How to Make a PowerPoint Template

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

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If you want to maintain consistency throughout your organization's PowerPoint presentations, a template is what you'll want to use. This wikiHow teaches you how to create a custom PowerPoint template in Microsoft PowerPoint. You can do this on both Windows and Mac versions of PowerPoint.

To create a PowerPoint template, start by designing your presentation however you wish. In the Slide Master tab, you can use the Insert Placeholder button to add a placeholder for items that will be edited later, like images or text. Then, save your presentation as a standard PowerPoint file.

Open PowerPoint. Double-click the PowerPoint app icon, which resembles a white "P" on an orange background. This will open the PowerPoint home page.

• On Mac, simply opening PowerPoint might open a new presentation depending on your settings. If it does, skip this step.

Click Slide Size , Custom Slide Size , and then choose the page orientation and dimensions. This will set the overall look of the PowerPoint.

• On Mac, this option is on the top menu bar. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

• On Mac, first click Master, then click Slide Master.

• Once you select a slide, you can pick a theme from the "Themes" drop-down that's located above the slide master panel. You can also apply backgrounds by clicking Background styles. You can also click Format Background. in the drop-down menu to customize color options like base color, gradient, and brightness.

• Content - Inserts a written content outline. On a Mac, you have a "Vertical" option for Content as well.
• Text - Inserts a text box. On a Mac, you have a "Vertical" option for Text as well.
• Picture - Inserts a section for a picture.
• Chart - Inserts a section for a chart.
• Table - Inserts a section for a table.
• Smart Art - Inserts a section for smart art items.
• Media - Inserts a section for a video.
• Online Image - Inserts a section from which you can add an online image.

• You may have to perform additional steps before the item is added to your template. For example, clicking Online Image will prompt you to search for an image and click Insert.

Select a template font. Click Fonts in the "Background" section, then click a font in the drop-down menu.

• Windows: Click File > Save As, select a location and enter a name for your template. Click the Save as type drop-down box, click PowerPoint Template, and then click Save. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
• Mac: Click File > Save as Template, enter a file name, and click Save.

Community Q&A

You don't have to, but you'll be more organized and the process of creating the powerpoint will go more smoothly if you do.

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Open the file and click "insert." Click the "new slide" button. You can change the theme of the slide by clicking "office theme."

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Open a file and click "Insert." Then click on "Audio" in the "Media" options, where you can choose "Record Audio."

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You can upload your templates to Microsoft OneDrive if you want to store them in the cloud. You should be able to access them from the PowerPoint template menu.

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1. ↑https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-template-86a1d089-5ae2-4d53-9042-1191bce57deb#OfficeVersion=macOS
2. ↑https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-and-save-a-powerpoint-template-ee4429ad-2a74-4100-82f7-50f8169c8aca

About This Article

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been viewed 588,103 times.

1. Open PowerPoint.
2. Click Blank Presentation.
3. Click the Design tab.
4. Click Slide Size, Custom Slide Size, and then choose the page orientation and dimensions.
5. Click the View tab.
6. Click Slide Master.
7. Select a slide format to edit.
8. Click Insert Placeholder.
9. Drag and drop a placeholder to a slide.
10. Select a template font.
11. Save your template.

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