Google Slides cheat sheet: How to get began
How to make use of Google Slides to create, collaborate on, and lead enterprise displays.
gorodenkoff / filo / Getty Images / Google
Need to construct a slide presentation for a gathering, coaching, or different occasion? Google Slides is an easy-to-use internet app that comes with the important instruments and extra. It shops your displays within the cloud with Google Drive. Anyone with a Google account can use Slides and Drive totally free, they usually’re additionally included with a Google Workspace (previously G Suite) subscription for enterprise and enterprise prospects. There are Google Sheets cellular apps for Android and iOS, too.
This information will enable you to turn out to be conversant in the Google Slides internet interface and present you begin a brand new presentation, add a Microsoft PowerPoint file to edit in Google Slides, collaborate with others in your presentation, and eventually, current it to others.
[ More Google Workspace cheat sheets: Google Docs | Google Sheets | Google Forms | Google Keep ]
Create or open a presentation
Log in to your Google or Workspace account. Then:
From Google Slides: At the highest of the house web page, you’ll see a “Start a new presentation” header, with a row of thumbnails beneath. To begin a brand new, clean presentation, click on the Blank thumbnail. To begin a brand new presentation in a template, choose one of many thumbnails to the proper or click on Template gallery towards the upper-right nook, then click on any thumbnail on the web page that seems.
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The Google Slides dwelling web page. (Click picture to enlarge it.)
Below the “Start a new presentation” space you’ll see an inventory of displays which are saved in your Google Drive or shared with you. To open a presentation, click on it on this record.
The record of your displays seems in reverse chronological order beginning with the presentation you most just lately opened. Clicking the “AZ” icon on the higher proper of this record modifications the type order to Last modified by me, Last modified, or in alphabetical order by presentation title. You also can browse to a particular folder by clicking the folder icon subsequent to the “AZ” icon.
From Google Drive: Presentations saved in your Google Drive are listed in the primary window of the Drive dwelling web page. To see a list of displays that others are sharing with you, click on Shared with me within the left column. From both record, double-click a presentation to open it in Google Slides.
To begin a brand new, clean presentation, click on the New button on the upper-left of the display screen after which click on Google Slides.
If you wish to use a template to start out a brand new presentation, click on the New button, then transfer the cursor over the proper arrow subsequent to Google Slides and choose From a template. The template gallery for Google Slides will open; click on a thumbnail to start out a brand new presentation in that template.
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Creating a brand new presentation from Google Drive.
From Google Slides or Drive: You can also use the search field on the high to seek out displays in your Google Drive or shared with you. Enter phrases or numbers that could be within the presentation you are in search of.
Upload a PowerPoint presentation to Slides
You can edit a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation in Google Slides, however first you need to add it to Google Drive.
From Google Slides: Click the folder icon (Open file picker) that is above and towards the proper nook of your displays record. On the panel that opens, click on the Upload tab. Drag-and-drop your PowerPoint file (.ppt or .pptx) onto this panel, or browse your PC’s drive to pick it.
From Google Drive: Click the New button, then File add, and choose the PowerPoint file out of your PC’s drive and click on Open.
Traditionally, once you uploaded PowerPoint recordsdata to Google Drive, they had been mechanically transformed to Slides format. That’s nonetheless the case once you add PowerPoint recordsdata by way of the Google Slides dwelling web page.
However, Google now helps the power to edit Microsoft Office recordsdata of their native format. By default, any .pptx recordsdata that you simply add by way of Google Drive will stay formatted as PowerPoint paperwork. You can edit and collaborate on a PowerPoint file proper in Slides, with all modifications made by you or your collaborators saved on to the PowerPoint file.
On the Google Slides and Drive dwelling pages, native PowerPoint recordsdata will likely be denoted with an orange “P” icon, and once you open a local PowerPoint file in Sheets, you’ll see a “.PPTX” flag to the proper of the doc title.
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Native PowerPoint recordsdata present the PowerPoint icon (high) as a substitute of the Google Slides icon (backside).
If you’d somewhat have Google convert PowerPoint recordsdata to Slides format mechanically once you add them by way of Google Drive, click on the gear icon within the upper-right nook of the Drive dwelling display screen and choose Settings from the drop-down menu. In the Settings field subsequent to “Convert uploads,” examine the checkbox marked Convert uploaded recordsdata to Google Docs editor format.
Work in a presentation
When you open a brand new or present presentation, its first slide seems in the primary window of Google Slides. Here’s a breakdown of the toolbars, menus, panes, and sidebars that seem round your presentation.
The left pane reveals thumbnails of all of the slides in your presentation. Click a thumbnail, and the slide it represents will seem in the primary window, the place you possibly can edit it.
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The Google Slides modifying interface. (Click picture to enlarge it.)
Your presentation’s title seems alongside the highest of the display screen. To change it, click on wherever contained in the title and begin typing.
The menu bar under your presentation’s title has a whole set of instruments for working with displays. These are the primary submenus to know:
- File has instructions for taking motion on the entire presentation, together with Print, Rename, and Share.
- Edit lists the usual modifying instructions akin to copy, lower, paste, delete, duplicate, and discover and exchange.
- View lists a number of methods which you could view your slides as you design and edit them. This contains arranging them right into a grid, previewing them as a slideshow, or zooming in on them. You also can watch the transition impact that takes place between slides after they’re performed in a slideshow.
- Insert helps you to add a number of objects to your slides, together with charts, diagrams, footage, tables, and textual content. You also can add hyperlinks to YouTube movies or sound or video recordsdata which are saved in your Google Drive.
- Format helps you to change the look of your slides. Certain capabilities on this submenu turn out to be clickable relying on whether or not you’ve chosen a picture or textual content on a slide, or chosen the slide itself.
- Slide is the place you possibly can add, delete, or duplicate a slide that you simply’ve chosen. You also can add a preset format to a slide, change its background or theme coloration, or add and edit a transition impact that takes place between slides when your presentation is performed as a slideshow.
- Arrange lists instruments that allow you to group or reorder objects on a slide in relation to a different. For instance, you possibly can place a picture behind one other picture or group a picture and a block of textual content collectively to make them simpler to maneuver directly.
- Tools results in a number of miscellaneous capabilities. These embrace letting you file a voice clip to go together with a slide, operating a spell checker, and exhibiting you an inventory of objects in your presentation which are linked to different recordsdata.
The toolbar immediately above your presentation places generally used instructions in straightforward attain. From this toolbar, you possibly can click on buttons so as to add to a slide or change its background, feedback, format, objects (pictures, strains, shapes, textual content), textual content model, theme colours for the entire presentation, transition results throughout a slideshow, and extra. The buttons on the toolbar change relying on whether or not you’ve chosen picture or textual content on a slide or the slide itself.
Notice that there’s no Save button within the toolbar — or wherever in Google Slides. That’s as a result of Slides mechanically saves any modifications you make to your presentation.
Speaker notes: Along the underside of every slide you’ll see an space marked Click so as to add speaker notes. Here you possibly can sort in short notes to remind your self what to do or say when the slide is being proven. Only you will note these notes once you present your presentation to an viewers.
Themes sidebar: When you begin a brand new clean presentation, the Themes sidebar opens on the proper facet of the display screen. (You also can open this sidebar at any time by clicking Theme on the toolbar above your presentation.) Themes apply the identical fonts, colours, and different design parts to all of the slides in a presentation, giving it a constant appear and feel. Click a thumbnail on this sidebar to alter your presentation to that theme.
Create and handle slides
Here are the essential issues to learn about working with slides in a presentation.
Add a brand new, clean slide to your presentation: Click the + button on the left finish of the toolbar above your presentation. Alternatively, when you click on the down arrow subsequent to the +, you possibly can select a format to make use of as the premise for a brand new slide.
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Click the down arrow subsequent to the + button within the toolbar to decide on a format for a brand new slide.
Apply or change a slide’s background: Select the slide’s thumbnail within the left sidebar and click on Background on the toolbar above your presentation. On the panel that opens, you possibly can change the slide’s background coloration or use a picture file out of your Google Drive, Google Photos account, or PC because the background.
Apply or change a slide’s format: Select the slide’s thumbnail within the left pane, then click on Layout on the toolbar above your presentation. On the panel that opens, choose the format you wish to apply to this slide.
Apply or change a slide’s transition: Select the slide’s thumbnail within the left sidebar and click on Transition on the toolbar above your presentation. In the Motion sidebar that opens alongside the proper facet of the display screen, you possibly can apply or change the animated transition impact that’s performed earlier than this slide.
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Choosing a transition model within the Motion pane.
Move a slide to a special spot within the slideshow sequence: Click and maintain its thumbnail within the left sidebar, drag it up or down to a different place within the sequence, and launch it.
Delete a slide: Right-click its thumbnail within the left sidebar and choose Delete from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, choose its thumbnail and choose Edit > Delete from the menu bar or simply press the Delete key.
Share and collaborate on a presentation
Presentations are sometimes a gaggle effort, with a number of workforce members contributing to and sharpening a presentation. In Slides, it’s straightforward for a number of collaborators to work on a presentation collectively.
First, it’s essential to share the presentation. When you’re viewing your presentation in Google Slides, click on the Share button on the upper-right. Or, out of your Google Drive homepage, click on to spotlight the presentation that you simply wish to share. Then, within the toolbar towards the higher proper, click on the Share icon (a head-and-shoulders silhouette with a +).
Either approach, the “Share” panel will open.
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Setting permissions for a file being shared privately.
Share a presentation privately
In the entry field, enter the e-mail addresses (or names of your Google Contacts) of the folks with whom you wish to share. By default, the folks you invite to your presentation can edit it and reshare it with others.
To change entry permissions for invitees: Click Editor to the proper of the entry field and select an alternative choice from the drop-down menu. Commenter means they will view your spreadsheet and add feedback however can’t change it. Viewer means they will view your presentation however can’t edit it or add feedback.
To stop your presentation from being reshared, downloaded, or printed: Click the gear icon on the upper-right of this panel. On the smaller panel that opens, uncheck the containers by Editors can change permissions and share and Viewers and commenters can see the choice to obtain, print, and duplicate.
When you’re finished setting permissions (and, optionally, typing in a message to your invitees), click on Send, and everybody you’ve added will obtain an electronic mail with a hyperlink they will click on to entry the doc.
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The shared presentation icon.
A presentation you’ve shared (or that others have shared with you) could have an icon of two silhouetted heads subsequent to it within the displays record in your Google Sheets and Google Drive dwelling pages.
To restrict or change an individual’s entry to your presentation: With the presentation open in Google Slides, click on the Share button on the upper-right. Or, from Google Drive, spotlight the presentation and click on the Share icon.
The Share panel reopens exhibiting an inventory of all of the folks you’ve invited, together with their permission standing. Click the down arrow to the proper of an individual’s title, change their permission stage or take away their entry completely, and click on Save.
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You can change permissions for folks you’ve shared a presentation with on a person foundation.
If you’ve got a Google Workspace subscription, an alternative choice is to pick Give non permanent entry and, subsequent to Access expires, choose a date inside one yr of the present date. If you set an expiration date for an individual that you simply’ve assigned as Editor, their entry will likely be downgraded to Commenter on the expiration date.
Share a presentation publicly
Most enterprise customers will wish to share displays privately with choose colleagues or purchasers, however you do have the choice to share a presentation publicly. At the underside of the Share panel is a “General access” space the place you possibly can copy a hyperlink to the doc. By default, this hyperlink is restricted to these you invite to the doc. To change it to a public hyperlink, click on Restricted and choose Anyone with the hyperlink from the menu that seems.
Click Copy hyperlink and the hyperlink to your presentation will likely be copied to your PC’s clipboard. You can share this hyperlink by pasting it right into a chat message, doc, electronic mail, discussion board put up, or most different technique of on-line written communication. Anyone who clicks this hyperlink will be capable of view your presentation on-line. (Be conscious that anybody can copy and reshare this hyperlink.)
To permit anybody within the public to touch upon or edit your presentation: At the underside proper of the Share panel, click on Viewer and choose Commenter or Editor from the drop-down menu. Then click on the Done button. Now the online hyperlink to your presentation will let anybody who clicks it add a remark or edit it.
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Sharing a spreadsheet publicly.
To flip off public sharing to your presentation: Bring up the Share panel once more. Near the underside, click on Anyone with the hyperlink and choose Restricted from the menu, then click on the Done button.
Note: You can apply each private and non-private sharing strategies to your presentation. For instance, you possibly can permit the general public to solely view your presentation, however permit particular folks that you simply’ve invited to touch upon or edit it.
Collaborate on a presentation
The folks you’ve shared a spreadsheet with can view or work on it concurrently you or at different instances. Remember that individuals who have Editor privileges to your presentation can change all points of it. Having a number of folks making modifications to a presentation can get complicated. In most circumstances, setting everybody to Commenter is the easiest way to collaborate in Slides: People can connect feedback to a slide or to things in a slide, however their feedback received’t alter your presentation’s data or design.
To add a remark to a slide: Right-click its thumbnail within the left sidebar and choose Comment from the menu that opens. Alternatively, you possibly can choose its thumbnail and choose Insert > Comment from the menu bar or click on the Add remark button (a speech balloon with a + signal).
A clean remark card together with your title on it opens to the proper of the slide in the primary window. On this card’s entry line, sort a quick remark, and once you’re completed, click on the Comment button.
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Typing in a brand new remark.
To add a remark to an object on a slide: Right-click the article (a block of textual content, chart, picture, image, and many others.) and choose Comment from the menu that opens. Alternatively, you possibly can choose the article and choose Insert > Comment from the menu bar.
To draw somebody’s consideration to a remark: As you’re composing the remark, sort the @ image and start typing their title, then choose the individual from the record of prompt Google contacts that seems. They’ll obtain an electronic mail notifying them of the remark and linking to it.
To learn, reply to, or take away a remark: A slide that comprises a remark is denoted within the left sidebar with a speech balloon by its thumbnail. Click the slide’s thumbnail to make the slide seem in the primary window, and also you’ll see all its remark playing cards on the proper.
To reply to a remark, click on its card. The card will develop to disclose an entry line the place you possibly can add a remark in response.
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Replying to a remark.
Clicking the checkmark on the higher proper marks the remark card as “resolved” and removes the cardboard from the presentation. Clicking the cardboard’s three-dot icon opens a menu that allows you to edit or delete your remark.
To see an inventory of all feedback: Click the Open remark historical past icon (the speech balloon) to the left of the Slideshow button. A sidebar will open alongside the proper facet of the display screen; it lists all of the remark playing cards in your presentation. When you click on a touch upon this record, the view of your presentation in the primary window will bounce to the cell the place the remark is positioned and open its remark card.
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The Comments pane helps you to rapidly evaluate all feedback and bounce to particular ones.
For extra particulars about collaborating in your presentation, together with what it’s wish to collaborate in actual time, see “How to collaborate on a document” in our Google Drive information. You also can collaborate on a presentation in Google Chat; that’s coated later on this story.