How certain features behave in web-based PowerPoint

PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)

PowerPoint Template (.potx)

PowerPoint Add-in (.ppam)

PowerPoint Show (.ppsx)

PowerPoint 97-2003 Template (.pot)

Rich Text Format (RTF)

OpenDocument Presentation (.odp)

** PowerPoint 97-2003 .ppt and .pps

Portable Document Format (PDF)

Password files

*** PowerPoint Macro-Enabled .pptm, .potm, and .ppsm

PowerPoint 97-2003 Add-in (.ppa)

Files marked as final

IRM files

Files with digital signatures

Open

PowerPoint for the web can open files up to 2 gigabytes (GB) in size.

PowerPoint for the web can open .pptx, .ppsx, and .odp files.

You can view .ppt and .pps files in PowerPoint for the web, but it converts them to the newer format (.pptx/.ppsx) if you want to edit them.

You can view template files (.pot, .potx) in PowerPoint for the web, but you can't edit them.

Macro-enabled PowerPoint files (.pptm, .potm, .ppam, .potx, .ppsm) can be viewed, but can't be edited.

Add-in files (.ppa, .ppam) can't be opened in PowerPoint for the web.

Save

PowerPoint for the web saves your work automatically each time you make a change, so there's no need for a Save button. However, you can use File > Download As to save your presentation locally as a .pptx, .pdf, .odp file or as a series of JPEG images (one image per slide).

Password protection

Presentations that were protected with a password, digitally signed, or protected with Information Rights Management in desktop PowerPoint can be opened only in the desktop program. To control who can open your presentation, use the Sharing settings in OneDrive or SharePoint library.

Print

In PowerPoint for the web, you can print one slide per page, with headers and footers. (For details, see Print your PowerPoint slides, handouts, or notes) and you can print notes pages, or handouts. To get more printing layout options click Edit in PowerPoint and print in the PowerPoint desktop application.

Normal View

Use Editing View to create your slides.

Outline, Master, and Slide Sorter Views

Outline and Master views are only available in desktop PowerPoint. Slide Sorter view is now available in PowerPoint for the web.

Reading View

You can flip through slides and show or hide speaker notes.

Presenter View

You need desktop PowerPoint to use Presenter View. Of course, you can still present your slide show in PowerPoint for the web.

Slide Show View

You can run your slide shows in a full-screen window. Click each slide or press the spacebar to go to the next slide. Right-click a slide to go back, go to a specific slide, or end the show.

Video and audio

You can play video and audio in Reading View and Slide Show if you have Silverlight installed. You'll need Flash for videos that are linked from a website. Keep an eye on the file size, because PowerPoint for the web won't insert large media files. For embedded media, the size limit can be from 50-100MB, and for WAV files the limit is 100KB.

Speaker notes

You can show, print, or hide Speaker Notes.

Zoom

Go to View > Zoom to select a size you'd like to zoom to.

Rulers and gridlines

Rulers and gridlines are only available in desktop PowerPoint, but PowerPoint for the web has smart guides that automatically appear to help you align objects.

Create, delete, reorder, or hide slides

You can add, reorder, hide, and delete slides. You can choose a slide layout when you create a new slide or change the slide layout after the slide is created.

Copy and Paste

Text pasted in PowerPoint for the web keeps the formatting from where you copied it. You can reformat the text after pasting it into the destination presentation. You can copy and paste pictures from one slide to another in the same presentation and also copy and paste from other presentations or applications.

Font size and formatting

You can apply bold, italic, underline, font size, and color, including using Format Painter.

Paragraph formatting

You can align paragraphs left, right, or center; run text right-to-left or left-to-right; increase or decrease indentation; format paragraphs as a bulleted or numbered list.

Format background

You can format the background of one or more slides with color or a picture.

Numbering and bullets

You can apply built-in numbering or bullet formats.

Find and Replace

The Find command is available on the Home tab of the Ribbon. The Replace command is not available in PowerPoint for the web.

Themes

You can choose from a limited gallery of built-in themes when you add a new slide to your presentation. Themes added to a presentation from desktop PowerPoint are preserved in PowerPoint for the web.

Animation effects

You can create many types of animation effects in PowerPoint for the web. Animations added using desktop PowerPoint (that aren't available in PowerPoint for the web) are preserved and will play in the slide show, but you can't modify them there.

Transitions

You can choose from a limited gallery of transitions in PowerPoint for the web. Transitions added in desktop PowerPoint are preserved but can only be played or changed in desktop PowerPoint.

Customize or broadcast slide show

Options for setting up and customizing the slide show, broadcasting the slide show, or setting up monitors aren't available in PowerPoint for the web.

Co-authoring

Multiple authors can work simultaneously in PowerPoint for the web. Co-authoring works with PowerPoint 2010 or later and PowerPoint for Mac 2016 or later.

Check spelling

Red squiggle underline appears under misspelled words. A right-click menu offers spelling suggestions to choose from.

Hyperlinks

You can insert, edit, and follow text hyperlinks. You can't add a hyperlink to a picture or shape. Bookmark links work but you can't edit them in PowerPoint for the web. See Add a hyperlink to a slide.

Tables

You can insert and edit tables in PowerPoint for the web.

Video and audio

Video and audio content play in Reading View and Slide Show View. You can resize, move, and delete video and audio controls in PowerPoint for the web. You can insert online videos. However, to insert video or audio from your PC, you'll need to use desktop PowerPoint.

Pictures

Insert pictures or icons from your computer or the web. You can move, resize, and crop pictures, and you can apply picture styles. More sophisticated picture formatting features, such as applying special effects and removing the background are not available in PowerPoint for the web. To capture screen shots, you can use desktop PowerPoint.

Shapes, drawings, or text boxes

Add a text box or choose from a gallery of shapes. Apply styles, which define fill, outline, and shadow effects. Move, resize, rotate, or order shapes and text boxes in layers, back-to-front. Ungroup shapes to work with them individually.

SmartArt graphics

Insert a SmartArt graphic, switch to a different layout or color scheme, apply Smart Art styles, and edit text.

Charts and equations

You can't insert these in PowerPoint for the web, but if you insert them using desktop PowerPoint, PowerPoint for the web displays them as expected.

WordArt

Not available in PowerPoint for the web. If you want to apply WordArt effects to text, tap or click Edit in PowerPoint.

Symbols

A limited set of symbols can be inserted in PowerPoint for the web. If the font for displaying a symbol is not available, the symbol is displayed as a placeholder.

Headers and footers

Footers, including date and slide numbers, can be inserted, edited, or deleted in PowerPoint for the web. See Add slide numbers or the date and time.

Tip:    You can add a text box to act as a header.

Macros

You can view, edit, print, and share presentations that contain macros, but to run the macros, tap or click Edit in PowerPoint.

ActiveX controls, embedded OLE objects

You can't insert or edit these in PowerPoint for the web, but they are displayed as expected.

Linked pictures

These are preserved in the presentation but are hidden in Reading View and Slide Show View. They display as placeholders in Editing View.

Proofing tools

You can check the spelling of a word, and you can set the proofing language.

Comments

You can view and edit comments. See Add, change, hide or delete comments in a presentation.

Normal, Notes Page, Reading View, and Master views

Reading view provides a way to advance through the slides, to jump to a particular slide, and to display or hide slide notes. Editing view in PowerPoint Web App is similar to Normal view in the PowerPoint desktop application. Notes Page, and Master views are not available in PowerPoint Web App.

Slide Show

PowerPoint Web App plays slide shows in a full-screen window. Press the spacebar to advance the slides. Slide animations play, but transitions from one slide to the next play as fades.

Video and audio

Video and audio content does not play in PowerPoint Web App, but it is preserved in the file.

Outline View

Outline View is available on the File tab in Reading view.

View slide notes

Notes for each slide can be displayed or hidden.

Zoom

Zoom is not available in PowerPoint Web App. Using your browser's zoom enlarges text of the PowerPoint Web App user interface, but slide content is not enlarged.

Rulers and gridlines

PowerPoint Web App does not display rulers and gridlines.