Copy and paste a slide master from one presentation to another

Applies To
PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 PowerPoint 2024 PowerPoint 2021 PowerPoint 2019 PowerPoint 2016

You can copy a slide master (and all its associated layouts) you like from one presentation into another.

Copy the slide master from the first presentation

  1. Open both presentations: the one you want to copy a slide master from, and the one you want to paste the slide master into.
  2. In the presentation that has the slide master you want to copy, on the View tab, select Slide Master.
    Shows slide layout in PowerPoint Slide Master View
  3. In the slide thumbnail pane, right-click the slide master, and then select Copy.

Slide master with layout masters in Slide Master view

Note

  • In the thumbnail pane, the slide master is represented by the larger slide image with a numeral next to it, and the related layout masters are the smaller items subordinate to it (as illustrated above).
  • Many presentations contain more than one slide master, so you may have to scroll to find the one that you want.

Paste the slide master into the new presentation

  1. On the View tab, select Switch Windows, and then select the presentation that you want to paste the slide master to.

  2. On the View tab, select Slide Master.

  3. In the thumbnail pane, right-click the slide master, and then, under Paste, do one of the following;

    • To take on the theme colors, fonts, and effects of the destination presentation that you are pasting to, click Use Destination Theme Use destination formatting .
    • To maintain the theme colors, fonts, and effects of the presentation that you are copying from, click Keep Source Formatting Keep source formatting .

  4. When you're finished, select Close Master View.