how to change presentation theme in powerpoint

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How to Edit a PowerPoint Template

Last Updated: May 7, 2024

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been viewed 113,062 times. Learn more...

Templates can speed up the creation of projects, but they can also slow productivity down when they are slightly incorrect, out-of-date, or disorganized. This wikiHow article will show you how to control the look and feel of all of your slides by editing a template in PowerPoint on a computer.

• If you don’t have a PowerPoint template, you can search the web for one or create your own .

• For example, if you change the font on a text-based slide, the entire group’s font will change. In Slide Master view, you will see a menu of formatting options, like adding or removing the slide title and footers, changing the background styles , hiding or showing the background graphics , and changing the theme.
• You can add elements such as an image placeholder throughout your slideshow, like a logo. Use Insert Placeholder from the Slide Master menu to add an image or a text box that will appear in the same spot, with the same dimensions, throughout the slideshow.
• Using the Themes drop-down, you can apply a pre-made consistent color scheme and font. Since not all themes will work with your customized template, you can use the colors and font styles as inspiration. Use the Colors and Fonts drop-downs to further customize your template.

• From the File tab, select Save As .
• In the "Save as File Type" menu, choose PowerPoint template . It will save in your Custom Office Templates folder with a .potx extension. [2] X Research source
• Click Save after you’ve given the template a name.

Expert Q&A

• If you don’t already have a Microsoft Office account, you can get a free trial version for a limited time. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/customize-a-slide-master-036d317b-3251-4237-8ddc-22f4668e2b56#OfficeVersion=2010plus
• ↑ https://designshack.net/articles/business-articles/how-to-edit-powerpoint-template/

About This Article

1. Open a PowerPoint Template. 2. Click Slide Master from the View tab. 3. Edit the slide masters themes, colors, fonts, and placeholders. 4. Click Save as from the File tab. 5. Click PowerPoint Template from Save File Type... . 6. Click Save . Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Apply Themes in PowerPoint? [Beginner’s Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Although PowerPoint is extremely customizable, it doesn’t really come with great designs out-of-the-box! This is where themes and templates come in handy in PowerPoint. But, how do you work with templates and how to apply themes in PowerPoint?

To apply a theme in PowerPoint, head over to the “Design” tab. Under the “Themes” section, click on the “More” button to view all the themes available. Then, choose the desired theme, and click on it to apply it to the presentation.

In this article, we will take a look at this topic in greater detail. I will help you understand how to apply themes to an existing PowerPoint presentation. Plus, we will also see how to apply multiple themes to a presentation.

In the end, I will also share my recommendations for the 3 best multipurpose PowerPoint templates that you definitely have!

So, let’s get started!

A Quick Note Before We Begin – for this article, I will be using one of the presentation templates from Envato Elements . With Envato Elements, you get access to thousands of presentation designs with unlimited downloads so you never run out of options again. Plus, you get free previews so you know exactly what you’re getting before buying! It is also very affordable.

1. What are Themes in PowerPoint?

A theme in PowerPoint is a pre-defined combination of fonts, colors, background and other visual effects that can be applied to a presentation to improve its visual appeal. A theme helps to maintain consistency in look and feel of a presentation when elements are added to a slide.

By default, PowerPoint actually provides some built-in themes to start with. However, while the built-in themes work great for beginners, if you really want to make your presentation stand out, you’d probably be better off getting premium themes that stay up with the design trends and often provide you with unique layout designs as well.

I will surely provide you with a few examples of the PowerPoint templates that you can choose to go with. But, first, let’s understand how themes work in PowerPoint! (If you are really in a hurry and just want to know my PowerPoint template recommendations, click on this link)

2. How to Choose a Theme in PowerPoint? 

Choosing a theme in PowerPoint is quite simple. Follow the steps below to choose a theme in your Microsoft PowerPoint presentation:

Step 1: Click on the ‘Design’ tab from the ribbon.

The ‘ Design ’ tab is at the right of the ‘Home’ ta b in the ribbon and at the top left of the screen. Click on it to view the ‘ Themes ’ section.

Step 2: Click on the ‘More’ button

In the ‘ Themes ’ section, you can view the full range of themes after clicking on the ‘ More ’ button and opening its drop-down menu.

Step 3: Select the theme by clicking on it

Click on your preferred theme to apply it to all of your slides.

3. How to Change Theme in PowerPoint?

You might often want to change the current theme of your PowerPoint presentation to match different styles. Just simply follow the step below to change Theme in PowerPoint:

Step 1: Go to Design Tab and Choose a Different Theme

After applying a theme, you can change it by going to the ‘ Design ’ tab and clicking on the ‘More’ button. From the drop-down menu, you can change to any of the themes by simply clicking on it.

3.2 How to Apply a PowerPoint Template to an Existing Presentation?

If you are like me and you don’t find the theme options provided by PowerPoint to be interesting enough, you probably will find a PowerPoint template for your presentations.

But, how do you apply the template that you just downloaded to a presentation that you already have? Well, it is quite easy. Let me explain in the following steps –

Step 1 – Download a PowerPoint Template

The first step is really to download a PowerPoint template if you don’t have one already.

The easiest way to get templates is through Envato Market . You will find more than 10,000+ templates that you can pick and choose from! The reason I recommend them is because I have used their templates several times in the past, and they provide the best designs with most modern trends!

What’s interesting is that with some presentation templates, you also get full lifetime upgrades at no additional costs! Meaning, when the creator of a particular template adds more slide layouts, you will get it for FREE forever!

A good starting point would be this Business PowerPoint Presentation on Envato Market. This template has over 260 different slide layouts that will make your presentation stand out! The slides are also quite easy to edit, so you won’t end up spending a ton of time. Plus, you get lifetime FREE updates. All this for just $6! I think that’s a steal!

You can also check out Envato Elements where, at the cost of a single template (about $16.5), you actually get unlimited presentation template download option! (which I think is not only cool, but also great value for money).

One thing to note is that the curation of templates provided by Envato Elements is different from that of Envato Market.

Step 2 – Open the Existing PowerPoint Presentation

The next step is to open the existing PowerPoint presentation where you want to apply the template.

Step 3 – Click on Design Tab

Once you have opened the existing presentation, click on the “Design” tab. Then, click on the arrow button to open the dropdown of themes.

Step 4 – Click on Browse for Themes

At the bottom of the dropdown, click on “Browse for Themes”. This will open a pop-up window. (check the image above)

Step 5 – Locate the PPT Template and Apply

Navigate to the location on your computer where you have downloaded the theme. Then, click on the file to select it, and click “Apply”.

That’s it! You will now have successfully applied the theme to an existing presentation.

Step 6 – Use Layouts Appropriate for the content on the Slide

Although you now have managed to apply an amazing theme to your presentation. However, your work may not end here.

To get the best results, you may want to specifically choose the slide layouts that match the content on your slide and edit the information. If you are not sure how to use slide layouts, make sure that you check out our other article that provides in-depth information about slide layouts in PowerPoint .

Alternatively, you can also go to the template and open it. Then, look at each slide and choose the slide that may be the most suitable for the content of slides on your existing presentation.

Then, copy and paste the slide design from the template file (source file) to your existing PowerPoint presentation (destination file). I have explained this step in detail in another article that I wrote on how to copy and paste in PowerPoint . If you are unsure how to do it, make sure you check out section 2 of that article that talks about how to copy and paste a PowerPoint Slide!

4. How to Apply Custom Theme to an Existing PowerPoint Presentation? 

While it might sound a little difficult, you can apply a custom theme to an existing PowerPoint Presentation by following the easy steps below:

Step 1: Open the PowerPoint presentation that has the custom theme

Go to the presentation that has the theme you want to apply to another PowerPoint presentation and click on the ‘ More ’ button, which is located in the ‘ Themes ’ section of the ‘ Design ’ tab. This will open a drop-down menu.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Save Current Theme’ option and save it as an office theme

At the end of the drop-down menu, there is an option titled ‘ Save Current Theme ’. Click on it for a dialogue box to appear.

Type the name of your custom theme and hit the ‘ Save ’ button at the bottom right corner of the dialogue box.

Step 3: Edit your theme to further customize it (Optional)

Click on the ‘ More ’ button in the ‘ Variants ’ section. A drop-down menu will appear with the options: ‘ Colours ’, ‘ Fonts ’, ‘ Effects ’, and ‘ Background Style ’.

Edit the theme with these options and follow Step 1 and Step 2 to save it as an office theme.

Step 4: Open your existing PowerPoint presentation and click on the Design Tab

Now that you have saved your custom theme, you have to open your existing PowerPoint presentation where you want to apply the custom theme and then click on the ‘ Design ’ tab.

Step 5: Click on the ‘More’ button and select Browse for Themes option

Click on the ‘ More ’ button and select the ‘ Browse for Themes ’ option which is located above the ‘ Save Current Themes ’ option. This will pop open a new window.

Step 6: Select the custom theme and click on Apply

From the newly opened window, browse to the folder where you had saved your custom theme and click on the theme file to select it.

Then all you have to do is click on the ‘ Apply ’ button to successfully apply a custom theme to an existing PowerPoint Presentation.

4b. How to Apply Custom Theme to All Slides in PowerPoint? 

To apply a custom theme to all slides in PowerPoint, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and click on the ‘Design’ tab

Open your PowerPoint presentation where you want to apply the custom theme to all the slides and then click on the ‘ Design ’ tab.

Step 2: Click on the ‘More’ and ‘Right click’ on your custom theme

Inside the design tab, click on the ‘ More ’ button under the ‘ Themes’ section, which will display all the available themes. ‘ Right click ’ on your desired custom theme and a drop-down menu will appear on your screen.

Step 3: From the dropdown menu, select the ‘Apply to All Slides’ option

Select the ‘ Apply to All the Slides ’ option from the dropdown menu. This will apply the custom theme to all the slides of your PowerPoint Presentation.

5. How to Save a Theme in PowerPoint? 

The process of saving a theme in PowerPoint is quite simple. In fact, we’ve already learned how to save a theme in one of the previous sections of this article. However, let’s learn another method in this section here.

Here’s how to save a theme in PowerPoint

Step 1: Go to the ‘View’ tab and click on the ‘Slide Master View’ option

Select the ‘Slide Master View’ option which is located in the ‘Master Views’ section in the ‘View’ tab.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Themes’ option to expand its drop-down menu.

The next step is to click on the ‘ Themes ’ option under the ‘ Edit Theme ’ section. This will open a new drop-down menu.

Step 3: Save your theme by clicking on the ‘Save Current Theme’ option

At the bottom of the drop-down menu is the ‘ Save Current Theme ’ option. Click on it and a dialogue box will pop up to the left of your screen. Type in the name of your theme and hit the ‘ Save ’ button.

6. Can You Apply Multiple Themes to Same PowerPoint Presentation? 

Yes, it is possible to apply multiple themes to the same PowerPoint presentation. In fact, you can apply a different theme to each individual slide of the same PowerPoint presentation if you want.

That said, it is not recommended to apply too many themes within the same PowerPoint presentation as it totally defeats the purpose of having a theme in the first place (i.e. to maintain consistent design look and feel).

Follow the step-by-step guide below to apply multiple themes to the same PowerPoint Presentation:

Step 1: Select the slide to change the theme and click on the ‘Design’ tab

After opening your PowerPoint presentation, click on the slide in which you want to apply a particular theme to select it. Then, go to the ‘ Design ’ tab from the ribbon.

The themes are located in the ‘ Themes ’ section of the ‘ Design ’tab. You can click on the ‘ More ’ button to view all the available options.

Step 2: Right-click and select the ‘Apply to Selected Slides’ option

‘Right click ’ on the theme you want to apply to open a drop-down menu. Next, click on the ‘ Apply to Selected Slides ’ option to instantly change the theme.

Step 3: Select another slide and repeat Step 1 and Step 2 to change its theme

Select another slide on which you want to apply a different theme and then repeat Step 1 and Step 2 . In this way, you can change the themes of multiple slides and present different themes in your PowerPoint Presentation.

6b. Can You Apply a Theme to Only One Slide in PowerPoint?

You can apply a theme to only one slide in PowerPoint. To do that, first, select the slide. Then, click on the “Design” tab. Next, choose a theme to apply from the “Themes” section. Finally, right-click on the theme, and click on the “Apply to selected slides” option .

Since the steps of doing so are identical to the process explained in the previous section, I haven’t added any pictures of the process. For pictorial reference of the step-by-step guide, feel free to refer to section 6a of this article.

More PowerPoint Related Topics

• How to Crop a Picture in PowerPoint? [Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial!]
• How to Give a Presentation on Zoom? A Helpful Resource!
• What is a Presentation Clicker? [And How to Use it!]
• How to Convert a PowerPoint to PDF? [A Simple Guide!]
• PowerPoint vs Google Slides: Which is Better? [ULTIMATE Test!]
• How to Change Bullet Style in PowerPoint? A Complete Guide

Credit to Wayhomestudio (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)

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PowerPoint  - Modifying Themes

Powerpoint  -, modifying themes, powerpoint modifying themes.

PowerPoint: Modifying Themes

Lesson 28: modifying themes.

/en/powerpoint/inspecting-and-protecting-presentations/content/

Introduction

Let's say you really like the style of a theme , but you'd like to experiment with different color schemes . That's not a problem. You can mix and match colors , fonts , and effects to create a unique look for your presentation. If it still doesn't look exactly right, you can customize the theme any way you want.

If you're new to PowerPoint, you may want to review our lesson on Applying Themes to learn the basics of using themes.

Optional: Download our practice presentation .

Watch the video to learn more about modifying themes.

To select new theme colors:

If you don't like the colors of a particular theme, it's easy to apply new theme colors ; everything else about the theme will remain unchanged.

• Select the desired theme colors.

To customize colors:

Sometimes you might not like every color included in a set of theme colors. It's easy to change some or all of the colors to suit your needs.

• From the Design tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Variants group.

• The presentation will update to show the new custom theme colors.

With some presentations, you may not notice a significant difference when changing the theme colors. For example, a textured background will not change when theme colors are changed. When trying different theme colors, it's best to select a slide that uses several colors to see how the new theme colors will affect your presentation.

To select new theme fonts:

It's easy to apply a new set of theme fonts without changing a theme's overall look. The built-in theme fonts are designed to work well together, which can help to unify your presentation.

• The presentation will update to show the new theme fonts.

To customize theme fonts:

If you have specific fonts in mind for a presentation, it's easy to choose your own theme fonts.

• A dialog box will appear with the two current theme fonts . To change the fonts, click the drop-down arrows and select the desired fonts.

• The presentation will update to show the new custom theme fonts.

Changing the theme fonts will not necessarily update all text in your presentation. Only text using the current theme fonts will update when you change the theme fonts.

To select new theme effects:

PowerPoint makes it easy to apply new theme effects , which can quickly change the appearance of shapes in your presentation.

• The presentation will update to show the new theme effects.

Applying new theme effects will change different shape styles from the Format tab when editing a shape or SmartArt graphic. It's important to note that this change will only apply to shapes using the Subtle Effect , Moderate Effect , and Intense Effect .

Background styles

To further customize your slides, you can change the background color by choosing a different background style . The available background styles will vary depending on the current theme.

To apply a background style:

• The new background will appear in each slide of your presentation.

If you want even more control over the background, click the Format Background command on the Design tab.

Different themes also include different slide layouts and background graphics . We'll talk about how to customize these in our Slide Master View lesson.

Saving custom themes

Once you've found settings you like, you may want to save the theme so you can use it in other presentations. If you only want to use the theme in the current presentation, you won't need to save it.

To save a theme:

Custom themes have another unique and powerful feature. Any custom theme you save in PowerPoint can actually be used in other Microsoft Office applications , including Word and Excel.

• Open our practice presentation .
• Change the theme colors .
• Use the Customize Fonts command to change the theme's heading font to Garamond and the body font to Arial .
• Change the theme's background style .
• Optional: Save your customized theme.

/en/powerpoint/slide-master-view/content/

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How to Create a PowerPoint Theme (Step-by-Step)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• Presentation Design
• November 4, 2017

In this article, you’ll learn how to create a PowerPoint theme that you can customize anyway you like.

And the reason this is important is because at some point in your presentation design career, you will want to move beyond the default Microsoft Office themes and create your own.

This can be either for your own internal usage, or for a client that wants to create a PowerPoint theme with their own corporate branding.

And just so we are on the same slide, let’s start from the beginning.

What is a PowerPoint theme?

Whether you’re building an entire custom PowerPoint template, or just want to change the theme, understanding how a theme works will make your life easier.

To learn more about what PowerPoint themes are and how to use them, read our article here .

Note: If you buy a professional PowerPoint template online, it should come with its own customized theme for you to use.

To see the 4 best places I recommend looking for templates online (which will include a PowerPoint theme), read my template guide here .

How to change theme colors in PowerPoint

Colors in PowerPoint may seem simple to use, but they can actually be quite confusing at times – especially when creating your own custom ones ( see our guide here ).

For now, let’s look at how to select and change the default colors for your presentation, so you don’t have to change them manually each time you add a shape to your slides.

1. Changing the default theme color

When you open a blank PowerPoint presentation, your theme will be set to the default Office theme, and therefore, the color palette will be set to the default Office theme colors.

To see the color palette that your presentation is using you can go to either of two places:

• In the Normal View, go to the Design tab, find the ‘Variants’ area and select the bottom-facing ‘More’ arrow. There, hover your mouse over ‘Colors.’
• In the Slide Master View, go to the Slide Master tab and click on the ‘Colors’ dropdown.

With the dropdown menu open, simply choose one of the available options by selecting it.

You’ll notice that as you hover over color palettes, you get a preview of the new colors on your slide:

2. Creating your own PowerPoint theme colors

The important thing to understand before you start customizing your color palette is what the different colors represent in PowerPoint and how they’re used.

The first set of four colors defines the colors of the slide backgrounds and of the text, and the second set (the six accent colors) defines the colors for shapes, tables, charts, SmartArt, etc.

When you’re creating a new color palette, you want to make sure that you stick to the color types indicated in the palette, because this is how PowerPoint will assign colors to your presentation.

That means that you want to make sure that colors 1 and 3 are light, and colors 2 and 4 are dark, and the accent colors reflect the colors you want to assign to objects. The order is important.

As Johanna Rehnvall of Presentitude says, “most organizations set their main brand color as the Accent 1 color. However, when you use SmartArt, for some reason the Accent 1 color is not used. So if you do a lot of SmartArt and want the main brand color to be used, avoid setting it to Accent 1. Custom shapes and lines are automatically using the Accent 1 color.”

One suggestion for this, is to make Accent 1 and Accent 2 be the same brand color.

Pro Tip:  How to choose nice color palettes

For tips on what colors to pick and how to make a color palette, check out the following resources:

• Creating a consistent color palette in PowerPoint isn’t difficult  by Julie Terberg
• Super Fast, Custom Color Themes  by Julie Terberg
• How to create color themes for PowerPoint presentations by Johanna Rehnvall

Now that you know what types of colors should be assigned to each space, here’s how to make those changes:

• Navigate to the Color Palettes drop down
• Select C ustomize Colors

To change a color, click on it and you’ll get three options:

• Select an existing color or a standard color down below
• Choose ‘More Colors’ and you’ll get more standard color options
• Create your own color by clicking on the ‘Custom’ tab

Once you’ve set all the colors for your color palette, give it a name and hit ‘Save.’

And you’re all set!

How to change the default PowerPoint fonts

Fonts in PowerPoint are fairly simple to customize. However, there are a few things to keep in mind, especially if you are choosing custom fonts (ones that don’t appear in the default font list), and if your presentation will be used on both PCs and Macs.

For now, let’s look at how to select and set the default fonts for your presentation, so you don’t have to change them manually each time you add text to your slides.

1. Changing the default fonts

To change the fonts that your placeholders will start with, you can go to either of two places:

• In the Normal View, go to the Design tab, find the ‘Variants’ area and select the bottom-facing ‘More’ arrow. There, hover your mouse over ‘Fonts.’
• In the Slide Master View, go to the Slide Master tab and click on the ‘Fonts’ dropdown.

Simply choose one of the available options by selecting it; or, create your own custom font pairing.

Warning: Not all fonts work on a Mac

Best practice is to always test the fonts on as many versions (older versions of PowerPoint, Mac, etc.) as possible to make sure that you don’t get any bad surprises.

While Microsoft is working hard to make the PC and Mac versions of its Office software as similar and compatible as possible, there are still a number of issues between the two systems with regards to fonts…even with the default fonts you get in PowerPoint.

To learn what the 9 safest PowerPoint fonts are that will work in any version of PowerPoint (Mac or PC), read our guide here .

2. Customizing the default fonts

To choose a unique combination of fonts (including default fonts and/or custom fonts), simply follow the steps above and choose Customize Fonts .

In this dialog box, you will be given a choice of heading font and body font, as well as sample text to see what the combination would look like, and a place to enter a name for the new font combination.

Make your selections for Heading font and Body font. You can use the standard fonts from Office, or any custom fonts that you have installed on your computer.

3.  Be careful with using custom fonts in a template

There is a very big risk when you use custom fonts in a template that the resulting presentations that are created from the template will not function properly on another person’s computer.

To learn more about safe fonts you can use in PowerPoint, that will work in any version of PowerPoint (Mac or PC), see our guide here .

Unless you know EXACTLY who else is going to use the template and know for a fact that they have the same custom fonts installed on their computer, I would avoid custom fonts entirely.

There’s nothing more embarrassing and frustrating than having a beautifully made template completely warp out on you…and you’re stuck with fixing it or settling for ugly slides.

And while it is possible to embed custom fonts into your presentation, doing so comes with a few problems, so I rarely recommend it.

Once you’ve set your fonts, type in a name for that specific combination (best practice is to be as descriptive as possible), and then click Save .

Now your presentation’s fonts are set according to your customization.

Note: The theme fonts only control the text that is inserted in a placeholder. If you insert a shape or text box onto your slide, it will have whatever formatting you set for your default shapes.

How to customize the effect styles

The next thing to determine is the kinds of effects you want to have automatically appear on various objects.

The effect theme in your template will specify the fills (such as gradients and textures), lines, shadows, and bevels for your shapes, lines, SmartArt graphics, tables and charts.

The effect theme chosen not only tells what style to assign to the object in the presentation, but it determines what options users have in the presets within the Shape Styles, SmartArt Styles, Chart Styles and Table Styles.

In 2016, your (only) pre-set options are:

• Office 2007 – 2010
• Subtle Solid
• Banded Edge
• Grunge Texture
• Frosted Glass
• Extreme Shadow

Warning:  Keep it simple

There’s a trend of moving away from effects (PowerPoint 2010 had 40 of them, whereas 2016 only has 15). This is a hint to avoid going crazy with effects.

Also, as  Echo Swinford points out , “some intense effects make fills lighter, which can make text harder to read. Also, when all the graphics in a presentation include extreme special effects (glows, bevels, shadows, textures, and so on), the results can be visually overwhelming and distracting from the content […]. When in doubt, test the theme effects on a wide range of slides with different types of content.”

How to customize a slide background

A common thing people like to do with their slides is to format the slide background. You can format a single slide, a single Slide Master layout, or an entire Slide Master (the parent slide layout).

You can customize the slide background by adding one of the following:

• A solid color
• A picture or texture

These are all managed by the ‘Format Background’ task pane.

To change the background of just one slide, in the Normal View, you can get to the Format Background task pane two ways:

• Go to Design tab > Format Background
• Right-click your slide > Format Background

To change the background of a Slide Master layout, in the Slide Master View, go to that layout and either:

• Go to the Ribbon > Background Styles > Format Background

To change the background of the entire Slide Master, do the same as above, but make sure you scroll up to the parent slide first.

Once you’ve opened this task pane, you can choose how you want to format your background. Here you can:

• Set the fill type (solid color, gradient, picture or texture, or pattern)
• Hide any design elements you’ve put in the background of the Slide Master
• Add a transparency to any background
• Set that background to apply to all of your slides
• Reset the background to the default

To learn everything there is to know about PowerPoint backgrounds, and how to create them read our guide here .

But before you do this, it’s important to note that there is a difference between selecting the background style and simply changing the background color.

The difference between the Background Styles and formatting your background

The Background Styles are what define the light/dark elements of your presentation.

Notice above, how the color of the text changes, based on the lightness/darkness of the background style.

That means that if you are going to have a dark background color, you want to select a dark background style, so that the text and other elements on your slide adjust accordingly and are legible. And vice versa if you are going to have a light background.

The same goes for if you set a dark image as a slide background.

While the example below is hideous (please don’t build a slide like this!), it illustrates the point that you want to make sure that your background styles are properly set.

Note: Make sure you set your Background Style first, as changing it will null and void any custom slide background you’ve set.

For example: If you set a pattern fill as one slide’s background and then change the background style of that slide from one style to another, your background fill will be removed.

How to save a PowerPoint theme

Okay, you now that you have created your own PowerPoint theme, now you’re probably wondering how do you save it.

To save a PowerPoint theme, simply go to the theme drop down (either in the Design tab of the Normal View or in the Slide Master View), and click on Save Current Theme .

Then, choose a name and hit Save .

Note: You want to make sure that you save your theme files in this exact location. If you save it or move it elsewhere, PowerPoint will not know how to retrieve it.

How to share a PowerPoint theme

Once you’ve created your color palette, you can share either as part of the theme, or just on its own.

Where to find your theme files:

• In Windows XP: C:Documents and Settings%USERPROFILE%Application DataMicrosoftTemplatesDocument Themes
• In Windows Vista, and Windows 7 and later: C:Users%USERPROFILE%AppDataRoamingMicrosoftTemplatesDocument Themes
• On a Mac (2011): ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Templates
• On a Mac (2016): ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Themes/Theme Colors

In this folder, you’ll find all the elements of your theme. You can simply save them to a hard drive or attach them to an email.

After someone receives one of these files, she will need to save it in the proper location (as mentioned above) on her computer.

It’s definitely there, as you can see in the shapes on the slide, as well as the shape fill options:

What this means is that you can use the color palette; it’s just not visible in the dropdown menu.

You can save the color palette to your computer by customizing the color palette and saving the name:

Pro Tip:   Learn more about themes

For more tips and advice on how to build your own custom themes, check out the following resources:

• “Getting Started with PowerPoint: Set Up a Theme”  by Echo Swinford and Julie Terberg
• Echo Swinford and Julie Terberg’s “ Building PowerPoint Templates Step by Step with the Experts ”

So that’s how to create a PowerPoint theme and how it relates to your PowerPoint template.

To learn step-by-step how to create a PowerPoint template, read our guide here .

If you enjoyed this article and want to learn other ways to boost your PowerPoint skills, visit us here .

What’s next?

Related articles.

• What is a broken link chart in PowerPoint (and how to fix it)?
• Bar chart trick: Right aligning categories (PPT, Word, and Excel)
• PowerPoint settings: program level vs. presentation level
• What is a linked Excel chart in PowerPoint?
• Set Up Slide Show: Customize how your PPT presentations run

About The Author

This Post Has 4 Comments

Dear Friends! How can I make more of variatons of a theme? There are more color-font-background variatons for a the Office Themes (beside the theme). But I make a custom Theme there is nothing on teh Variant “window”

Hi Jozsef – great question. Unfortunately, the ‘Variants’ are only available for the pre-built themes that come with Microsoft. There is no way for you to customize those or include them in your own theme. It would certainly be nice if we could, but it’s not (yet) a feature. That’s why the Variants area is blank for custom themes.

Dear Camille, thank you for the quick answer 🙂 It is sad but logical (somehow). But can I ask one more: If I make (save) an own custom Theme but I take a Picture Placeholder to the master Tittle slide then automatically generated a new Tittle slide (to the end of the master slides) and it will be the primary Tittle slide (of course, my master Tittle slide with the Picture placeholder is retained, but it is not the title page that is automatically loaded in a new presentation – but the other). Can you suggest a solution to this problem? Thanx a lot!

Hi Jozsef – yes, PowerPoint will only use the layout with the name “Title Slide Layout” as the first slide. There are a lot of little caveats and concerns when creating custom templates. If you’re building your own, or making some for clients, I HIGHLY recommend you watch my comprehensive course on PPT templates, which is part of our membership. Let me know if you’re interested and I can share the link with you.

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Blog > How to create a custom Theme design in PowerPoint

How to create a custom Theme design in PowerPoint

08.25.21   •  #powerpoint #tips.

A Theme in PowerPoint is a combination of colors, fonts, effects and backgrounds. With the help of the Themes in PowerPoint, you can create a harmonious appearance for your presentations with minimal effort. However, if you don't know how to create a theme, this blog post is for you! We not only explain how to create a theme, but also how to save it correctly.

Difference between Themes (Designs) and Templates in PowerPoint

What you might also be interested in now are templates in PowerPoint. Templates are a design including some content for a specific presentation or purpose. They are similar to the themes in PowerPoint, but a little more precise. If you now want to know more about why you should use templates, you can find out more in our blog post Creating PowerPoint Templates .

How do you create a Theme in PowerPoint?

Here you can, among other things:

• Change the colors
• Change the font

Change effects

• Change the background

Change colors

In order to be able to see the different colors, you have to go to "Design" and select "Colors" in the "Variants" group. There you can either select a predefined color palette from PowerPoint or create a new theme color under "Customize colors".

The first 4 colors define the background and the text of the slides, the other 6 colors define the colors for shapes, diagrams and tables. The last colors indicate a hyperlink and a visited hyperlink.

Change font

Change Background

Use the Theme correctly

Saving a self-made Theme

Share your Theme with colleagues

Set as default Theme

Related articles

About the author.

Miriam Rapberger

Miriam supports SlideLizard in the area of marketing and design. There she uses her creativity for blog posts, among other things.

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How to change theme colors in PowerPoint

• Written by: Richard Goring
• Categories: PowerPoint design , PowerPoint productivity
• Comments: 13

PowerPoint color themes are key to make your presentation look consistent and professional. Using theme colors correctly also makes it easy to change colors and branding later. And understanding how they work means that you can avoid the annoying way that slides change and get messed up when you copy them from one deck to another. Keep scrolling to find out how you can create your own color theme in PowerPoint, and apply it across Office.

First up, what is a PowerPoint color theme? The color theme sets the colors you find in the PowerPoint color palette, under the fill color or text color options. The main colors are set by you, and then PowerPoint creates the various shades underneath each one.

Set PowerPoint theme colors

How do you change theme colors in PowerPoint? To choose your color theme, go to the Design tab on the ribbon, and under Variants, select Colors, which will show you a range of options built into PowerPoint.

If you don’t want any of the pre-set color themes, you can choose the Customize Colors option down at the bottom of the list, which brings up a pop-up box that allows you to alter any of the colors. Select any of the color scheme options, and then More Colors at the bottom, which allows you to choose anything from the color wheel, or input your own RGB values, which may be useful if you want to use your brand colors in your presentation.

Once you’ve chosen the colors you want, you can save the theme with any name you like. That saved theme can be applied to any other PowerPoint deck, but will also be accessible across all Office programs, so you can set the same color themes in Word, Excel, or Outlook.

• In Word , go to the Design tab on the ribbon, then Colors, just to the right of centre.
• In Excel , go to the Page Layout tab in the ribbon, and you’ll find Colors on the far left.
• In Outlook , compose a new message, then go to the Options tab on the ribbon, with Colors also on the far left.

You’ve got to love the way the same thing is hidden in so many different places! Maybe they’re like horcruxes, or something?

If you’ve downloaded BrightCarbon’s very own free PowerPoint add-in BrightSlide it is even simpler to set theme colors. Head to the BrightSlide tab and under the File & Master section select Theme Colors. The Theme Color editor will appear allowing you to set colors based on HEX, RGB or HSL values or using a color picker. It also give you a live preview of the palette and allows you to import and edit spot colors.

There are three categories of color to select in your theme:

Accent colors: The six Accent colors are the ones that are most useful in the PowerPoint color scheme. These are the main colors you’ll use in your presentation, and all Charts and SmartArt will be created using these colors by default.

Text/Background colors: The four options here don’t have to be dark and light, as the name suggests, but it’s recommended, as PowerPoint will use these colors as the background color for charts, and the text color for labels, assuming that you’ve chosen dark and light colors. It’s changing these to colors that are too dark or too light that can cause problems with poor contrast ratios , so try to keep them light and dark colors as appropriate, which will help with your overall PowerPoint color scheme effectiveness and accessibility. You’ll also be able to access these four colors in the theme colors menus.

PowerPoint hyperlink color: If you want to choose a special PowerPoint hyperlink color, and a color for links that have been clicked, you can, but the colors won’t appear in the theme color menus anywhere, so don’t think you can sneak another two colors into the PowerPoint color palette for general use.

PowerPoint color picker

Selecting specific RGB spot colors can be tricky, but using a color picker really helps – either to ensure you’re perfectly matching your brand colors, or picking colors from an image, webpage, or document that you like. A color picker tool will provide the precise RGB value for any color you can find, which you can then input to create your new presentation color scheme. There’s the PowerPoint color picker – built into the program – available from Office 2013 and later, which you can find by selecting an object (anything works for this), then going to the Home tab on the ribbon, over to Shape Fill on the right-hand side, and then selecting the Eyedropper option half way down the menu. Irritatingly, this PowerPoint color picker only works to pick colors within the PowerPoint slide window, so if you have an object on the slide already (like a logo), or can paste an image into it, then it’s fine.

If not, there are plenty of great separate color picker tools that will allow you to pick up the RGB value of any color on your screen. There are loads of them, from incredibly feature-laden, to super simple pick a color, get an RGB code. Simple generally works for me, so things like Pixie and Color Cop are both good.

Theme vs standard vs spot colors

Now that you’ve set your theme colors, use them. Consistent use of the same family of colors makes your presentation look better and not too garish, which your audience and branding department will thank you for. It also means, as mentioned before, that if you change the theme colors, then all your content will change automatically to match. Not just on a single slide, but through your entire presentation. So if you change brand, or need to repurpose slides to fit a different theme, say for a conference, using the main theme colors, and all the various shades, will save you a lot of time.

If you copy and paste your slides into a different deck, with a different presentation color scheme, then your slides will also change to match the new PowerPoint color scheme, making everything consistent, with no additional effort. Incidentally, if you’ve ever copied slides into a new deck and wondered why everything has changed, this is why.

The standard colors are different to the PowerPoint theme colors, in that they’re fixed, and won’t change automatically when you apply a new theme or copy slides into a new deck. This can be advantageous. Say you want to use color to convey meaning – using red for negative and green for positive is a common combination. Here, you’d want to use the standard colors, rather than theme colors, as the colors won’t change, and your meaning won’t get lost if things alter in the future.

The same is true with spot colors. Sometimes you may want to add a specific color into the slide. This might reflect another brand in the deck for instance. In any of the color menus, you can choose More Fill or Outline Colors from the drop-down menu, which reveals the same color options pop-up as before, allowing you to choose anything from the color wheel, or a specific RGB value. Again, these spot colors won’t change if you alter your color theme, so just be aware of any overuse.

My colleague Amy put together some thoughts on how to use color to make presentations more effective , which is also worth considering.

Transparency, gradients, glows, and other effects

The presentation color scheme also applies to the many other formatting effects in PowerPoint. If you choose a theme color for a shape, and then make it semi-transparent, the shape will change color if you apply a new theme in the future. Likewise, if you add a gradient fill using only theme colors, then the gradient will change if the theme is altered. Other effects like glow and the shadow functions, or the change fill or font color emphasis animation effects also use the theme colors by default (although you can select spot colors).

In general, we recommend using the PowerPoint theme colors wherever possible to promote consistency in everything that you’re doing. But it’s worth noting how far the color theme reaches, so that if it changes, and something goes wrong with your slide, you can more easily identify why.

Try creating your own PowerPoint color scheme. And, while you’re at it, you can download a free PowerPoint toolkit from BrightCarbon, all of which is programmed using a rather nice color theme, which you can use, or alter, and watch as all the objects change color to suit your tastes.

Richard Goring

Related articles, how to create powerpoint templates that work.

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Without a proper PowerPoint template, presentations can be a bit of a mess. Here are the building blocks for developing a PowerPoint template that works!

Presentation design principles for better PowerPoint design

• PowerPoint design / PowerPoint productivity
• Comments: 17

By applying some key principles of presentation design, you can make your PowerPoint design really standout and deliver both a more ‘popping’, but also more effective presentation.

How to create visual presentations and eLearning

• PowerPoint design / Visual communication
• Comments: 4

Most presentations are a cascade of text-heavy Death-by-PowerPoint slides. Online learners suffer the torture of brochures converted to click-through-eLearning. Most people now recognize that using visuals is the way to go. But how do you make visual presentations and eLearning that work? We think there are six steps you need to follow.

Fantastic, tutorial. Brilliant again! 👌🏽

Thanks Mike! Much appreciated. Glad you liked it.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for sharing the information. I really appreciate it.

This is EXACTLY what I have been searching for, thanks Richard! I have been trying to get my SmartArt colour changed for hours now. Thank you

Really useful thank you. Is there a way to share defined themes – so that other people can import/use the same theme rather than everyone having to set it up themselves?

Hi Toby, yes you can, using either a Template or Theme file. In PowerPoint, do all the adjustments you want, then go to File > Save As, and then under the file name box, in the drop down menu (which by default says ‘PowerPoint Presentation (*.pptx)’, choose either ‘PowerPoint Template (*.potx)’ or ‘Office Theme (*.thmx)’. Both of these save all the colour/font settings you’ve made and can be opened as a blank presentation or applied to an existing presentation.

If you open the file as a new presentation, there are some differences: Office Theme – this will save all the colours/fonts/styles and slide masters/layouts. PowerPoint Template – this will save everything the Office Theme does, but also any custom slides you’ve made in the presentation. So it can be a good starting point for a deck if you always use the same core set of slides.

If you want to apply either to an existing document: In PowerPoint – Go to the Design tab > Themes > Drop down arrow > Browse for Themes In Word – Go to the Design tab > Themes > Browse for Themes In Excel – Go to the Page Layout tab > Themes > Browse for Themes

P.S. One day I’ll teach Joby all this. 😉

thank you Richard – that’s really helpful! i’ll use the office theme as that will (presumably) apply to Word, Excel and PPT…which is just what we need! Good luck with Joby though…i think that will be a lot harder to do than creating a bespoke colour palette. haha

I wish I understood this:

If you want to apply either to an existing document: In PowerPoint – Go to the Design tab > Themes > Drop down arrow > Browse for Themes In Word – Go to the Design tab > Themes > Browse for Themes In Excel – Go to the Page Layout tab > Themes > Browse for Themes

When I browse for Theme (to pick up the new Theme with new colors put out by the brand dept), it just imports the master pages from the Theme doc (and the colors), rather than making the new color palette available to the existing pages. But all the existing pages still have the old theme/masters applied. I hope I don’t have to re-apply masters to hundreds of pages! To avoid that, right now, it looks like I need to rebuild the colors in the existing masters, I can’t seem to get the new color palette into the old masters. 🙁 That’s all I want! I can’t seem to find exactly how to do this one arcane thing anywhere on the web! And who knows, maybe it’s because I’m on Mac. There are so many features in PPT that are not available on Mac.

Hi Richard, I’ve encountered something in PowerPoint I never have before, and I wondered if you ever saw it yourself … I program the colors to the brand appropriate rob/hex & when I go back into it I see the color values have been adjusted to a similar mix, but it’s not what I specified. Do you have any insight?

I LIKE MY FRIEND RICHARD!

?? Why so difficult ?? 1 click with one of the 28 free features of the free iSlide PowerPoint add- in! Just check it out here : https://islide-powerpoint.com/en/support/tips-ideas/15-minutes-en   Actually, personally I think this tool should be mandatory for everyone! Or even better, bought and integrated by Microsoft itself!

This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something which helped me. Appreciate it!

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I wanted to make sure I send you both a HUGE thank you for making this story come to life and creating amazing graphics to help. We really appreciate BrightCarbon for stepping up our presentation game massively! Sarah Walker Softchoice

How-To Geek

How to change the background in microsoft powerpoint.

Add a unique touch by inserting a picture, color, gradient, or texture into your presentation's background.

Quick Links

Change the background for select slides in powerpoint, add a background for all slides in powerpoint.

In your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, you can change your slides' background to a picture , solid color fill, gradient fill, texture fill, and even pattern fill. You can apply a custom background to all or select slides in your presentation. Here's how.

Related: How to Use an Image as the Background in PowerPoint

To use a custom background only for select slides, first, open your presentation with the Microsoft PowerPoint app.

When PowerPoint launches, in the ribbon at the top , click the "View" tab.

On the "View" tab, in the far left corner, click "Normal" to view your presentation in a normal mode.

From the slides list to the left of your screen, select the slides in which you want to use a custom background. To select multiple slides, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) while clicking slides.

Once your slides are selected, in PowerPoint's ribbon at the top, click the "Design" tab.

On the "Design" tab, from the "Customize" section, select "Format Background."

To the right of PowerPoint's interface, you will see a "Format Background" pane. Here, in the "Fill" section, you will select a custom background for your slides.

Your options are:

• Solid Fill : To apply a single solid color fill to your slides, choose this option.
• Gradient Fill : To use a gradient color fill, select this option.
• Picture or Texture Fill : If you'd like to use an image or texture as your slides' background, click this option. You can then select an image by clicking "Insert" or choose a texture by clicking "Texture."
• Pattern Fill : To use one of PowerPoint's several textures as your background, select this option.

Your changes will reflect on your slides in real-time. When you have finished configuring your custom background, close the "Format Background" pane by clicking "X" in the pane's top-right corner.

And that's it. Don't forget to save your presentation to keep your changes.

In a similar way, you can also change the background in Google Slides .

Related: How to Change the Background in Google Slides

You can configure a single custom background and apply it to all the slides in your current presentation. This saves you a lot of time as you do not have to manually edit each slide's background.

To do so, open your presentation with Microsoft PowerPoint. In the app's ribbon at the top, click the "Design" tab.

On the "Design" tab, in the "Customize" section, click "Format Background."

On the right of your screen, a "Format Background" pane will open. In this pane, using the "Fill" section, you will specify a background for all your slides.

The options you can choose from are:

• Solid Fill : Use this option to apply a solid color fill to all your slides.
• Gradient Fill : Select this option to apply a gradient color fill to all your slides.
• Picture or Texture Fill : To use an image or a texture as the background, click this option. You can then click "Insert" to add a picture to use as your background, or click "Texture" to use a texture as your slides' background.
• Pattern Fill : Click this option to view various patterns that you can use as the background for your presentation.

Once you have configured your background, apply it to all your slides by clicking "Apply to All" at the bottom of the "Format Background" pane.

And instantly, all the slides in your presentation will start using the newly specified background. Happy presenting!

If you often use a specific style for your presentations, it is worth creating a custom PowerPoint template to then base all your presentations on it.

Related: How to Create a Custom Template in PowerPoint

Byte Bite Bit

How to Change Theme Font in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide

PowerPoint presentations are the bread and butter of professional communication, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t want their slides to look sleek and polished? Customizing the theme fonts in PowerPoint is like giving your presentation a tailored suit—it turns it from drab to fab in the blink of an eye. Whether it’s for a business pitch or a classroom lecture, the right font can make or break your audience’s attention. Trust us, we’ve sat through enough presentations to know a font faux pas when we see one.

By playing around with font pairings in PowerPoint, we can set the tone and ensure our message comes across crystal clear. It’s more than just choosing “pretty” fonts; it’s about readability, audience engagement, and reinforcing brand identity. Sometimes that default Calibri just doesn’t cut the mustard, and why settle for average when you can have extraordinary? Changing theme fonts across all slides brings a cohesive look to your presentation, showing that you’re as meticulous with your slides as you are with the presentation’s content.

So, roll up those sleeves because it’s time to dive into the Slide Master and teach those fonts who’s boss. We’ll tweak them, align them, and command them to show our presentation’s true character. Forget wrestling with fonts slide by slide—that’s old school. With a few slick moves in the Slide Master, your entire deck can have a consistent, customized look faster than you can say “Make it pop!” Better yet, with these adjustments, your template will be locked and loaded for future presentations, making this a one-time effort with lasting benefits.

• 1.1 Understanding Slide Design and Layouts
• 1.2 Leveraging PowerPoint Templates and Themes
• 1.3 Customizing Fonts and Colors
• 2.1 Choosing the Right Fonts for Your Presentation
• 2.2 Creating and Managing Theme Fonts
• 2.3 Replacing Fonts Across Your PowerPoint Presentation
• 3.1 Utilizing Slide Master and Layouts for Consistency
• 3.2 Incorporating Text and Paragraph Formatting
• 4.1 Exploring Variants and Effects to Enhance Visual Appeal

Crafting Engaging Presentations

Creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation isn’t just about cramming in the facts. We’ve got to weave a visual tale that grips our audience from the first slide to the last. Think of slides as individual stories, part of a larger narrative, each with a role to play.

Understanding Slide Design and Layouts

Diving into the heart of PowerPoint, the design and layout of our slides are the anchors of our story. Imagine a slide as a canvas — it’s our job to make it a masterpiece. We start with the basics: keeping text to a minimum and using high-quality images that resonate with our message. Remember, folks, less is more when we’re aiming to captivate!

Next up, we ensure our slide layouts are consistent, but not monotonous. Like a good drumbeat, consistency keeps our audience nodding along, but it’s the occasional cymbal crash — an impactful change in layout — that keeps them on the edge of their seats.

Leveraging PowerPoint Templates and Themes

Templates and themes are like the secret sauce in our presentation recipe. By choosing the right theme, we’re picking the vibe for our whole dish — be it spicy, zesty, or classic. But here’s a little trick: we don’t have to go with off-the-shelf flavors. By tweaking backgrounds and theme colors, we can customize templates to suit our style perfectly. Want to grab their eyeballs? Go for bold background styles. After a more subdued look? A dash of soothing colors will do the trick.

Customizing Fonts and Colors

When we talk about setting up the personality of our presentation, fonts and colors are where it’s at. Choosing the right font might feel like finding a needle in a haystack, but fear not. With PowerPoint’s built-in font options, we can mix and match until we hit the sweet spot.

PowerPoint Fonts: A Game Changer

We’re not just picking a pretty face; we’re crafting readability, setting the tone, and ensuring accessibility. Typically, sans-serif fonts work wonders for clarity, while serif fonts bring a touch of elegance. As for colors, we strike a balance between brand colors and emotional psychology. A splash of red can invigorate; a touch of blue can calm. It’s about finding the right color that speaks both our language and theirs.

Effective Utilization of Fonts in PowerPoint

Before diving in, it’s essential we touch on the foundation of using fonts effectively in PowerPoint. It’s not about just selecting a typeface that looks good; pairing appropriateness with readability can elevate your presentation to new heights.

Choosing the Right Fonts for Your Presentation

When it comes to selecting the perfect fonts for our slides, think about the venue and context. Is this a corporate presentation, or are we setting the scene for a creative pitch? For professional environments, stick to classics like Arial or Calibri which are clear and reader-friendly. Now, if we’re feeling a bit adventurous, let’s play with font combinations. Pair a serif with a sans-serif to balance sophistication with modernity.

• Serifs: Times New Roman, Garamond
• Sans-Serifs: Arial, Helvetica

Adventurous Combos:

• Heading: Playfair Display
• Body: Open Sans

Creating and Managing Theme Fonts

Our presentation’s vibe is tied closely to the fonts we choose as our defaults. To establish consistency, we create and manage theme fonts. Say we’re building a template. We jump into the Slide Master, located under the ‘View’ tab. Next, we customize fonts by creating a mix that resonates with our branding. Always consider readability and character when tweaking heading or body font styles.

Replacing Fonts Across Your PowerPoint Presentation

Sometimes a brief change sweeps through, and we’re tasked with altering the font style across the entire deck. It’s a breeze, primarily if we use the ‘Replace Fonts’ feature under the ‘Home’ tab. A few clicks and we swap out the old font for a spanking new font. This is life-saving when our presentations need a quick refresh or rebranding pivot. Always remember, consistency is key, so ensure the new font is applied across all slides for a unified look.

Mastering PowerPoint for Effective Communication

When it comes to crafting a professional presentation, the devil is in the details. Setting the right theme fonts in PowerPoint not only adds a layer of polish but ensures our message is crystal clear.

Utilizing Slide Master and Layouts for Consistency

We’ve all been there—halfway through a presentation when suddenly the fonts go rogue!

To prevent this, we harness the power of Slide Master. Simply go to the View tab and choose Slide Master . Here we find the theme fonts applied to every type of slide layout in our deck. Want to make a sweeping change? Just select a new font from the Fonts menu in the Slide Master view. This ensures every text box and placeholder adheres to our chosen style like bees to honey, keeping our presentation consistent from start to finish.

Incorporating Text and Paragraph Formatting

Text and paragraphs in PowerPoint are the vessels for our message. So, let’s dress them up for success, shall we? In the Font Group under the Home tab, we have a plethora of options to customize our text. But let’s not get carried away just because we can.

By selectively assigning styles and weights to our text, we light the way for our audience. Remember, our goal is to make our slides easy on the eyes and heavy on the impact. Keep it neat, treat alignment like your best friend, and let the white space do some heavy lifting.

Advanced PowerPoint Features and Customization

As we dive into the intricacies of PowerPoint, it’s clear that mastery of the advanced features can truly elevate a presentation. From the subtle yet impactful use of variants and effects to the granular control offered by theme options, these are just a few of the powerful tools at our disposal for crafting a custom experience.

Exploring Variants and Effects to Enhance Visual Appeal

Have you ever

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How can I change the background theme in PowerPoint?

May 13, 2024 /

To change the background theme in PowerPoint, go to the Design tab and select a new theme from the available options. You can also customize the theme by selecting the “Variants” or “Background Styles” options. Additionally, you can insert a picture or solid color as the background by selecting the “Format Background” option.

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Change the theme and background color of your slides

You can use your mobile device to change the theme or background color of your PowerPoint slides.

On your Android tablet or phone

Change the design theme.

Tap Themes to see a gallery of available themes.

Tap a design theme to apply it to your presentation.

Change the background color

Go to Design > Format Background .

Choose a background color for your slide.

To remove background formatting, select No Fill .

To see more color options, select More Colors .

On your iPad or iPhone

Tap Themes to see a gallery of designs.

Tap a design to apply it to your presentation.

On the Design tab, tap Format Background .

You will see the background colors divided into Theme Colors and Standard Colors . Theme colors coordinate with the theme you selected previously. You can select a solid color or a color gradient.

For more choices, scroll down and tap More Colors , and then move the selectors to any custom color or gradient shown. Tap Apply to apply the custom color.

On your Windows tablet or phone

On your Windows tablet, tap the Design tab.

Tap Format Background .

You will see the background colors divided into Theme Colors and Standard Colors . Theme colors coordinate with the theme you selected previously. You can select a solid color or color gradient.

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