how to animate slides in powerpoint presentation

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PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

Working with graphic assets can bring a degree of expectancy when delivering a presentation, such as in the case of PowerPoint animations. They can help add emphasis to slide content and reveal parts of the slide gradually to help presenters discuss topics sequentially. 

As a presenting software, PowerPoint provides all kinds of animations for emphasis, entrance, exit, and to create a set motion. Join us today to learn all about animations in PowerPoint and unleash your creative potential.

Table of Contents

How PowerPoint Animations Can Benefit Presentation Design

Understanding powerpoint animation basics, types of animations in powerpoint, how to animate text on powerpoint, animating objects for visual impact, crafting seamless slide transitions in powerpoint, mastering advanced animation techniques in powerpoint, dos and don’ts of powerpoint animations, real-world use cases of animated presentation slides, recommended animated powerpoint templates, enhanced engagement and understanding through animations.

Dynamic presentations can have many benefits. The importance of such animations is often only realized by people familiar with PowerPoint. As we’ve seen in our guide on visual communication , graphical elements can make concepts more understandable. In the case of animations, we can use the transitions between slides or elements to split concepts and make them clearer.

Audience engagement is another factor, as eye-catching slides often include surprise elements hidden behind animations. These elements attract the audience’s interest and increase retention rate. In this case, animations serve as powerful presentation aids for the speaker.

Capturing Audience Attention

PowerPoint animations are more likely to capture the audience’s attention than static slides. The moving objects on-screen are the type of visuals people are likely to find attention-grabbing instead of trying to read through static slides or looking at static images. On this behalf, storytelling techniques boost their efficacy in connecting with the audience by implementing animations and transitions rather than sticking to static slides. 

Emphasizing Relationships Between Elements

Whenever we work with contrasting values, like pros and cons slides , animations help the presenter highlight areas of interest or disclose the opposite values section by section. This, in turn, structures the speech for real-time interaction with the graphical assets rather than having the audience read the slide and lose focus on the speech. 

Interactive Presentations

As mentioned before, presenters can craft compelling stories through the careful use of animations in PPT. What is often overlooked is the link between interactive presentations and animations. For instance, a speaker can deliver different outcomes of the presentation by selecting one path whose outcome is revealed through an animation. This “wow” factor induces surprise and creatively presents case scenarios.

Another option is when introducing your team in presentations. Rather than using static slides, incorporating animations gives more rhythm to the presentation and invites the public to interact with the speaker.

Getting Started with Animation in PowerPoint

To start with animations in PowerPoint, select an object you wish to animate and go to the Animations tab to choose an animation to add to the slide element. When adding animations to multiple objects in a slide, you should consider the sequence you wish to use to animate objects.

Accessing Animation Features

When accessing animation features, you will come across various animation types. By expanding the Animations menu, you can select animations for entrance, exit, emphasis, and motion paths to create a path for your animated sequence. You can also click to instantly preview an animation for the selected object or switch to slideshow mode to see how the animation will appear.

Adding Animations to Text and Objects

Once an animation is added to a text or object, a number is assigned. This number shows the sequence in which the object will be presented. For example, the object will be the first to be animated on screen, followed by two, three, and so on.

You can adjust the sequence of animations, triggers, and other settings from the Animation Pane in PowerPoint.

Timing and Sequence in Animations

The Timing menu in the Animations pane provides options to set the duration of the animation, the time to delay the animation on the screen (if necessary), and to assess if the animation starts on click, with the previous or after the last animation. How you select these animations will help you adjust the time and sequence of the animations. For example, you can use ‘ with previous’ option to show two animated objects simultaneously.

Entrance, Exit, and Emphasis Animations

Some of the most commonly used animation types fall under three categories: entrance, exit, and emphasis animations.

Entrance Animations

The Entrance Animations are meant to start or introduce objects. You can explore all entrance-related animations by going to Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Entrance Effects . This will reveal all entrance animations you can click to preview for a selected object. These often consist of basic animations with effects like appear, fly-in, float-in, strips, wheel, circle, box, dissolve-in, split, wedge, wipe, plus, diamond, checkerboard, blinds, etc. The animations can be divided into three categories: basic, subtle, and moderate. These categories help identify the type of effects in each category according to how prominent they might be on screen.

Exit Animations

The Exit Animations are meant to help exit a slide or animated sequence to close a topic or subtopic, or to conclude the on-screen animations for a slide. These animations are similar to the Entrance Animations with the same effects. You can use these animation types for an exit sequence using effects like blinds, circles, checkerboard, box, plus, split, wedge, wipe, diamond, dissolve out, contract, swivel, fade, zoom, basic zoom, collapse, float up, etc.

Like the Entrance Animations, you can go to  Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Exit Effects to preview the animations and to see the three categories for basic, subtle, or moderate animations.

Emphasis Animations

Other than basic, subtle, and moderate, the Emphasis Animations come with an additional category, ‘exciting.’ Emphasis animations in PowerPoint provide visual aids for emphasizing content within slides. The effects for these animation types in PowerPoint are also quite different from the entrance and exit-themed effects. Effects like fill color, grow/shrink, transparency, line color, teeter, color pulse, object color, desaturate, darken, lighten, blink, wave, and others can help emphasize an object within a slide to make it pop out before the audience.

Exploring Motion Path Animations

If primary effects aren’t what you want, it’s time to switch to Motion Paths . These are animated effects in PowerPoint that showcase objects across a specific path. In other words, these are elaborate animations that drag objects on the screen based on a particular shape or path, such as a 4,5, 6, or 8-point star, crescent moon, circle, diamond, football, heart, octagon, pentagon, square, trapezoid, teardrop, right triangle, arc (down, right, left, up), curvy right, bounce right, etc.

Motion Paths are divided into four categories. The basic effects consist of shapes, whereas, Line Curves provide lines and curves to animated objects. Similarly, the special category contains more elaborate effects such as inverted square, loop de loop, peanut, bean, curved square, etc.

Choosing Appropriate Animation Styles

When choosing animation styles, picking a style that best resonates with your presentation slides is important. The animations’ names and categories can help you identify what might work for you. Furthermore, after adding an animation, you can go to Effect Options to view the various directions and options used to refine the animation to build your sequence further. Depending on the animation type, you can pick variations of the animation, directions, colors, transparency, points to edit or lock, or other options for selected effects. The image below shows the variations for the Wheel animation in PowerPoint via Effect Options .

Similarly, if you select Transparency from Emphasis Effects, you can choose how transparent the object will appear on the screen. Likewise, many color-themed effects enable picking a custom color to animate an object.

Since Motion Paths are unique, you will get options to edit points, lock paths, reverse the direction of the default animated sequence, etc.

Now that you know how to animate in PowerPoint, it’s time to explore making written content more interesting using animations.

Start by opening a blank PPT file and adding a placeholder text. The idea is to learn how text interacts with animation effects without working with complex graphic layouts.

Select the text and switch to the Animations tab. In there, pick an animation effect of your preference. You will get a preview of the effect applied – which will show the number of the animation order once completed.

Animations for text, like any other animation, can be controlled in terms of behavior by accessing the panel at the right-most section of the Ribbon.

Additionally, we can expand the animations panel to select from the different effects offered by PowerPoint.

Animating Text Elements on PPT Templates

Animating text elements to highlight key aspects of your slides can be a great way to create engaging presentations. The Animated 3D 4 Steps & Core PowerPoint Template shown below are among the Animated PowerPoint templates at SlideModel that animate objects and text elements for emphasis while retaining a clear layout.

As visible from the animated sequence from the Animation Pane in the image below, the slide deck uses animated text boxes with a mix of other slide elements to create a sequence where a four-step diagram is highlighted with supported text to help elaborate each part of the diagram in an animated sequence. We can add, remove, or modify the included effects via the Animation Pane.

Balancing Text Animations for Impact

By balancing text animations, you can have maximum impact when highlighting content for your slides. The animations can be triggered to start simultaneously to reveal all the text after a sequence of objects, before objects appear, or one by one to reveal the diagram contents gradually.

Animating Images, Shapes, and Charts

When animating shapes and images, you can use a variety of animation types for entrance, exit, and emphasis, and to make the content pop out. However, charts require subtle animations, and it’s best to use basic effects to reveal charts, such as Appear and Disappear .

The Animated Network Diagram PowerPoint Template is an example of how to animate shapes.

The template’s title slide reveals shapes and icons in the form of a diagram in an animated sequence.

You can also include images in such a template to customize the given diagram and animate it to reveal the image simultaneously or after a set of objects has already been revealed.

If you are including a chart in your slide that is to be animated, make sure the animation corresponds to other elements that might also be animated. For example, you can trigger the chart to be revealed after the slide title with a simple Appear effect. In such a case, the chart can be displayed altogether or gradually, in animated form.

Applying Object Animations Strategically

When placing slide objects, you must apply the animations strategically to avoid revealing information out of sequence. Furthermore, it is also worth considering how your effects appear. For example, in the image of the diagram below, would you prefer the diagram to appear floating upward or downward? Such considerations and other vital elements, such as your branding needs, are important to ponder when setting your animated sequence.

Enhancing Presentation Flow with Transitions

While Animations for PowerPoint are one way of making your slides engaging, PowerPoint Transitions is another. You can access them via the Transitions tab in PowerPoint and apply transitions between slides.

While many legacy transitions provide basic effects when switching between slides, some of the more recent additions to this menu, such as Morph Transition , enable the creation of elaborate animations by using Transitions to animate your slides. The below example shows a slide with the Morph transition, giving an animated effect to the diagram.

Maintaining Coherence Between Slides

When applying Transitions, it is essential to maintain coherence between slides by ensuring they don’t overlap with any added Animations. To do this, you should preview your slide deck to see how it might appear once all the animated effects have been included in your slides. Like PowerPoint Animations, you can also use Effect Options for Transitions to set a sequence or direction that best suits your needs.

Layering for Complex Animation Effects

Using layers of multiple objects and slides can easily create advanced animation effects. This can be done using not only PowerPoint animations but also transitions. The Animated Pendulum Swing PowerPoint Templates from the SlideModel archive of animated templates use Transitions like Morph to create animated sequences. The below example shows a swinging pendulum created using Morph.

Combining and Triggering Animations

Depending on the number of elements within a slide and the animations used, you can use triggers to customize and set sequences for slide elements to animate. The example below shows the selected pendulum’s various linking options for the on-click trigger. By placing your slide objects to be connected and triggered with different parts of your slide, you can create and customize animated sequences that can be pretty attention-grabbing. 

PowerPoint Animation Painter

If you thought you had to start from scratch to animate each slide of your presentation, you are sorely mistaken. Much like the Format Painter option in PowerPoint, we can find Animation Painter , which is accessible via the Ribbon under the Advanced Animation control options.

This tool helps us duplicate animations between elements of the same slide or copy animation effects from one slide to another. As a format copying tool, it requires at least one animation effect to be placed otherwise the option is grayed out.

Creative Experimentation

Experimenting with Animations in PowerPoint can be pretty helpful to avoid making monotonous presentations. Experimentation does not necessarily require making slides from scratch, but you can also use ready-made templates such as the 3D animation PowerPoint Templates at SlideModel. Alternatively, some slide deck templates offer a considerable range of animation effects intended for maximum audience engagement, which users can quickly customize by editing placeholder areas for text, images, and logos.

Below is a list of do’s and don’ts of PowerPoint Animations for making presentations that best use animated effects.

Maintain Animation Moderation

It is essential to maintain moderation when using animations, as the use of too many animations on a single slide or presentation can make the content confusing.

Use of Appropriate Animations

Try to use appropriate animations for slide objects. The animation should suitably show if the object is to enter, exit, be emphasized, or be highlighted using a motion path.

Avoid Animation Overload

Avoid flashy animated sequences unless your presentation is meant for an audience that might find engaging, such as children in a classroom session.

Subtle can be Just as Engaging

Sometimes, subtle animations can be just as engaging as an animation with an elaborate effect. This can, in fact, be a better option than using animations that might be visually overpowering or difficult to follow due to elaborate effects.

Ensure Visual Consistency

As discussed earlier, it is vital to maintain consistency in using animated effects. Be it Animations or Transitions, using flashy effects or too many diverse effects can hurt how the audience perceives your content, as it might become confusing, visually overpowering, or unprofessional. In such a case, the audience might quickly lose interest in the presentation, leading to Death by PowerPoint.

Less is More

The design language of visual designs over the past decade or more has been intended to use fewer effects and graphical elements with ample space to make the interface look clean. Be it Modern UI or Material design apps, this design language has been evident across desktop and mobile UIs. Using the same concept, you can design your slides with fewer animations and graphical elements to make your content more visually appealing.

Turning PowerPoints into Millions

Courtney Allen, a professional PowerPoint designer who came out of a BFA in graphic design from Boise State University, had all but PowerPoint as a part of her portfolio. She started her freelancing career via Upwork, making over a thousand PowerPoints for clients, bringing in as many as $2 million. She suggests using simple designs and animations to make the most out of PowerPoint presentations. 

Guy Kawasaki Pitch Deck

Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee, whose famous 10-slide pitch deck has inspired a variety of PowerPoint templates. This rule was designed for startups and business presentations, focusing on pitching a concept to investors. While this isn’t directly related to using animations in presentations, it is an example of making the best use of minimalist content in a few slides. You can learn more about the Guy Kawasaki pitch deck from our article about the 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoint presentations .

How not to use an Animated PowerPoint Presentation in Court! 

Presentations with animations aren’t always a great idea. In 2014, a court in the United States criticized a PowerPoint presentation by the prosecutor, which led to the court throwing the case out. The presentation was made with sound effects and animations, with flashy elements like the bullseye. Some of the significant mistakes made by the prosecutor included ‘visual advocacy,’ where the defendant was marked with the word ‘guilt’ in the slide deck. Not to mention, the animated presentation seemed to be aimed at influencing the court using visual aids. Something that did not sit well with the court.

Use of PowerPoint by the US Military

The US Military has often been accused of Death by PowerPoint for preparing what some call the worst PowerPoint slides ever created. The issue became so profound that in 2011, it was revealed that an executive communications manager at Microsoft, Dave Karle, was tasked with ensuring that the US military could finally start using the software properly. After discussions with top military officials, an updated military presentation method was created, consisting of a number of presentation templates, tips, and graphics and more than 6000 map symbols. 

In this section, you can check some ready-made templates that can be easily customized for your presentation’s purposes. All these templates feature professionally made animation effects with native PowerPoint tools.

1. Multi-Purpose Animated PowerPoint Slide Deck

Those looking for how to animate in PowerPoint now have a ready-made solution to create mind-blowing presentations in a couple of minutes. This slide deck contains 26 slides in a broad selection of topics. We can present facts, introduce our team, our company, display charts with animated effects, and so much more. Check it out now!

Use This Template

2. Animated 8-Step Social Media Carousel PowerPoint Template

Bring dynamism to your social media posts by implementing this vivid social media carousel template. With eye-catching animated effects, this template emulates the typical carousel posts we can find on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.

3. Problem Solving Animated PowerPoint Template

Bring professional graphics to troubleshooting sessions with your team. This template, filled with PowerPoint animations, offers a user-friendly approach to conventional problem-solving situations in which the team has to observe the Issue Matrix, suggest possible solutions, and prepare an implementation plan and its corresponding process flow diagram. Thanks to its high-quality animation effects, the speaker can introduce the facts individually, without diverting attention from the speech.

4. Animated Company Profile Presentation Template for PowerPoint

We’ve seen this template as one of the examples of animations for PowerPoint. It is a 21-slide solution offering all the tools required for a corporate-styled company profile presentation, specifically tailored for service businesses.

5. Corporate Company Profile Animated PowerPoint Template

An alternative option for company profile presentations, featuring a minimalistic graphic layout with a broad variety of animation effects. Check these 12 slides and customize them with information relevant to your organization – we bring complex animation effects in a ready-made format. Colors and placeholder images can also be replaced.

6. Animated Roadmap PowerPoint Template

Bring more action to any planning meeting using this animated PowerPoint roadmap template. After a clear path overview, each milestone slide contains animation effects to introduce relevant information to the topic. It is a new take on traditional roadmap presentations that allows the speaker to pace themselves regarding how to disclose the information about the strategy to embark on.

7. Animated Pros & Cons Comparison Slide Template for PowerPoint

We mentioned the advantages of using PowerPoint animations to discuss contrasting values of a situation. Well, this animated Pros & Cons slide is the ideal tool for that purpose, offering a generalist view, then two accompanying slides for Pros & Cons, respectively, with animated effects to introduce additional information per point.

Using animations to make visually appealing and engaging presentations requires ensuring that your content corresponds with your added animated effects. It is always best to use animations in moderation and to keep your slides minimalist while unleashing your creativity as a presenter. Using ready-made PowerPoint templates can also help give you a good starting point to begin experimenting with animations and effects. This can also be useful for people new to PowerPoint Animations to explore what is doable with an animated slide deck, using animated sequences tailored for customization. 

Whether you’re using an animated template or making one from scratch, a preview in slideshow mode can save you a lot of trouble with potential issues tied to animated effects. Last but not least, using animations in PowerPoint isn’t always necessary, and you can even go for a simple slide deck with a handful of slides. What matters is that you should be aware of the information being presented, and the visual aids should be just to aid your slides and not meant to be the whole package on their own.

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• Slidesgo School
• PowerPoint Tutorials

How to Add Animations and Transitions in PowerPoint

In this tutorial, you’ll learn the basics of adding animations and transitions to your presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. These visual effects will help you make your slides more dynamic and will keep your audience engage.

Adding an Animation to a Text, an Image, a Shape or Other Elements of a Presentation

Adding transitions to a slide.

• Select the object that you want to animate.
• Click the Animations tab.
• Select the animation that you want from the list.
• If you want to see which animations are applied to an object, click Animation Pane. You can also rearrange the animations as you see fit.
• Use the timing options to set the timing of the animation. You can choose when you want the animation to start: on click, with previous or after previous. You can also set the duration and even set a delay before the animation begins.

• Select the slide you want to apply a transition to.
• Click the Transitions tab.
• After you select any transition from the list, you’ll see a preview of the resulting effect.
• If you want to adjust the direction of the effect, among other settings, click the Effect Options drop-down arrow.

• To remove a transition, on the Transitions tab, click None.

• You can change the animations or transitions at any time. To do so, select the animated object or the slide with a transition applied to it and choose a different option from the list.

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How to Add Animations and Transitions in Google Slides

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Ultimate Guide to PowerPoint Animations: Tutorials, Templates, Tips & Tricks

Animations in powerpoint.

We have put together a massive collection of resources for PowerPoint Animations. This includes free & premium tips, tricks, tutorials and templates that you can access online to polish your slides and engage your audience.

We will cover both Custom Animations and Transitions feature in PowerPoint. This includes the new Morph Transition introduced in PowerPoint for Office 365

About PowerPoint Custom Animations

Custom Animation is a useful feature in PowerPoint. You can use it to add interaction to your slides and make the presentation more engaging for your audience. Almost any element in your slide - text, photos, graphs, shapes, audio and video can be animated.  

You can add PowerPoint animations to any of these elements in just three steps: (1) Select the object to animate (2) apply an animation, and (3) customize the effects.

Let us see how to apply animation to different parts of a presentation.

Custom animation, when used correctly can enhance the effectiveness of your message in your business presentations. #PowerPoint #Tips

4 Types of Animations 

PowerPoint offers 4 types of Animations:

• Entrance animation: Animations to make elements enter the slide.
• Exit Animation : Animations to make elements exit the slide.
• Emphasis Animation :   Animations to highlight elements on the slide and direct attention
• Motion Path Animation : Animations that make elements on the slide move from one place to another along predefined paths. 

You can add more than one animation to the same object. With this feature, it is possible to create a variety of custom animations to suit your specific requirement.

Animation can help make a PowerPoint presentation more dynamic, and the information more memorable. The most common types of animation effects include entrances and exits. 

Learn how to set up basic animations with these tutorials on Microsoft website. 

[Basic] Add Animations in PowerPoint 2016

In this easy to follow video, learn how to add animation in PowerPoint 2016. This video shows how to get started and is a primer.

Customizing Animation Effects

Once you add an animation to an object, PowerPoint offers further options to customize the animation. Each Animation effect can be controlled using the following additional settings:

Option 1: Preview Animations

Animations in PowerPoint can be normally viewed only in Slideshow mode. So if you want to preview the animations you added on a slide, PowerPoint allows you to view them using the Preview option.

Option 2: Effect Options

Some effects in PowerPoint like Fly In have additional options available. For example, Fly In animation can be set to Flyin from Left, Right, Top or Bottom of the slide. 

In addition to this, text animation can be further set to: As One Object, All at One or By Paragraph.

Option 3: Advanced Animation Effects

These options help you fine tune your animation further. You can: 

Add Animation: Add more animation effects to an object

Animation Pane: View Animation Pane to view list of animations applied on the slide and modify them.

Trigger:   Start animation on a trigger like on click of a button/text etc. to make your slide more interactive.

Animation Painter: This lesser known tool can be used to copy all the animations applied to one object and "paint" or replicate the animation to another object. This is a very useful tool to reduce the time taken to create animation effects.

Option 4: Animation Timing

The Animation timing tools allow you to control when and how the animations play. 

Start: Animations can start On Click, With Previous and After Previous

Duration: Controls how long the animation should play for. 

Delay: This feature controls how long after the previous animation the current animation should be played.

Reorder Animation: When the Animation Pane is open, you can reorder the animations and move them up or down with these tools.

5. About Animation Pane

The Animation Pane provides the list of all the animations applied to a slide in once place. You can do the following actions in the Pane:

• Change the Start option
• Edit the Effect options
• Change the Timings
• Remove the animations 
• Preview the animations

You can find out more about Animation Panes in this post from Tutsplus .

How To Preview Animations

When you put together a slide with multiple animation effects, you need to preview the animation periodically. Going to Slideshow mode every time takes a lot of time. In this video, you will find some quick ways to preview animations. All the options shared in this video allow you to preview the animation in the slide itself.

Text Animation Effects

PowerPoint animations are useful for text or bullet lists. You can make each point in your list appear one at a time as you present it.  In this section we'll explore some basic and advanced ways to present text.

Animations to Bullet Lists

When you present a list of bullet points, you can add animations to make each point exit the slide, after you finish covering it.  This post from Techrepublic shows how to add an exit strategy to bullet points in a slide. 

[Easy] Useful Animation Tricks for Bullet Points

Learn 3 useful PowerPoint Text animation tricks in the video below. The tricks you will learn are: 1. How to animate a bullet point list one by one 2. How to dim a bullet point after it is animated 3. How to make a bullet point disappear after the animation PLUS How to animate bullet points in reverse order These PowerPoint animation effects should help you make your next presentation more effective.

[Advanced] Animation Effect for Text 

Learn how to create a realistic looking effect of a hand writing text in PowerPoint. The animation looks like it was created by whiteboard animation software like Videoscribe. This popular video by Presentation Process has over 1200 Likes and 134K views. 

Find these videos useful? Please subscribe to Presentation Process YouTube channel for more:

Most people use animation only to make the bullet points appear one after another. Some advanced users make the points dim after animation. There is so much more to animation than this basic feature. In the following sections we'll see some advanced and creative uses of Animations in PowerPoint.

Picture Animation Effects

In this section you will find some creative ways to animate slides with photos. This includes photos in jpeg or png format as well as vector images in EMF, WMF or SVG format.

You can find video tutorials on how to animate Pictures and Shapes on Microsoft website.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Zoom Animation

Sometimes when you present large pictures in your business presentation, you may be required to zoom in to your pictures to show the details. In such a situation this PowerPoint zoom effect comes in handy. You can use the animation effect to zoom into a certain step in a large multi step process, or you can use this custom animation trick to zoom in on an individual in a large group photo or zoom in on a country in a large world map etc.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Animation to Create Videoscribe Effect

Learn to create an interesting Videoscribe effect with PowerPoint Animation within a few seconds. The effect you will learn is to have a base image and to animate it so that it looks like someone is completing a drawing on the slide. This is a great way to add engagement to your training slides.

If you would like to follow this tutorial, you can download a similar image here .

This kind of animation can be done with any wmf or emf file and can be used to explain business concepts like planning and execution or explanation of a step by step process.

Shapes & SmartArt  Animations

Autoshapes in PowerPoint can be used to create visuals for your presentation. In this section, we will see how to animate Autoshapes as well as SmartArt.

[Easy]  PowerPoint Timeline Animation

Learn to create a beautiful Animated PowerPoint Timeline Infographic with this step by step tutorial. Grab your audience attention with this easy to design slide with custom animation effect.

[Easy]  PowerPoint Animation for SmartArt Objects

When you add animation to a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint , initially the entire graphic gets animated. But PowerPoint does provide some control over animating SmartArt shapes. To learn how to animate a SmartArt graphic with more control read this post on Indezine .

You can also see the process of animating a SmartArt diagram with the tutorial video below. The diagram we will be using is a core diagram with a circle relationship from the inbuilt PowerPoint SmartArt

The type of diagrams you can create and the animations you can apply, are only limited by your imagination. 

Watch the video above to know more

Creative Slide Design & Animation

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Chart  Animations

Most business presentations have charts included in them. Many times PowerPoint charts can be overwhelming for the audience.  The reason for their overwhelm is - too much information hitting them too soon. If you learn to sequence the way you present your numbers, you make it easy for your business audience to understand your PowerPoint presentation.

This video in Microsoft support site  shows how to add animations to Charts and SmartArt. 

[Easy]  Guide to PowerPoint Chart Animation

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[Easy]  Animate Excel in PowerPoint

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Adding Interactivity 

PowerPoint animations has a trigger feature which can be used to add interactivity to your slides. These are specially useful for training and e-learning presentations.

Hyperlinks and Triggers

Triggers are like an internal hyperlink on your slide. The person viewing the presentation can control what happens next. This is useful for building multiple choice quizzes. This post from Brightcarbon provides an overview of setting up triggers & hyperlinks.

Creating Simple & Interactive PowerPoint Animated Slide

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Creating Interactive Buzzers with Sound in PowerPoint

Make your training more engaging and interesting with this creative PowerPoint idea. Follow this step by step tutorial video to create an interactive PowerPoint buzzer with sound effects. You can use this buzzer to run a quiz in your classroom.

45 PowerPoint Quiz Templates Pack

Create excitement & make learning fun with games in your classroom! Gamify your classroom & generate excitement with Ready To Use PowerPoint Quiz Templates.  

Quiz templates for any type of training: Corporate Training, Universities, Schools or Freelance Training. Includes complete instructions for customizing & playing each game

Video Animation Effects

You can insert and play videos in PowerPoint. You can insert these videos from YouTube, from your PC or Storage location like OneDrive.   This tutorial in Microsoft website covers how to insert video and audio in PowerPoint.

[Easy]  Insert YouTube Video in PowerPoint

Learn how to embed an online video into your next presentation. It is a fairly straightforward option in PowerPoint 2016.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Movie Magic with Videos, Text and Animations 

Create PowerPoint Movie Magic by using the combo of videos, text and animations. Use this technique to create slides that engage your audience. The presentation shows a car moving along a road. The windshield wiper moves across the screen. Text appears and fades away in sync with the movement of the windshield wiper. We will use the Video Bookmark option, Text Entrance and Exit Animations, and Trigger animations options to create this effect.

Using Transitions Effectively

Slide transitions are the visual movements where one slide changes into another during a presentation. They add to the professional appearance of the slideshow in general and can draw attention to specific important slides. To know how to apply and remove transitions,  read this post on Lifewire.

[Easy]  5 Tricks to Use Transition Effects in PowerPoint

Learn how to use PowerPoint slide transition effects in an interesting way to make your presentations creative.

[Advanced]  The Power of Dynamic Pan Transition Effect

Sometimes the information you want to present spreads beyond one slide. For example, an excel spreadsheet you stuck on the slide has too many columns to fit into one slide.  A map you placed on the slide is too big to be shown on one slide. If you force yourself to show the image in one page (by shrinking the size of the map), the details get too small to be clearly visible to the audience in the last row.

Learn an easy trick to overcome this situation with the video below:

Using Morph Transition 

PowerPoint Morph is a revolutionary feature available for Office 365 users. It eliminates the need for complex animation. Technically speaking, PowerPoint Morph is a transition, but in reality it can be widely used a substitute/enhancement for complex animation. Read this post from Efficiency365 for a quick overview  of this feature.

[Easy]  Animated Roadmap with Morph Transition

Learn to create an interesting animated roadmap that looks like a video. We use the PowerPoint 2016 ( Office 365 ) Morph Transition feature to create this effect. You can use this type of roadmap or timeline in almost any kind of presentation. Engage your audience by explaining and revealing the steps one by one. Link for Roadmap Image

[Advanced]  How Morph Transition Can Replace   Animation

In this video you will find how to use PowerPoint Morph Transition to replace Custom Animations. See how this can be done with this example of a slide with multiple pictures with text. You'll find how to mimic PowerPoint animation with Morph Transition and create the slides very quickly.

If you would like to learn about Morph Transition, PowerPoint Designer and other such features available in PowerPoint for Office 365, checkout the course below...

Complete PowerPoint Foundation Course

Master Fundamentals of PowerPoint from scratch. From Basics to Advanced. Includes special section on features of PowerPoint 365:

• 13.5 hours on-demand video
• For beginner & advanced users
• Online Access: Full lifetime access
• Practice Activities: Assignments & Quizzes

Animated PowerPoint Templates

Animations take time to visualize and create. You can save time by using ready to use PowerPoint Templates. In this section you will find resources and links for Animated PowerPoint Templates.

PowerPoint comes with some animated 3D templates. This includes sparkling picture frames, lively photograph albums, 3-D rotating photos, and elegant transitions between images. 

This page on Microsoft support site provides the link and details.

You can find more free animated PowerPoint Templates including for physics presentations at Presentation Magazine website. 

While these free templates are a good resource for student and non-critical presentations, business & training presentations require professional and creative animation effects. 

Ready-to-Use Professional Animation Templates

The 750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack is specifically created for use in training and business presentations. It includes advanced animations for text, lists, pictures, concepts and metaphors. You can preview some of the templates from this pack below:

Animations for Bullet Points, Agenda, Terms & Definitions

Animations for Timelines, Roadmaps & Process Flows

Source:  750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack

Animations for Pictures and Lists

Animations for Concepts, Metaphors, Business Ideas

And More Professionally Animated Templates to Engage Your Audience...

Make Your Presentations More Engaging without Spending Hours struggling with PowerPoint Animations...

Download 750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack. Tell your story with 750+ Ready to Use & Easy to Customize Powerful Animations in PowerPoint. 

Pramod Naik

Ceo, tianjin tianshi india pvt ltd.

These ready to use animated slides are very classy and ready to use , these are very thoughtfully done .

When I have to put a point across to the team or to a larger audience , these slides greatly benefit me to make my slides sharper and to the point … one just has to visualize as to what is that you need to share to the audience and how , if you can visualize , you are bound to find that slide in this pack , if not similar , better . Secondly when you scan through the slides , the way they are made you also get ideas as to what to share to the team and audience .

Tips for Professional Animation

Here are some quick tips when using PowerPoint Animations. These will help you save time and create your animations more professionally. 

[Tip]  How to remove Custom Animations from All Slides in 1 click

When you don't want any custom animation at all in your presentation - how do you go about it? Usually you will have to go to every single slide and remove the animations. However if you wish to have on-click control on whether animations are present or now - then use this trick and get complete control over your slides!

5 Irritating Ways to Use Custom Animation

Some presenters have the habit of applying animations the wrong way. Such animations have no purpose and end up irritating the audience. Watch the video below to learn the common mistake presenters make when using custom animations feature. 

Time-Saving Tip: Using Animation Painter

Animations take a lot of time to create. Learn how to easily reuse animations applied to an object using Animation Painter tool. This video is part of the bonus tutorial videos provided with purchase of Advanced Animations Pack. 

Good PowerPoint animation makes your audience focus on the message not the animation.

Turn Presentations Into Videos

When you make a recording of a presentation, all its elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) are saved in the presentation itself. In essence, the presentation becomes a video that your audience can watch in PowerPoint.  Learn the step by step process in this Microsoft support article .

[Easy]  Convert PowerPoint to Video

In this tutorial, you will find how to use save your PowerPoint file as a video. When you save the file as a video, all the animations and transitions you have used will get saved along with the file.  You would use this option of saving your presentation as videos to: - Showcase photos in a video format online/ offline - Summary or review of keys points in a presentation or training - Create a booth or kiosk presentation etc.

Free Ultimate Guide to PowerPoint Animations for tutorials, tips & more. #PowerPoint #Presentations

More Ideas for PowerPoint Animation

How to create sparkling text effect for pictures.

Learn to create a Sparkling Text Effect in PowerPoint with this step by step tutorial. You can use this effect for title animation or to highlight an important quote in a presentation.

How to create Clock Needle Animation effect

Learn how to Create Clock Needle Animation Effect in PowerPoint 2013 This is a useful animation effect to show a list, agenda items, steps in a process and more. 

Create Motion Graphics with Animation

Learn how to convert Static Pictures into Animated images in PowerPoint. Tell your story with creatively animated PowerPoint slides. The effect looks like motion graphics created in an advanced software. However, this effect uses simple custom animation effects that you can follow in any version of PowerPoint. 

Related Posts

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How to Add Animation Effects in Microsoft PowerPoint

Last Updated: January 31, 2022 Tested

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 450,313 times. Learn more...

You can animate text and other objects in a PowerPoint slide to add flair to your presentation. Follow these steps to learn how create animation effects in PowerPoint, as well as how to animate the transitions from one slide to another.

Animating Text or Objects

• To select a whole text box, click on the border of the text box. Powerpoint automatically distinguishes text separated by a paragraph or bullet break.
• If your Powerpoint has no objects to animate, you will need to add some .

• You can click through the animations to see a demonstration and view more animations by scrolling with the arrows on the right of the animations box.
• Entrance animations will change how an object enters the page.
• Exit animations will change how an object leaves the page.
• Emphasis animations will add movement or highlights to bring attention to an object.
• Paths determine a course of movement for an object on the page.

• This step can be repeated multiple times to add as many animations to an object as you like.

• This can be a useful tool for staying organized when working with multiple animations.

• “On Mouse Click” will hold the animation until you click the mouse.
• “After Previous” will automatically start the animation after any previous animation (or when the slide appears if there are no other animations)
• “With Previous” will play the animation at the same time as the previous animation on that slide.

• The delay begins after the selected animation action. That is if “On Click” is selected, the delay will start after the click.

• You can also click and drag animation listings in the animation pane.

• Choosing to add a sound manually will open up a window to browse for sound files on your computer, so you will need to have one handy.

Animating Page Transitions

• Select “None” on the left to remove a selected transition.
• A slide can only have one transition at a time.

• ”On Mouse Click” is selected by default.

• A higher duration means a slower transition.
• This setting only adjusts the duration of the transition, not of the slide itself.

• Choose “No Sound” from the same menu to remove any added sound effect.

Adding Animated Images and Videos to a Presentation

• You can click and drag the image to move it around on the slide once it's added.

• You must be connected to the internet during your presentation for online objects to display.

• Embedded videos can only play if you are connected to the internet during your presentation.

Community Q&A

• Click “Apply to all” on the Transitions tab to use the selected transition for all slides in a presentation. [3] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• The activation, timing, and duration options can also be accessed in the Animation Pane by clicking the down arrow next to a listed animation and selecting the option from the menu. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Apply-multiple-animation-effects-to-one-object-9bb7b925-ab0f-47d4-bc11-85d939194bed?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
• ↑ http://www.thewindowsclub.com/add-sound-effects-to-powerpoint-animations
• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Add-edit-or-remove-transitions-between-slides-in-PowerPoint-2016-for-Mac-937604f5-93f8-4f96-9232-8d55d7f0bead

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How to Add Animation to PowerPoint

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What to Know

• Select the item you want to animate, then go to the Animations tab > Animations group > More . Choose an animation.
• Use Effect Options if you want the animation on multiple items. Use the Animation Pane to change the order and timing.
• Use Play All to preview your animations.

So you have to give a talk to your boss and their entire team next week. You know what topics you want to cover, and you've put together a simple PowerPoint slide deck to help the audience understand your concepts. Consider using animation to make your presentation really stand out.

How to Add Animation to PowerPoint on a PC

Here are easy steps for using PowerPoint slide animation. The following instructions are for PowerPoint 2016, 2013, and 2010, as well as PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.

Open your PowerPoint presentation and navigate to the slide to which you want to apply animations.

Select the item you want to animate .

On the Animations tab, in the Animations group, select the More arrow in the Animations box.

You can also add Entrance , Emphasis , or Exit animations:

• An Entrance animates the item as it appears on the slide.
• An Emphasis animates the item after it’s already on the slide.
• An Exit animates the item as it leaves the slide.

Select the animation you want to use. When you select it, you’ll see the animation happen on your slide.

You’ll see the number “1” appear next to the object you’ve animated, indicating this will be the first animation to occur when you select within the slide during your presentation. If you animate more than one item, they'll be numbered in the order in which you create them.

If you want to animate several items within an object with the same animation, select the object, then choose your animation.

On the Animations tab, in the Animations group, select Effect Options to determine whether you want the animation to happen to all the items at once, or to each one separately. You can also adjust the way the animation happens; for example, whether an item “floats in” from the top or bottom of the slide.

To fine-tune the way animations happen during your presentation, on the Animations tab, in the Advanced Animation group, select Animation Pane . A pane will appear in the right-hand column of your screen.

• To change the order of an animation, select it from the list, then use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the pane to move it up or down.
• To adjust the timing, select an animation from the list and select the down-arrow for options.
• To view how the animations happen, select Play All .

To remove an animation, select an animated item, then, on the Animations tab, in the Animations group, select None .

How to Add Animation to PowerPoint Using a Mac

The following instructions are for PowerPoint 2019, 2016, and 2011 for Mac, as well as PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac.

Open your PowerPoint presentation and navigate to the slide to which you want to apply the animation.

Select the item you want to animate.

On the Animations tab, you’ll see choices for how an item appears on the slide, receives emphasis, or exits the slide. Select the one you want to use.

In PowerPoint 2011 for Mac, the selections are labeled as “entrance,” “emphasis,” and “exit” effects.

You’ll see the number “1” appear next to the object you’ve animated, indicating this will be the first animation to occur when you click within the slide during your presentation. If you animate more than one item, they'll be numbered in the order in which you create them.

To fine-tune the way animations happen during your presentation, click the number of the animation you want to adjust to open the Animations pane.

In PowerPoint 2011 for Mac, these options are available via the Animation tab, under Animation Options .

• Use the Effect Options dialog box to change how the animation works.
• Note : If Effect Options is not available, it may be because there are no options available for that effect.
• Use the Timing dialog box to set how long the animation lasts.
• Click Play From to see your changes in action.

Remember, your purpose is to support your message and build interest. Use animations judiciously, and leave the fancy displays for another time. 

You're done.

Why Animation Makes Your Presentation Stand Out

There are a number of ways to spice up your PowerPoint slides, including music, video, slide transitions, and animation. These elements can add interest and depth to your presentation, but too many can become distracting rather than enlightening. The key is choosing elements that will enhance your presentation rather than overwhelm it.

Using animation means applying movement to an item (such as lines of text, graphs, or images) on a slide. Presenters often use it to reveal bullet points one at a time instead of showing them all at once. This strategy can help keep audiences interested because they won’t know what’s coming next. Subtle effects like “appear,” “fade,” and “wipe” often work best; options such as “swivel,” “bounce,” “zoom”, and "typewriter" may get you into distraction territory.

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How to Move an Object Across a PowerPoint Slide During a Slide Show

Move an Object Across a PowerPoint Slide Using Motion Path or Entrance Animations

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated May 28, 2021

Applies to: Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® 2013, 2016, 2019 and 365 (Windows)

You can move a shape, image or other object across a PowerPoint slide during a slide show using motion path or entrance animations. When you run a slide show, the object will move across the screen (on click or automatically).

Recommended article: How to Print PowerPoint Presentations with Notes

Do you want to learn more about PowerPoint?  Check out our virtual classroom or live classroom  PowerPoint courses >

To apply animations, use the Animations tab in the Ribbon:

You can use entrance or motion path animations to move an object across a slide but you'll need to expand the Animations Gallery to access motion path animations.

If you want to apply more than one animation to an object, you will need to use Add Animation in the Advanced Animation group.

Animations are typically added to objects in Normal View but can be applied in Slide Master View.

Adding a motion path animation to make an object move across a slide

To apply a motion path animation to make an object move across a slide on click:

• Select an object. For text objects, click in the text box or placeholder or click its edge.
• Click the Animations tab in the Ribbon.
• In the Animations group, click the More down arrow on the bottom right of the Animations Gallery.
• Click the Line motion path animation in the Motion Paths group. If you click More Motion Paths, you can choose another motion path animation such as Funnel. For some motion paths, such as Custom Path, drag on the slide to create the path and then double-click to end it (see below for more information on custom paths).
• Click Effect Options on the Animations tab and select a direction such as Up, Down, Left or Right. Effect Options change depending on the type of animation.
• Click the motion path and drag the starting point (green dot or green arrow) or ending point (red dot or red arrow) to change the beginning or end of the path. The starting point begins in the middle of the object and the ending point ends in the middle of the object. In 2013 and later versions, a "ghost copy" of the object at its ending location appears on screen. You can drag the "ghost copy" to change the end point of the path.
• Drag the sizing handles (white circles) to resize the path.

The expanded Animations Gallery appears when you click the More down arrow in the Animations group (note the Entrance and Motion Paths categories):

If you select More Motion Paths in the Animation Gallery, the following dialog box appears (scroll down for more options):

You can also apply a motion path animation by clicking Add Animation on the Animations tab in the Advanced Animation group.

Custom paths behave differently from simple line motion paths. Intially, if you click Custom Path, you can drag on the screen to create the path. However, to make straight lines, simply click once at each desired point in the path rather than dragging. If you later want to change to a freeform path, click once again to switch to freeform mode and drag to continue the path. Click once to return to drawing straight lines. When you are finished drawing the path, double-click to end it.

By default, the object will appear on click during a slide show and follow the path.

You can select other motion path options in Effect Options on the Animations tab in the Ribbon:

• Sequence options can be used with some objects such as text boxes or placeholders with multiple bullet points or paragraphs. For example, you can choose to move paragraphs or bullets one at a time or as one object.
• Locked, in the Origin category, can be selected when a motion path is unlocked (which is the default). If the path is unlocked, it will move with the object. If you lock the path or origin, when you move the object, the motion path will remain in the same location. You can unlock a motion path that is locked.
• Edit Points is available for all motion paths except Line. If you select Edit Points, points will appear along the motion path and you can drag them to change the path. You can Ctrl-click a point to delete it or Ctrl-click on the path to add a new point.
• Reverse Path Direction will switch the start and end point of the motion path.

You can also combine motion path animations with other animations like Grow / Shrink using Add Animation.

Adding an entrance animation to make an object move across a slide

To apply an entrance animation to make an object move across a slide on click:

• Click the Fly In entrance animation in the Entrance group. If you click More Entrance Effects, you can choose another animation such as Spiral In or Bounce.
• Click Effect Options on the Animations tab and select a direction such as From Top or From Left.

You can also apply an entrance animation by clicking Add Animation on the Animations tab in the Advanced Animation group.

By default, the object will appear on click during a slide show.

Using the Animation Pane

If you're going to work with animations, it's helpful to display the Animation Pane so you can easily select and edit the animations.

To use the Animation Pane:

• Click Animation Pane in the Advanced Animations group. The Animation Pane appears on the right side of the screen.
• Click the animation in the Animation Pane and then select other options on the Animations tab. You can also click the drop-down menu that appears and select Effect Options.

Changing the way an object starts during a slide show

Animations are set by default to start on click during a slide show. If you want an animation to start automatically, you will need to change the start setting.

To start an animation automatically, you can start:

• After Previous – the animation sequence will begin once a previous animation effect or effects is  completed. The start of a slide show is also a previous effect.
• With Previous – the animation sequence will begin at the same time as a previous animation effect or effects. The start of a slide show is also a previous effect.

To change the way an animation starts during a slide show:

• Select the animation effect in the Animation Pane.
• In the Timing group, select an option from the Start drop-down menu.

Setting timing

When you apply an animation, a timing is automatically set for the animation (in seconds). The default duration is different for each animation effect.

To set a speed or duration of an animation:

• In the Animations group, enter a time (in seconds) for the animation in the Duration area of the Timing group. You can click the up and down arrows to change the duration or type a duration.

Note the Duration on the Animations tab in the Ribbon below:

Viewing animations by running a slide show

You will need to run a slide show in order to see your object(s) move across the slide. Click the Slide Show button on the bottom right of the screen to run a show or press F5 (some users may need to press Fn + F5) to run the slide show from the beginning. Use the right and left arrows to move from slide to slide or start the animations.

In this article, we are using animations to make objects move across a slide. Check out the article How to Use Morph in PowerPoint to Design Engaging Presentations for other ways to make objects move on a slide during a slide show.

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More resources

PowerPoint Slide Show Shortcuts (50+ Shortcuts)

How to Get Design Ideas in PowerPoint Using Designer

How to Insert a Check Mark in PowerPoint (4 Ways with Shortcuts)

How to Use Morph in PowerPoint to Design Engaging Presentations

How to Crop an Image into a Circle in PowerPoint (Crop to Shape Method)

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How to Insert or Type E with an Accent Mark in PowerPoint (È, É, Ê, Ë, è, é, ê, or ë)

You can insert or type e with an accent mark in PowerPoint using built-in tools or keyboard shortcuts (including Alt code shortcuts). The letter e can be inserted with an accent in both upper or lower case in text boxes or placeholders on slides, the slide master or layouts. The following are common accents in upper or lower case – È, É, Ê, Ë, è, é, ê, or ë.

How to Fade a Picture or Part of a Picture in PowerPoint (Using a Gradient)

You can fade a picture in PowerPoint by drawing a rectangle shape on top of the picture and then filling the rectangle with a gradient from opaque to transparent. This technique is often used to fade an image into the background of a slide. Since the rectangle is placed on top of the image and then text may be placed on top of the rectangle, you may need to reorder the objects.

How to Lock an Image, Shape or Other Object in PowerPoint

You can now lock an image, shape or other object in PowerPoint. Objects can be locked in Normal View or Slide Master View. Only PowerPoint 365 users can lock objects to prevent moving and resizing. This is helpful if you want to select and move other objects on the slide or prevent others from moving or resizing an object. You can lock items using the context menu or the Selection Pane.

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How to Animate Bullet Points One at a Time in PowerPoint?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Adding animation to bullet points in PowerPoint presentations can make them more engaging and visually appealing. However, animating all the bullet points at once can be overwhelming for the audience, making it hard to follow along.

To animate bullet points one at a time, select the text box containing the bullet list, choose your preferred animation style from the “Change Entrance Effect” dialog box in the “Animation” tab and click “OK”. Finally, choose “By Paragraph” in the “Sequence” section from the “Effect Options” button.

In this article, we will also educate you on how to make bullet points appear by clicking as well as if you want your text to appear one letter at a time. Let’s get started!

1. How to Animate Bullet list in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the “Animations” menu allows you to add animation effects to any object on the slide. To animate a text box containing a bullet list, follow the 3 quick steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Animations” tab

In the PowerPoint slide, you have to first click on the text box to select it. Then click on the “Animations” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen.

Step-2: Click on the “More” option

The next step is to expand the “Animation” gallery. To do so, click on the “More” option which is the down arrow at the bottom right corner of the “Animation” group in the “Animations” menu.

Step-3: Select your preferred animation style

Finally, all you have to do is click on your preferred animation style from the “Entrance” section of the expanded “Animation” gallery to animate the selected text box containing a bullet list.

2. How to Animate Bullet Points One at a Time in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, each bullet point is added to a text box as a new paragraph. So you can animate the text box by each paragraph to make the bullet points appear one at a time during a presentation. To do so, all you have to do is follow the 4 simple steps.

The first step is to select the text box containing the bullet list that you want to animate. Then click on the “Animations” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen.

Step-2: Click on the “More Entrance Effects” option

In the “Animation” group of the “Animations” menu, click on the “More” option which is the down arrow at the bottom right corner. Then click on the “More Entrance Effects” option at the bottom of the dropdown menu under the “Animation” gallery.

Step-3: Click on the “OK” button

In the “Change Entrance Effect” dialog box, click on your preferred animation style option. Then all you have to do is click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box to add the animation effect to the selected text box.

Step-4: Click on the “By Paragraph” option

The final step is to animate each bullet point. All you have to do is click on the “Effect Options” button in the “Animation” group of the “Animations” menu. Then click on the “By Paragraph” option under the “Sequence” section of the dropdown menu under the “Effect Options” button to make the bullet points appear one at a time.

3. How to Make Bullet Points Appear by Clicking in PowerPoint?

The “Trigger” option in Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to add animations so that the animated bullet list appears only when you click on the slide. To make bullet points appear by clicking on the slide, follow the 4 easy steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Animations” menu

The first step is to add an animation effect to the bullet list. To do so, you have to first click on the “Animations” tab in the menu ribbon at the top of the screen to open the “Animations” menu.

Step-2: Click on your preferred animation

In the “Animation” group of the “Animations” menu, all you have to do is click on your preferred animation effect for the bullet list.

Step-3: Click on the “Effect Options” button

The next step is to animate so that the bullet points appear one at a time. To do so, click on the “Effect Options” button in the “Animation” group of the “Animations” menu. Then click on the “By Paragraph” option under the “Sequence” section which is at the bottom of the dropdown menu under the “Effect Options” button.

Step-4: Click on the “Trigger” option

In the “Advanced Animation” group of the “Animations” menu, click on the “Trigger” option. Then click on the “On Click of” option in the dropdown menu under the “Trigger” option. Then click on the name of the text box in the pop-up menu by the “On Click of” option.

4. How to Make Text Appear One Letter at a Time in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can add a typing effect to the text in a text box. To do so, you have to animate the text in a way that makes the letters appear one at a time. All you have to do is follow the 8 simple steps.

The first step is to open the “Animations” menu. To do so, you have to first select the text box where you want to add the typing effect. Then click on the “Animations” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen.

In the “Animations” menu, you have to now click on the “More” option. It is the down arrow in the bottom right corner of the “Animation” group. Then click on the “More Entrance Effects” option in the dropdown menu under the “Animation” group. This will open a dialog box.

Step-3: Click on the “Preview Effect” option

In the “Change Entrance Effect” dialog box, you have to first click on the “Preview Effect” option at the bottom. A check mark will appear by the “Preview Effect” option when it is enabled.

Step-4: Click on your preferred animation effect

In the “Change Entrance Effect” dialog box, click on your preferred animation effect. For the typing effect during the presentation, you can click on the “Appear” animation effect. Then click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box to apply the selected animation effect.

Step-5: Click on the “Animation Pane” option

The next step is to open the “Animation Pane” sidebar on the right side of the screen. To do so, click on the “Animation Pane” option in the “Advanced Animation” group of the “Animations” menu.

Step-6: Click on the “Effect Options” option

In the “Animations Pane” sidebar, click on the down arrow by the text box shape. Then click on the “Effect Options” option in the dropdown menu under the down arrow. This will open the dialog box.

Step-7: Click on the “By letter” option

In the “Effect” tab of the “Appear” dialog box, click on the “Animate text” box. Then click on the “By letter” option from the dropdown menu under the “Animate text” box.

Step-8: Click on the “OK” button

Finally, all you have to do is click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the “Appear” dialog box to add the typing effect to the text in the text box.

How can I add and customize animation effects to text in PowerPoint presentations?

May 13, 2024 /

To add and customize animation effects to text in PowerPoint presentations, follow these steps: 1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and navigate to the slide where you want to add the animation. 2. Select the text box or the specific text you want to animate. 3. Go to the “Animations” tab in the PowerPoint ribbon. 4. Choose from the available animation options, such as “Appear,” “Fade In,” or “Fly In.” 5. To customize the animation, click on the “Effect Options” button and select the desired effect, such as direction, speed, or sound. 6. You can also adjust the timing of the animation by clicking on the “Timing” button and specifying the desired duration or delay. 7. Preview the animation by clicking on the “Preview” button to ensure it meets your expectations. 8. Repeat these steps for any additional text or slides you want to animate. By following these instructions, you can easily add and customize animation effects to text in your PowerPoint presentations, enhancing the visual appeal and engagement of your audience.

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How to Loop a PowerPoint Presentation?

Table of Contents

PowerPoint presentations are a go-to for clear and informative content delivery. But what if you want your presentation to run on repeat, like at a kiosk or digital sign? The good news is, that PowerPoint has a built-in feature to loop your slideshow, ensuring your message stays on display without interruption. 

This blog post will guide you through the simple steps to set your presentation on a loop, keeping your audience engaged and informed around the clock.

What is PowerPoint Looping?

Normally, in a PowerPoint presentation, you have to manually move from one slide to the next by pressing keys on the keyboard or clicking buttons on a mouse or presentation remote.

However, when you enable looping in PowerPoint, the presentation progresses automatically from one slide to the next without requiring manual input. This eliminates the need for the presenter to interact with the computer or mouse during the presentation.

With PowerPoint looping, you can also set each slide to display automatically for a specified duration, determined by you. Once the preset time elapses, the next slide seamlessly appears. Additionally, upon reaching the final slide, the slideshow automatically starts over from the beginning.

Why Do You Need to Loop Your Slideshow in PowerPoint? 

There are several reasons why you might want to loop your slideshow in PowerPoint:

• Unattended Presentations: Looping is ideal for situations where the presentation runs without a presenter. This could be at a kiosk, trade show booth, or in a waiting room. Looping ensures the information is continuously displayed for viewers to come and go as they please.
• Automated Playback: Looping allows for a hands-off presentation experience. Once started, the presentation progresses automatically, freeing you up to greet attendees or answer questions.
• Self-Paced Learning: Looping can be useful for self-paced learning environments. Viewers can revisit slides or take breaks without needing someone to control the flow.
• Continuous Engagement: Looping keeps the audience engaged with a constant stream of information. This can be beneficial for displaying menus, directions, or other ongoing updates.

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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation loop?

Ready to loop your presentation? Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1:  Open your PowerPoint and head over to the “Slide Show” tab.

Step 2:  Click the button that says “Set Up Slide Show.” A new window will pop up.

Step 3:  Under “Show options,” find the magic checkbox that says “Loop continuously until ‘Esc’.” Check that box to make your presentation run on repeat.

Step 4:  Want to control how long each slide shows? Look for the option “Automatically advance slides” and check it. Then, use the up and down arrows to set the display time for each slide.

Step 5:  Once you’re happy with the settings, click “OK” to save them.

Step 6: Time to loop! Go back to the “Slide Show” tab and click “From Beginning” (or “From Start”). Your presentation will start playing and keep going until you press the “Esc” key.

How To Loop a PowerPoint SlideShow from Selected Slides?

PowerPoint lets you loop a customized selection of slides, creating engaging presentations that run unattended. This eliminates the need for manual slide changes while maintaining audience interest. Here’s how to loop specific slides:

Step 1:  Select Slides: In the Slide Sorter view, hold “Shift” and click the first and last slides you want to loop.

Step 2:  Enable Looping: Go to the “Slide Show” tab and click “Set Up Show.” Check the box for “Loop continuously until ‘Esc'” and choose “Show slides” from the dropdown menu. Select “From” and enter the slide number where your loop should begin.

Step 3:  Create Custom Show (Optional): For easier access, name your looped sequence as a “Custom Show” within the “Set Up Show” dialog.

Step 4:  Start Looping: Navigate back to the “Slide Show” tab and choose “Custom Slide Show” to launch your looped presentation.

Closing Thoughts

Looping your PowerPoint presentation is a simple yet powerful technique that unlocks a variety of use cases. By following these steps, you can ensure your message runs continuously, keeping your audience informed and engaged, whether it’s at a kiosk, trade show booth, waiting room, or any other scenario that demands unattended playback. 

• No design skills required
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Frequently Asked Questions

My presentation has animations and transitions. will they loop as well.

Absolutely! When you loop your presentation, animations and transitions will also repeat continuously, regardless of the looping method you choose.

Does looping affect animation timing?

There’s a possibility. Looping might affect how your animations play out, especially if they have specific timings set. To avoid any hiccups, be sure to thoroughly test your looped presentation. This will ensure your animations sync smoothly with the slide transitions.

Can I loop specific slides in my PowerPoint presentation?

Yes! PowerPoint gives you the flexibility to loop a selected group of slides, creating engaging presentations that run unattended.

How do I stop or pause a looped slideshow in PowerPoint?

Need a break? Simply press the “Esc” key on your keyboard to interrupt the looped slideshow at any time.

Can I customize the duration of each slide in a looped PowerPoint presentation?

Yes, you can! PowerPoint allows you to adjust the slide transition settings for each slide. This lets you control how long each slide displays, creating a tailored and dynamic looping experience.

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How-To Geek

6 ways to create more interactive powerpoint presentations.

Engage your audience with cool, actionable features.

Quick Links

• Add a QR code
• Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
• Embed a Live Web Page
• Add Links and Menus
• Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
• Add a Countdown Timer

We've all been to a presentation where the speaker bores you to death with a mundane PowerPoint presentation. Actually, the speaker could have kept you much more engaged by adding some interactive features to their slideshow. Let's look into some of these options.

1. Add a QR code

Adding a QR code can be particularly useful if you want to direct your audience to an online form, website, or video.

Some websites have in-built ways to create a QR code. For example, on Microsoft Forms , when you click "Collect Responses," you'll see the QR code option via the icon highlighted in the screenshot below. You can either right-click the QR code to copy and paste it into your presentation, or click "Download" to add it to your device gallery to insert the QR code as a picture.

In fact, you can easily add a QR code to take your viewer to any website. On Microsoft Edge, right-click anywhere on a web page where there isn't already a link, and left-click "Create QR Code For This Page."

You can also create QR codes in other browsers, such as Chrome.

You can then copy or download the QR code to use wherever you like in your presentation.

2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)

If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you might want to embed a quiz, questionnaire, pole, or feedback survey in your presentation.

In PowerPoint, open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, and in the Forms group, click "Forms". If you cannot see this option, you can add new buttons to the ribbon .

As at April 2024, this feature is only available for those using their work or school account. We're using a Microsoft 365 Personal account in the screenshot below, which is why the Forms icon is grayed out.

Then, a sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, where you can either choose a form you have already created or opt to craft a new form.

Now, you can share your PPT presentation with others , who can click the fields and submit their responses when they view the presentation.

3. Embed a Live Web Page

You could always screenshot a web page and paste that into your PPT, but that's not a very interactive addition to your presentation. Instead, you can embed a live web page into your PPT so that people with access to your presentation can interact actively with its contents.

To do this, we will need to add an add-in to our PPT account .

Add-ins are not always reliable or secure. Before installing an add-in to your Microsoft account, check that the author is a reputable company, and type the add-in's name into a search engine to read reviews and other users' experiences.

To embed a web page, add the Web Viewer add-in ( this is an add-in created by Microsoft ).

Go to the relevant slide and open the Web Viewer add-in. Then, copy and paste the secure URL into the field box, and remove https:// from the start of the address. In our example, we will add a selector wheel to our slide. Click "Preview" to see a sample of the web page's appearance in your presentation.

This is how ours will look.

When you or someone with access to your presentation views the slideshow, this web page will be live and interactive.

4. Add Links and Menus

As well as moving from one slide to the next through a keyboard action or mouse click, you can create links within your presentation to direct the audience to specific locations.

To create a link, right-click the outline of the clickable object, and click "Link."

In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click "Place In This Document," choose the landing destination, and click "OK."

What's more, to make it clear that an object is clickable, you can use action buttons. Open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, click "Shape," and then choose an appropriate action button. Usefully, PPT will automatically prompt you to add a link to these shapes.

You might also want a menu that displays on every slide. Once you have created the menu, add the links using the method outlined above. Then, select all the items, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then use Ctrl+V to paste them in your other slides.

5. Add Clickable Images to Give More Info

Through PowerPoint's animations, you can give your viewer the power to choose what they see and when they see it. This works nicely whether you're planning to send your presentation to others to run through independently or whether you're presenting in front of a group and want your audience to decide which action they want to take.

Start by creating the objects that will be clickable (trigger) and the items that will appear (pop-up).

Then, select all the pop-ups together. When you click "Animations" on the ribbon and choose an appropriate animation for the effect you want to achieve, this will be applied to all objects you have selected.

The next step is to rename the triggers in your presentation. To do this, open the "Home" tab, and in the Editing group, click "Select", and then "Selection Pane."

With the Selection Pane open, select each trigger on your slide individually, and rename them in the Selection Pane, so that they can be easily linked to in the next step.

Finally, go back to the first pop-up. Open the "Animations" tab, and in the Advanced Animation group, click the "Trigger" drop-down arrow. Then, you can set the item to appear when a trigger is clicked in your presentation.

If you want your item to disappear when the trigger is clicked again, select the pop-up, click "Add Animation" in the Advanced Animation group, choose an Exit animation, and follow the same step to link that animation to the trigger button.

6. Add a Countdown Timer

A great way to get your audience to engage with your PPT presentation is to keep them on edge by adding a countdown timer. Whether you're leading a presentation and want to let your audience stop to discuss a topic, or running an online quiz with time-limit questions, having a countdown timer means your audience will keep their eye on your slide throughout.

To do this, you need to animate text boxes or shapes containing your countdown numbers. Choose and format a shape and type the highest number that your countdown clock will need. In our case, we're creating a 10-second timer.

Now, with your shape selected, open the "Animations" tab on the ribbon and click the animation drop-down arrow. Then, in the Exit menu, click "Disappear."

Open the Animation Pane, and click the drop-down arrow next to the animation you've just added. From there, choose "Timing."

Make sure "On Click" is selected in the Start menu, and change the Delay option to "1 second," before clicking "OK."

Then, with this shape still selected, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then Ctrl+V (paste). In the second box, type 9 . With the Animation Pane still open and this second shape selected, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Timing" again. Change the Start option to "After Previous," and make sure the Delay option is 1 second. Then, click "OK."

We can now use this second shape as our template, as when we copy and paste it again, the animations will also duplicate. With this second shape selected, press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, type 8 into the box, and continue to do the same until you get to 0 .

Next, remove the animations from the "0" box, as you don't want this to disappear. To do this, click the shape, and in the Animation Pane drop-down, click "Remove."

You now need to layer them in order. Right-click the box containing number 1, and click "Bring To Front." You will now see that box on the top. Do the same with the other numbers in ascending order.

Finally, you need to align the objects together. Click anywhere on your slide and press Ctrl+A. Then, in the Home tab on the ribbon, click "Arrange." First click "Align Center," and then bring the menu up again, so that you can click "Align Middle."

Press Ctrl+A again to select your timer, and you can then move your timer or copy and paste it elsewhere.

Press F5 to see the presentation in action, and when you get to the slide containing the timer, click anywhere on the slide to see your countdown timer in action!

Now that your PPT presentation is more interactive, make sure you've avoided these eight common presentational mistakes before you present your slides.

• Add, change, or remove transitions between slides Article
• Animate text or objects Article
• Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint Article
• Insert a video from YouTube or another site Article
• Add or delete audio in your PowerPoint presentation Article
• Record your screen in PowerPoint Article

Add, change, or remove transitions between slides

A slide transition is the visual effect that occurs when you move from one slide to the next during a presentation. You can control the speed, add sound, and customize the look of transition effects.

Add slide transitions to bring your presentation to life

Select the slide you want to add a transition to.

Select the  Transitions  tab and choose a transition. Select a transition to see a preview.

Select  Effect Options  to choose the direction and nature of the transition.

Select  Preview  to see what the transition looks like.

Select Apply To All to add the transition to the entire presentation.

Remove a transition

A transition determines how a slide enters, and how the previous slide exits. So if (for example) you didn't want a transition effect between slides 2 and 3, you would remove the transition from slide 3 .

Select the slide that has the transition you want to remove.

On the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, select  None .

If you want to remove all transitions from the presentation, after you select None , select Apply to All . 

Change a transition

Only one transition effect can be applied to a slide at a time. So if a slide already has a transition effect applied to it, you can change to a different effect by going to the Transitions tab and simply selecting the effect you prefer. 

If you want to change an existing effect by modifying the timing or direction of it, you can that by using the options on the Transitions tab of the ribbon, at the far end:

Select the slide that has the transition you want to modify.

On the Transitions tab, select Effect Options , then choose an option from the menu that appears.

In the Timing group on the Transitions tab, you can change the duration of the effect. You can also specify whether the effect takes place after a mouse click or after a certain amount of time passes. There are also options for adding a sound to the transition effect or applying the transition to all slides in the slide show.

Set the timing and speed of a transition

Video: Add a sound effect to a transition

Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint (only in Microsoft 365 or PowerPoint 2019/2021)

The difference between animations and transitions

Add a transition to a slide

In the Thumbnail Pane, click the slide that you want to apply a transition to. The transition setting determines how a slide enters, and how the one before it exits. In the example below, applying a Fade transition to slide 3 means that slide 2 fades out, and slide 3 fades in.

On the Transitions tab, find the effect that you want in the Transition gallery. Click the down arrow to see the entire gallery. Click the effect that you want for that slide and to see a preview.

Click Transitions > Effect Options to change how the transition occurs – for example, what direction the slide enters from.

Enter a time at Duration to set how fast the transition goes. Set the number higher to make the transition go slower.

Click Preview to see what the transition looks like with all the settings.

Click the slide with the transition you want to remove. Then on the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, click None .

Remember that a transition determines how a slide enters, and how the previous slide exits. So if (for example) you don't want slide 2 to have an exit effect, you must remove the transition from slide 3.

Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint

Record your slide show

Add or change a slide transition

In the Thumbnail Pane, select the slide where you want to apply or change a transition. The transition will begin on the preceding slide and conclude on the slide you select.

On the Transitions tab, find the effect that you want in the Transition gallery.

Click Effect Options to specify how the transition occurs.

To set how fast the transition goes, enter a time in the Duration box on the ribbon. Set the number higher to make the transition go slower. For more about transition timing, see Set the speed and timing of transitions .

If you want all slides in the presentation to transition the same way, click Apply To All .

(This button starts the slide show at the currently selected slide, rather than beginning the slide show from the start of the presentation.)

Remember that a transition applies to a slide’s entrance, not how it exits. So if you want to remove the exit effects for slide 2, for example, remove the transition from slide 3.

Click the slide that you want to have no transition. Then, on the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, click None .

In our example, if slide 3 has no transition, it appears instantly as slide 2 disappears.

If you want to remove the transitions from all slides, click Apply to All on the ribbon after clicking None .

On the Transitions tab, select Options , then choose an option from the menu that appears.

You can also change the duration of the effect. The timing is measured in seconds.

Add an animation effect on a slide

If you're looking for information about how to add animation to text elements or objects within one slide, see Animate text or objects .

Add a transition

Open your presentation.

On your Android tablet, tap the Transitions tab.

Tap the down arrow to expand the Transition Effects . You will see a gallery of transition effects grouped into Subtle , Exciting , and Dynamic categories.

Choose a transition; for example, tap Morph to have one slide gradually turn into the next slide.

Tap Effect Options to choose the direction of the transition.

(Optional) Tap Apply to All to apply the same transition to all slides in the presentation.

Expand Transition Effects .

On your iPad, tap the Transitions tab.

Tap Transition Effect . You will see a gallery of transition effects grouped into Subtle and Exciting categories.

Tap Effect Options to choose an effect. (These options will vary depending on the transition you choose.)

Tap Transition Effect .

Tap the Transitions tab.

Tap Preview to see the effect applied to your slide.

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