Applies ToPowerPoint for Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for the web PowerPoint 2024 PowerPoint 2021 PowerPoint 2019 PowerPoint 2016

If you’re sending your PowerPoint presentation to colleagues or friends, or if you're running it in a booth or kiosk, you might want people to immediately watch your presentation as a slide show instead of seeing the slides in edit mode. Save your PowerPoint presentation as a PowerPoint Show (a .ppsx file) so it automatically starts the slide show when the file is opened.

Make a slide show that starts automatically when opened

  1. Select File > Save as (or Save a Copy).

  2. Click More options.

  3. Browse to the folder where you want to save your presentation.

  4. In the File name box, type a name for your presentation.

  5. Under Save as type, select PowerPoint Show.

    Save your presentation as a PowerPoint Show.

The file is saved as a .ppsx file. When the file is double-clicked, it opens as a slide show.

Edit a .ppsx file

  1. In PowerPoint, click File > Open.

  2. Browse to the .ppsx file, and open it.

Saving a presentation as a PowerPoint Show (.ppsx file) isn't available in PowerPoint for the web.

To start a slide show in PowerPoint for the web, open the file, and on the Slide Show tab of the ribbon, select Play from Beginning.

To start a slide show, on the View tab of the ribbon select Play From Beginning.

(If you've turned off the Simplified Ribbon, you don't have a Slide Show tab; instead use the View tab to start Presenter Coach.)

For more details on running a slide show, see Present your slide show in PowerPoint for the web.

See Also

Set the speed and timing of transitions

Create a self-running presentation

Record a slide show with narration and slide timings

Turn your presentation into a video

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