
Show me the next unhidden slide
Show me a list of designs and which slides use them
Show me the designs in a presentation; apply designs ONLY to selected slides
Show me the text in an ActiveX / OLE text control on a slide
Show me the built in properties and their values
Show me the fonts my presentation needs
Get a reference to a placeholder on a slide
Show Me: The hyperlinks in my presentation
What add-ins are loaded/installed?
Show me the .Type of each object on a slide
Show the .Type of each shape (including shapes in groups)
Show me the transition time of each slide and total running time of the show
Show me the transition, speed etc. of each slide
Determine which shape was clicked
The names of all main menu commands
The SlideIndex of the current slide
How many lines in the text box?
Make links and action settings visible
How to reproduce old-style preset gradients
Exporting shapes, slides and presentations [Top]
Break a presentation up into several smaller presentations
Export comments to a text file (PowerPoint 2002 and later)
Export comments to a text file (PowerPoint 2000 and previous, Mac PowerPoint)
General-purpose routine for writing a string to a text file
Export Slide Number and Title Text to a text file
Export Text to a text file, extract text from PowerPoint (Mac or PC)
Export the text of a presentation to a CSV/Excel file
Export the notes text of a presentation
Export the PowerPoint presentation outline to a tabbed text file
Export the names and coordinates and type of all shapes
Put an image on the clipboard to use as a custom toolbar icon
Adding shapes, slides and presentations [Top]
Working with Guides in PPT 2013 and later
Add presentation file name to each slide master
Add "leader" lines to tabbed text
Flag the existence of hidden slides
Importing notes text from a text file
Add an On-Screen Keyboard to your presentation
Create a custom show from current slide selection using VBA
Copy a picture or other shape to every slide in a presentation
Insert all slides from a group of presentations into the current presentation
Add a random phrase from a text file to a text box on each slide
Add new slides with titles and text from a text file
Add a "thermometer" progress bar to each slide
Insert a picture at the correct size
Batch Insert a folder full of pictures, one per slide
Add the current path and file to every slide
Read in text from an ascii file?
Add a text box with scrollbars; populate it with text
Insert a symbol or other character at the insert cursor position
Add shape with text to "flag" hidden vs unhidden slides
How many slides can a presentation hold?
Frame a slide with a rectangle
Toggle a design grid on and off
Deleting shapes, slides and presentations [Top]
Delete all hyperlinks in a slide presentation
Delete all slides but those in a custom show
Delete shapes with no fill and no line
Delete notes page text (or text and shapes)
How do I GET RID OF MACROS I've added? Warning message about "this presentation contains macros"
Ungroup all the OLE objects in a presentation
Create a subset of an existing presentation
Changing shapes, slides and presentations [Top]
Adding ALT text to audio shapes
Change one text color to another
Custom numbering a presentation
Remove underlines from descenders
Change distance from text to underlines
Identify each slide so its source can be tracked
Uniquely rename all shapes in a presentation, eliminate duplicate shape names
Converting Scheme/Theme colors to non-Scheme colors
Indents: zeroing them out, resetting them etc.
Modifying AutoShape adjustments
Stacking a selection of shapes
Changing the style of added PowerPoint 2007 tables
Rotate an image on every other slide
Change the formatting of Photo Album captions
Change a picture to a rounded rectangle, set the rounding radius (PowerPoint 2007)
Correct the order of shapes on Notes Pages. Fix disappearing notes in presenter view.
Sort a presentation based on slide titles
Invert the current selection: select all unselected shapes
Reformat all instances of a particular phrase
Reapply slide layout to every slide in the presentation
Assign an Action Setting, Run Macro action to multiple shapes at once
Highlight shapes in PowerPoint
Working with Tab settings in text
Working with PowerPoint tables
Merge text from several text boxes into one text box
Changing PowerPoint's Options and AutoCorrect settings
Show me the link and let me edit it
Break all of the links in a presentation
Batch Search and Replace for Hyperlinks, OLE links, movie links and sound links
Search & Replace to change OLE link paths
Convert all OLE objects to grouped MSDraw objects
Reapply the Notes Master to each Notes Page in a presentation
Convert PowerPoint tables to HTML
Changing shapes within groups (without ungrouping)
Working with Tags (and a bit about Functions)
Change the font of all text in your presentation
Working with pictures on slides
Create agenda slides with a "moving highlight"
Convert PowerPoint 2002/2003 comments into PowerPoint 2000 comments
Change the author, date, etc. of Comments
Make subscripts and superscripts larger
Bringing certain shapes on top of others in your slides
PowerPoint underlines spaces and tabs - workaround
Changing the text in a shape during a slide show
An "LCD" counter that you can change
Printing [Top]
Print alternate Slides and Notes Pages
Batch Tricks [Top]
Do something to every shape slide or file
Batch: Do something to every file in a folder
Batch re-save presentations; update older presentations to newer PowerPoint version
Apply a shape's formatting to all similar shapes in presentation
Animations and Transitions [Top]
VBA Linking (solve broken links problems)
Peekaboo Text: Use VBA to make text appear and disappear
Apply a random transition to every slide in a presentation
Where can I find information about animation in PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and 2003?
Working with Excel [Top]
Excel code to modify Excel chart palette colors
Excel Charts to PowerPoint and other goodies
Convert linked Excel charts to embedded Excel charts
Automating one app from another [Top]
General info on Office Automation
Controlling Office Applications from PowerPoint (by Naresh Nichani and Brian Reilly)
Automate Excel from PowerPoint. Automate PowerPoint from Excel. And so on.
How to automate PowerPoint using VB
Invoke PPT and run a macro from VB
Server Office Automation Issues
Working with MSGraph charts [Top]
MSGraph Colors -- The Periodic Table of the Graph
Programmatically add an MSGraph chart as a user-defined custom graph type
Extract data from MS Graph Chart
Ungroup every MSGraph chart in a presentation
Working with external data [Top]
Where it starts: the DisplayData project by Naresh Nichani and Brian Reilly
Using Excel and Access data in PowerPoint Tables (by Brian Reilly and Naresh Nichani)
Excel worksheet data to a PowerPoint array (part of a tutorial by Brian Reilly and Naresh Nichani)
Working with Media (Audio/video) [Top]
Convert embedded movies to linked movies
Working with Guides [Top]
Adding, Deleting and Moving Guides
Other [Top]
Paragraph endings and line breaks
Links from converted Open Office files behave oddly
A Next Slide button that runs code also
Use VBA to read text from a file
Interleave slides from several presentations
Ungroup and ReGroup all pictures and OLE objects
Reset the size of the slide images on notes pages to a single standard size
Convert commas in slide titles to a "safe" character to avoid hyperlink problems
Convert slide titles to shapes to solve hyperlink limit problems
How do I distinguish the special page number characters on masters?
Keep Score with Static Variables
Recolor or hide "key" text in a presentation
Convert key text into underscore characters (ie, make them into Fill In The Blanks)
Use ShellExecute to sidestep certain linking problems
Use DIR to get a list of files
Manipulating Listbox and Combobox controls on slides and forms
Fill a listbox with slide titles, make it go to chosen slide when clicked
Randomize the order of a PowerPoint presentation
Call a macro in another presentation and pass it parameters
Substitute one string for another in text
Fill the MRU (Most Recently Used) list with bogus file names
Single macro that can manipulate any shape that's clicked in slide show view
Slide number, SlideID, SlideIndex and all that jazz
Hide PowerPoint while I automate it
Macros that work in Normal/Slide view don't work in Slide Show view
Get DOCUMENT PROPERTIES without opening each file
Get the Document Properties of a PPT file
Determine the first CD ROM drive letter
Where can I learn about the PowerPoint FILE FORMAT
Hyperlink .SubAddress - How to interpret it
PowerPoint and Viewer Object Models
Create an index or table of contents (TOC) with links to a folder full of PPT files
Convert PowerPoint's color values into grayscale
VBA bugs [Top]
The Name property of PowerPoint shapes is not reliable
Connector attachment points change when you move the connected shape
HasChildShapeRange returns incorrect values
Checking for autoshape text produces text
Message: "PowerPoint found an error it can't correct" when starting PowerPoint97 under Win2000
Querying Picture Properties crashes PPT XP
MAC FAQS
Troubleshoot Problems, Interpret Error Messages [Top]
Mac: General troubleshooting suggestions for Office
Mac: QuickTime Movies don't play well in PowerPoint 2004
PowerPoint crashes / complains about missing fonts
Mac: Certain presentations crash PowerPoint 98 and 2001
Avoiding "Converting Metafile" dialogs in PowerPoint Mac
Error: "Memory was too full to draw everything..." or Red X in PowerPoint 98/2001 Mac
Mac: How do I recover corrupt or unreadable PowerPoint presentations?
Animations don't work in PowerPoint X after updating to Jaguar
Presentations lose animations in Mac PowerPoint X / Windows PowerPoint 2000 and previous
Mac: I can't import Windows Media Files into my presentation
PowerPoint X / 2004 crashes on startup
PowerPoint Viewer for Mac keeps insisting on being reinstalled
Mac PowerPoint prints in B/W to my color printer
Mac: Notes no longer match slides
Mac: Temp files eating my hard drive!
Mac: Can't import CIL files into Clip Gallery
Mac: MPEG movies unreliable - don't always play
PowerPoint 98 or 2001 crashes with a 'Type 2' error when I open it
Mac: Error 2/Crash when printing to Epson 740
Mac: Type 2 or 3 errors after customizing toolbars in PowerPoint 2001
Mac: When I select a font, PowerPoint uses a different font
Mac: Can't edit data in Microsoft Graph
Downloads, Contact Microsoft [Top]
How do I send feedback and suggestions on PowerPoint for Mac?
Mac Office/PowerPoint Downloads, Tutorials and FAQs from Microsoft
Free PowerPoint Viewers for Mac
What happened to the Mac PowerPoint newsgroup?
How-Tos [Top]
How do I use a database in Mac Office?
How to insert a .WMV movie into Mac PowerPoint
How do I enable Quartz Text Smoothing/anti-aliasing in PowerPoint X?
How do I optimize Mac presentations for Windows PowerPoint?
Mac: Use Make Movie to create a QuickTime presentation for use on Windows
Mac: Insert a picture from file/camera/scanner and size it to fit the slide in one step
How to create PDFs from Mac PowerPoint
Mac: How to create a presentation for distribution on CD
Mac: How do I customize the Office Manager?
How does PPT Mac store graphics internally?
Other Mac PowerPoint Resources [Top]
Other Mac PowerPoint / Mac Office Sites
STUPID PPT-TRIX
OK. I'll bite. What's THIS all about?
Awww. Do you miss your pal Clippy?
Solutions in Search of a Problem [Top]
Object-ively Foolish or total Videocy? You decide.
Running more than one slide show at once
TROUBLESHOOTING
Troubleshooting Tips and Procedures [Top]
General PROBLEMS and solutions
How to select a default printer
How to install a TEST printer driver
How to install a local printer driver
How to set graphics hardware acceleration back
How to start Office in Safe Mode
How to start Windows in Safe Mode
Problems with unreadable CDs/DVDs
Using the Office Setup program
Completely uninstall Office - Office Erasers / Registry Cleaners
Using System Information to gather troubleshooting info
Do I have antivirus software installed? How to find out.
Find and Delete PowerPoint's PCB file
General information about Windows Printing
Make a JING or SCREENR recording
PowerPoint Crashes Without Error Message [Top]
PowerPoint crashes when I type text
PowerPoint 2002 / XP crashes while running add-in
PowerPoint 2002 / XP crashes when renumbering slides
PowerPoint crashes while opening certain presentations
PowerPoint crashes or becomes non-responsive when searching for More Auto-Shapes
PowerPoint won't start or PowerPoint starts then immediately quits or crashes
Specific Error Messages [Top]
PowerPoint crashes when switching to Slide Master view
Corrupted file message when opening files in PowerPoint 2003
Message: General failure with email system, action could not be completed
Message: "You must accept the Office End User License Agreement" when starting an Office program
Message: This file has an older format that isn't supported.
Error message: There was an error accessing the file
File cannot be found error message when opening a file
Message: "PowerPoint has stopped working" when editing a presentation
Message: "PowerPoint has stopped working" at startup. PowerPoint won't start.
Message: "PowerPoint couldn't load the add-in [add-in file name]" when starting Powerpoint 2007
"You must accept the Office End User License Agreement" message when starting Office programs.
"Hyperlinks can be harmful to your computer and data"
PPT2003 - Can't access [filename] because the filename is invalid
"The files cannot be copied to the temporary folder" message while using Package for CD
"invalid product key" error message when starting Office 2003 program
Error message: Microsoft Office PowerPoint can't display clip art.
"Could not load an object" or "some controls on this presentation cant be activated" messages
"\\Server\Share does not have enough free space" error when using Pack and Go
Message re "installing Microsoft Graph" when you doubleclick a graph to edit it
Error message: The address of this site is not valid. Check the address and try again.
Security warning message when clicking a hyperlink: "files might harm your computer"
"Hidden Console of WOW VDM" error messages when installing under NT4
"Can't Display the Template Used in This Document. Windows Installer Error 1605."
Internet Explorer Cannot Download error message
QuickTime and a TIFF (or JPEG) decompressor are needed to see this picture
Error message: NTSC decompressor needed to see this picture
PowerPoint Has Encountered an Error and Must Close
"PowerPoint can't create a hyperlink to" or message about hlink.dll
What DLL came with which software?
CLSCentralAddInn - run-time error '5' Invalid procedure call or argument
"Some files can contain viruses ..." message when clicking a hyperlink
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library error messages
Files open as Read-Only after installing Windows XP SP1, Other file/path related problems
This command is not available because the document is locked for edit
"Server Not Found" messages after installing Office XP SP2 or Office 2000 SP3
Warning messages about PDFMaker after installing SP2 for Office XP
Registration wizard appears every time you start PowerPoint
"R6025 - pure virtual function call" message when starting PowerPoint
FretrySdmError SDM Alert error message
PowerPoint found an error that it can't correct
"PowerPoint couldn't translate this file" when opening presentation in PPT97
The file "xxx" is stored on a disc named [something cryptic]. Please insert this disc.
Unable to launch software component to play [sound name]
Unable to Insert a Movie from the Selected File
Create MPEG 32 task_cmd is not successful
Insufficient Memory message when adding an Organization Chart
Org Chart and error messages referring to GDI
Macro security warning when no macros are present
"Insufficient memory to perform this operation" message when printing from Photo Editor
"IE 3.0 or higher is required" message when accessing help via the Office Assistant
Run-time error '429': ActiveX component can't create object
This application must be installed to run. Please run Setup ...
Path to the Proplus.msi file (you receive a prompt for this)
The system cannot open the device or file specified
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed.
This patch package could not be opened. Verify that ...
This presentation might contain Far East (or Asian) text and formats that PowerPoint can't display
"An unexpected error occurred" then "I/O Error 6" or "I/O Error 0"
Graphics Problems [Top]
Inserted images have an unwanted border or lines on one or more sides
Pictures with certain shadow settings may display incorrectly
Fuzzy or low quality preview pictures / thumbnails
Flipped images, upside-down images
Can't crop pictures (or make them transparent)
Transparent areas of graphics turn black
PNG images appear too dark or too light
Can't make white colors become transparent in PowerPoint 2002/XP
Clip Art/Clip Gallery/Design Gallery problems
Problems with EMF (Enhanced Metafile) graphics
EPS graphics don't print or don't print correctly
Microsoft Office Picture Manager Opens Slowly
TIFFs exported from PowerPoint won't open in other applications
Display, Screen Show & Multimedia Problems [Top]
My 2007 presentation doesn't work as expected in the 2007 viewer
Slides don't show in Slide Show View
Slide sorter displays slides from right to left
What MPG formats can PowerPoint play?
Can't open modify password protected presentation in Viewer
Text bunches up at left of slide
Mysterious text appears, slides advance unexpectedly (Ghosties Ex Machina)
Grid appears in pasted/linked Excel worksheets
Pen doesn't work during slide show in PowerPoint 2003
Video/Movie plays full screen when projected
PowerPoint displays a presentation in B/W, won't show it in color
Sounds/Movies don't play, images disappear or links break when I move or email a presentation
Videos play correctly on computer but not on projector (black box)
Animated text goes jagged in Screen Show
Can't run slideshow / screen show won't start; Icon appears on task bar
PowerPoint locks up when running a presentation non-stop
Can I play DVDs in PowerPoint?
Problems with movies in PPT presentations
Animations, Sounds, Movies play only once
AVIs don't play or don't play all the way through
MUSHY/BLURRY GRAPHICS in PowerPoint
Slide View is gone. I want it back!
I don't like PPT2000's 3-pane view. I want my old view back.
Problems with Organization Chart (OrgChart)
Lines in PowerPoint 2000 tables have arrowheads
White line appears at bottom of screen during slide show
Corrupted or unopenable PPT files [Top]
I accidentally deleted my file
Remove password from a password-protected PowerPoint file
Recovering a corrupt presentation
Images that appear corrupted, image files that won't import
HTML "Round-tripping" to repair corruption
Printing Problems [Top]
PowerPoint 2010 autorecover puts users over profile limit
PowerPoint won't print multiple copies
PowerPoint 2010 won't print Black & White; prints grayscale instead
PowerPoint 2007/2010 won't print equations
Part of my printouts are cut off
Gradient transparency doesn't print properly
Can't print password protected PowerPoint files from PowerPoint 2002 (XP)
B/W printouts don't look right
Margins are wrong, printout is off-center, can't print to edge, printing is cut off
PowerPoint prints landscape slides in portrait mode (or vice versa)
Slides don't print on notes pages
Can't print or save from PowerPoint 2002 (XP) or 2003
Printed presentations don't match what I see on screen
Pictures print blue on Canon Laser Copier
A particular slide won't print
20 Mem Overflow and 21 Print Overrun errors when printing to PCL printers
File Saving Problems [Top]
Why are my PowerPoint files so big? What can I do about it?
Handouts sent to Word make huge files
PowerPoint suddenly can't open or save files
PowerPoint files open as read-only, can't save
PowerPoint hangs when I save a file
Link & Copy/Paste Problems [Top]
PowerPoint drops hash characters in hyperlinks when saving
Excel info cut off or cropped when pasted into PowerPoint
Excel content turns black and white (B&W), loses color when copy/pasted into PowerPoint
Making WORD TABLES look good in PowerPoint
Problems with LINKED EXCEL CHARTS in PowerPoint
Resizing info pasted from Excel makes text sizes go crazy
Problems with fonts in embedded charts/spreadsheets, etc.
Graphs don't update automatically
Lost hyperlinks, hyperlinks link to wrong place, hyperlinks stop working
Hyperlinks don't work after copy/paste
File Import / Export Problems [Top]
Don't make me store my pictures in My Pictures
Problems with PowerPoint on the Web [Top]
I can't save as HTML from PowerPoint 97
Graphics are missing, replaced with white box
Text or Font Problems [Top]
Text size or other formatting is lost when you save, close, and reopen a presentation
Text box won't AutoFit to Text
Text is right to left, bullets appear on right of text
Text changes size after saving and reopening a file
Text disappears when I edit it
Backspace key produces empty square box character
PowerPoint adds space before apostrophe
Text disappears when ungrouping WMFs or pasted drawings
Cross-Version / Cross-Platform Problems [Top]
Page Size changes between PowerPoint 2002 and older versions
Prevent PowerPoint XP from converting OrgCharts to XP format
Missing Features [Top]
Where is the Carnegie Coach in the AutoContent Wizard?
Animation, Password, Multiple Master features unavailable in PowerPoint 2002/2003
Macro recorder toolbar disappears
Add-in and VBA problems [Top]
An add-in suddenly stops working
Does this add-in have a digital signature?
Buttons that launch macros stop working
Misc. Nuisances [Top]
Inserted pictures behave unpredictably
PowerPoint adds odd linebreaks, breaks lines in odd places or in the middle of words
Height and Width are blank in AutoFormat dialog box
Office shapes move or duplicate themselves when I click them (VISTA/Windows 7)
PowerPoint displays a "Set Profiles first, please" message at startup.
PowerPoint icon disappears from Programs and Start lists
PowerPoint ruler shows inches instead of centimeters (cm). Or vice versa.
Stupid Windows Tricks
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