PowerPoint

Manage PowerPoint’s Slideshow Popup Controls

If you’ve ever found the popup toolbar distracting while presenting a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint, you’re not alone.

Fortunately, PowerPoint offers a setting to disable this feature, providing a cleaner and more focused presentation experience.

  • Open PowerPoint
  • Go to > FILE > then, select OPTIONS

From the PowerPoint Options dialog box:

  • On the left column go to ADVANCED
  • On the right, scroll to the SLIDE SHOW section
  • Disable SHOW POPUP TOOLBAR

  • Click OK to apply the changes
  • Done!

Important Notes:

  • App-Level Setting: This is an application-wide setting, meaning it applies to all presentations you open or create in PowerPoint. You won’t need to disable the popup toolbar for each presentation individually.
  • Accessing Presentation Controls: Even with the popup toolbar disabled, you still have access to all the same presentation controls by simply right-clicking anywhere on the slideshow screen. This brings up a larger overlay menu with all the necessary options, but it’s not persistent and disappears after selecting.

By disabling the popup toolbar, you can deliver a more polished and distraction-free presentation. Should you ever need the toolbar back, you can easily re-enable it by following the same steps and checking the Show Popup Toolbar box again.

Hope this PowerPoint tutorial helped. Enjoy presenting with a cleaner interface!

-Christie @ TLC

By |2025-01-18T11:19:10-08:00February 26th, 2025|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Get Credit for Creating a Presentation

GET credit where credit is due.

PowerPoint has file properties that list who created the presentation (really!).

Below is a the step-by-step of where to find the properties field that lists the name. But first, take a look at some of your recent presentations. Mouse over the file. Is your name listed as the Author – of your presentations? When PowerPoint is first setup, it asks for a few details about you, and automates the Authors property to use that name. Two things happen that often results in your name, not being the name listed. IT sets up your computer with a generic User Name, which is what PowerPoint uses for each presentation created. Or you opened a presentation that someone else started, which keeps the original person who started the presentation, listed as the author. So, where do you confirm your name is the name PowerPoint lists as the author for new presentations? Go to File > Options > the General tab > and the “Personalize Your Copy of Microsoft Office” section.

Is your name and initials shown? These settings are used for all presentations created on the computer (assuming Office is signed into the same profile).

But how is an existing presentation updated to your name when another name is already there?

In the presentation go to File > Info > and expand the far right list of properties. There are AUTHOR and a LAST MODIFIED BY fields. If your name is not listed in the AUTHOR field you can click the ADD AN AUTHOR and add yourself.

But, if you want to remove a name and replace with your name, there are a few additional steps. Go to File > Info > Check for Issues. Then Inspect Document > and run by clicking Inspect.

Click REMOVE ALL for the Document Properties and Personal Information and close the dialog.
Note: this action removes the existing Author listed, AND also removes other properties such as comments, Company, Last Modified, and more.

After the properties are clear, just save the file and your name (from the Personalize Your Copy of Microsoft Office fields) will be listed as the Author! Or, if the author field remains empty, click the ADD AN AUTHOR option to select your name.

There it is. How the mysterious “Author” name is added to presentations, and how you can manage who is listed as the author of your presentation!

Troy @ TLC

By |2025-02-22T10:30:52-08:00February 24th, 2025|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

FREE Valentine’s Day PowerPoint Template – A Look Back to February 2016

It’s Valentine’s Day today! And it’s also Friday, which means it’s time for another Look Back post.

This week, we’re looking back at free template we developed for Valentine’s Day a full nine(!) years ago. Everyone at TLC Creative Services wants you to have a wonderful Valentine’s Day this weekend! For your valentine (class, office announcements, etc.), here is a professional, full featured PowerPoint template to download and use – for Free!

Valentine's Day 2016

Download with this link: Valentines_2016 (1.8MB)

This is from our Look Back series, rediscovering previous blog posts with relevant PowerPoint tips, tricks and examples. The original post from February 8th, 2016 can be viewed here.

By |2025-01-18T11:13:52-08:00February 14th, 2025|PowerPoint, Templates/Assets|

PowerPoint Animation and “Breaking” a Table

PowerPoint unfortunately does not have the capability to animated individual cells, rows or columns of tables. PowerPoint offers the ability to animate a table as a whole unit. Let’s talk about a workaround to overcome this limitation. By using the Microsoft PowerPoint BrightSlide add-in (which is free and has Windows and Mac versions!) several table formatting options become available to us, specifically the ability to break apart table cells – which we can use to achieve animation needs!

First, select the table.

Right-click on the table and go to table > BrightSlide > Split Table > Split into Rows.

For this sample table, this instantly creates 4 separate tables – one for each row! Note: I have spaced them apart for this demo.

Because PowerPoint can only animate an entire table, we now have 4 tables, which can easily be animated! As example, this table now animates in one row at time, each row on click (yay!)

As a second option, going back to our original table, we can split it by columns in a few clicks. Right-click the table > BrightSlide > Split Table > and now select “Split into Columns”.

Done – 5 separate tables, one for each column!

Apply PowerPoint animations as needed; entrance, exit, emphasis. Here I have set the table to build left-to-right automatically.

And now is where things get good! Going back to our original table, right-click > BrightSlide > Split Table > Split into Cells.

20 individual tables are created instantly!

The option to animate each cell is available, as I have done in this example. BUT, if you just need to animate on a few areas of a table, use this to create the individual cells needed for the animation (works great with Morph!). The options available are limitless now.

TIP: BrightSlide also has fantastic options to “put a table back together’. The two options are “Merge as Columns” or “Merge as Rows”. We want to make a single column, select “Merge as Rows” and it will give you 4 rows in a single column.

Continue with the same steps for the other columns, then select both, and click “Merge as Columns” to place the table back together.

BONUS TIP: Duplicate that original the table, and turn it off in selection pane to always have a secret version of the original table available for any future needs.

Troy @ TLC

By |2025-02-07T07:55:31-08:00February 12th, 2025|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

We save presentation files to the Desktop by default – Do You?

When using Microsoft PowerPoint on a Windows computer files save to the “Documents Folder” by default. But is that the best option for your workflow?

Where PowerPoint saves a file by default is an app setting that can be customized. For TLC Creative, we update to have presentations saved to the desktop as the default. Here’s how:

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint.

2. In PowerPoint, click on the File tab located at the top-left corner of the window.

3. Near the bottom of the File menu, click Options.

4. In the PowerPoint Options dialog, click on the Save category on the left-hand side. This section contains settings related to saving presentations, such as file locations.

5. In the Save presentations section, locate the Default local file location field. This is where PowerPoint saves files by default, and the location can be changed here.

To get the desktop folder path, on Windows 11, do the following:

    • Open a File Explorer window
    • Navigate to the desktop folder. The path for the desktop folder is typically C:\Users\[ Username]\Desktop
    • Right click the Address bar and select Copy Address as Text

    • Back in PowerPoint, with the PowerPoint Options dialog still open, paste the copied address for the computer desktop into the Default local file location field.

6. Click OK in the PowerPoint Options window to save the changes. From now on, PowerPoint will save any new presentations to the desktop by default!

Notes

  • This is for Windows users only: The steps above apply specifically to users on Windows computers. If using an iPad or Mac, the process may differ, and we recommend checking specific support resources for those devices to find the correct method.
  • This is an app setting: The save setting will apply to all PowerPoint presentation files going forward. Every time a new file is saved, it will default to saving on the desktop unless a different location is chosen manually.
  • Corporate Environment Considerations: If working within a corporate environment, PowerPoint options may have been pre-configured to save files to a shared network drive or another location. In such cases, it’s usually best to leave that setting as-is. Changing it might interfere with company protocols for file storage, access, and sharing. If unsure, it’s always a good idea to consult the IT department before making this change.

There are several benefits to setting PowerPoint’s save location to the desktop. Saving directly to the desktop ensures that presentations are easily accessible. There is no navigating through multiple folders to find them. Also, customizability. While PowerPoint typically defaults to saving files in a more general location (like the Documents folder), customizing allows personalization of the workspace to make your workflow a little smoother.

By |2025-01-03T11:09:14-08:00January 20th, 2025|PowerPoint|

2 FREE PowerPoint Templates – Inspired By the Pantone 2025 Color of the Year

Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse, is the inspiration for these 2 PowerPoint templates – and both are Free to download and use!

Christie, on the TLC Creative design team, used the Pantone Mocha Mousse color as PowerPoint’s Accent 1 and created a rich color template.

This full feature PowerPoint template has all core styling elements preset – and includes a theme layout, plus three full frame (eg. no placeholders) layout options!

Download the editable PowerPoint file HERE. (2.7 MB, .pptx)

—

Mike on the TLC Creative design team also used the Pantone Mocha Mousse color as PowerPoint’s Accent #1 for a PowerPoint template.

This full feature PowerPoint template has all core styling elements preset – and a master layout picture placeholder is preset for the logo on the Theme and Title layouts (insert either layout, click the picture placeholder to insert your logo).

Download the editable PowerPoint file HERE (2 MB, .pptx)

By |2025-01-07T08:27:33-08:00January 15th, 2025|PowerPoint|

Free PowerPoint Color Schemes Based on the Pantone 2025 Color of the Year

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2025 is #17-1230, “Mocha Mousse”.

As an internal design project, Amber on the TLC Creative presentation design team, created a custom color scheme inspired by the Mocha Mousse color. Download this 3 slide sample, with custom PowerPoint color scheme (that can be applied to any PowerPoint file), HERE.

Jake on the TLC Creative presentation design team, created this custom color scheme using the Mocha Mousse color as the inspiration. Download this 3 slide sample, with custom PowerPoint color scheme (that can be applied to any PowerPoint file), HERE.

By |2025-01-03T14:16:58-08:00January 13th, 2025|PowerPoint, Templates/Assets|

When Everything is Bold, Nothing is Bold – A Look Back to August 2020

Are you designing a presentation with a lot of text? Not sure how to make your points stand-out? Typography is one of the most important aspects of a slide, and how well its done will determine how well you can communicate your message. We originally posted this in August of 2020, and the same design principles apply today!

One way to grab your viewer’s attention is to utilize a bold font, which is heavier and darker than the regular type. Bold fonts are used for emphasis, but too much bolding can have the exact opposite effect, because when everything is bold – nothing is bold.

Selective bolding is a design process we use often. Be choosing key words to be bold and standout the viewer can quickly see, and read, what is important.

Happy bolding! This is from our Look Back series rediscovering previous blog posts with relevant PowerPoint Tips, Tricks and Examples. Original August 7, 2020 blog post here.

By |2025-01-07T10:43:13-08:00January 10th, 2025|PowerPoint|

Is your PowerPoint Ruler Turned On…?

It is surprising how some of the PowerPoint formatting tools the TLC Creative design team just takes for granted. As an example, the PowerPoint Ruler.

A default install of PowerPoint (desktop app) has the simple, but important ruler turned off. If you do not see the PowerPoint ruler, do yourself a favor and turn it on! It is only 2 clicks away:

  • Go to the VIEW tab
  • Check the RULER box
  • Done!

Side note: in writing this post, the page name (eg. the “slug”) would not accept. Turns out we did almost the same post (https://thepowerpointblog.com/powerpoint-ruler) 9 years ago!  

By |2025-01-02T09:02:32-08:00January 6th, 2025|PowerPoint|

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

The TLC Creative team hopes for a everyone that celebrates the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday to have a wonderful time with family, friends and a full meal! Christie on the TLC Creative presentation design team created this great holiday animation video – in PowerPoint of course! It is only 2 slides; slide 1 is the entrance animation, and slide 2 is the continuous motion animation.

Slide 1 is created with a PowerPoint radial gradient background and combination of PowerPoint shapes and vector graphics (eg. the text), and entrance animation effect applied to all elements.

Close inspection there are a number of objects on this slide, but no visible content in them.  Cleverly, these images have been set with 100% transparency so they are there, but not seen. This sets up the slide 2 Morph Transition, watch it again to see the pumpkins and Fall leaves entrance animation!

Slide 2 uses the same radial gradient background, the clever 100% transparent images now 0% transparent/opaque, and a set of ongoing Emphasis animations.

Download the presentation here (250KB).

Happy Thanksgiving from the TLC Creative Services team1

By |2024-11-28T08:24:54-08:00November 28th, 2024|PowerPoint|
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