Create your own theme in PowerPoint

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

Change theme colors

Theme colors contain four text and background colors, six accent colors, and two hyperlink colors. Under Sample, you can see how the text font styles and colors look before you settle on your color combination.

1. On the Design tab, in the Variants group, select the down arrow that opens the gallery of color variants:

   

2. Select Colors, and then click Customize Colors.
   The Create New Theme Colors dialog box opens.

3. In the Create New Theme Colors dialog box, under Theme colors, do one of the following:

   

4. Select the button next to the name of the theme color element (for example, Accent 1 or Hyperlink) that you want to change, and then choose a color under Theme Colors.
   -or-
   Select More Colors, and do one of the following:

   • On the Standard tab, select a color.
   • On the Custom tab, enter a color formula number for the exact color that you want.
     Repeat for all of the theme color elements that you want to change.

5. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new combination of theme colors, and then select Save.

   Tip

   If you want to return all theme color elements to their original theme colors, select Reset before you select Save.

6. After you've defined a custom color scheme, it's available on the Colors drop-down menu:

   

Change theme fonts

Changing the theme fonts updates all of the title and bullet text in your presentation.

1. On the View tab, select Slide Master. Then on the Slide Master tab, select Fonts , and then Customize Fonts.
   
2. In the Create New Theme Fonts dialog box, under the Heading font and Body font boxes, select the fonts that you want to use.
3. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new theme fonts, and then select Save.

Choose a set of theme effects

Theme effects include shadows, reflections, lines, fills, and more. While you cannot create your own set of theme effects, you can choose a set of effects that work for your presentation.

1. On the View tab, select Slide Master . Then on the Slide Master tab, select Effects .
2. Select the set of effects that you want to use.
   

Save a theme

You’ll want to save the changes that you make to the colors, fonts, and effects as a theme (.thmx file). That way, you can apply this new theme to your other presentations.

1. On the View tab, select Slide Master. Then on the Slide Master tab, select Themes.

2. Click Save Current Theme.

3. In the File name box, type an appropriate name for the theme, and click Save.

   Note

   The revised theme is saved as a .thmx file in the Document Themes folder on your local drive, and it's automatically added to the list of custom themes on the

Customize your theme

1. To find a theme to use in your presentation, click the Design tab, click a theme, and see how it previews on the slide.

   

2. You can further customize the theme by changing the fonts, colors, and background colors on the Design tab.
   To change the fonts and colors, click the down arrow in the Variants gallery, and then click Fonts, Colors, or Background Styles.

   

For more finely tuned customization, you can edit the slide master.

Save your customized theme

1. On the Design tab, hover over any theme, and click the down arrow button that shows below the themes panel.

2. Click Save Current Theme.
   When you save your theme to the Themes folder, it'll automatically show in the gallery under Custom Themes. If your theme isn't in the Themes folder, click Browse for Themes to look for your theme in its saved location.

   

Related information

What is a slide master?

Create or change slide layouts in PowerPoint for Mac

Create or delete a custom theme color