Placeholder disappears for other co-authors a few minutes after inserting a video in PowerPoint

Last Updated: June 27, 2022

ISSUE

If you are in a co-authoring session with other users using PowerPoint and add a large multimedia object into the .pptx file, the other co-authors will get a placeholder image displayed to indicate that content is being synchronized.

This placeholder is removed after 180 seconds by default.

If the multimedia object – often a video – is still not synced, then the co-author will no longer see a placeholder.

STATUS: BY DESIGN

This behavior is by design. However you can improve the issue by configuring a registry key to adjust the timeout behavior of PowerPoint.  

1. Open Registry Editor by pressing the Windows logo key + R keys, typing regedit and pressing Enter.

2. Navigate to the following registry key:  Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Options

3. In the right pane, locate the registry value, RealtimeMessageTimeoutDurationSinceReceivedMilliseconds, with type REG_DWORD. The default value is 150000, which means 150 seconds.  There will be another 30-second delay in addition to the value of this registry key, before the placeholder is removed.  So, at the default value, the placeholder will appear for 150 seconds + 30 seconds = 180 seconds. 

   Note: If the value does not exist, you can create it by selecting Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Then type RealtimeMessageTimeoutDurationSinceReceivedMilliseconds to set the name of the new registry value. 

4. You can alter the time the placeholder is displayed by editing the value of this key.  To edit the value, select RealtimeMessageTimeoutDurationSinceReceivedMilliseconds and then select Edit > Modify....  Then set the Value data to the desired value.  The placeholder will appear for the value you set, plus an additional 30 seconds.