These are the small things nobody teaches and everybody needs. They take seconds once you know where to click — and minutes of searching when you do not.
The primary editing view: Normal view
The primary editing view in PowerPoint is Normal view: the slide thumbnails on the left, the current slide in the middle, and the notes pane underneath. It is where you write and design slides. The other views serve other jobs:
| View | Where | Use it to |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | View → Normal | Edit slides (the primary editing view) |
| Outline View | View → Outline View | Write and reorder text as a list |
| Slide Sorter | View → Slide Sorter | See all slides as tiles, reorder and delete in bulk |
| Notes Page | View → Notes Page | Edit and print speaker notes with the slide |
| Reading View | View → Reading View | Play the deck inside the window |
| Slide Master | View → Slide Master | Edit the template behind the slides |
The small view buttons in the status bar at the bottom right switch quickly between Normal, Slide Sorter, Reading View and Slide Show. If the thumbnails on the left have disappeared, drag the thin bar at the window’s left edge back out, or choose View → Normal again.
How to delete a slide
Delete one or several slidesWindows and Mac
Delete one slide
In Normal view click the slide’s thumbnail on the left and press Delete (the same key on a Mac). Or right-click the thumbnail and choose Delete Slide.
Right-click → Delete Slide Delete several slides
Hold Ctrl (Mac: Cmd) and click the thumbnails you want to remove, or click the first and Shift-click the last for a range. Press Delete.
Several thumbnails selected Delete in bulk in Slide Sorter
For long decks choose View → Slide Sorter: all slides are tiles, easy to select across the deck. Select and press Delete.
Delete a whole section
If the deck has sections, right-click a section name and choose Remove Section & Slides.
Undo
Deleted the wrong slide? Press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z) right away. For a saved file in OneDrive or SharePoint, File → Info → Version History restores an earlier version.
Deleting slides in many files at once
For a handful of decks, open each and delete by hand. For many, a VBA macro in PowerPoint for Windows does it: a line such as ActivePresentation.Slides(3).Delete removes slide 3 of the open deck. Power Automate has no standard action that deletes slides inside a .pptx; flows that do this rely on premium or third-party connectors — check what your organisation allows before you build one.
Alt text: add, edit and remove it
Alt text describes a picture for people who use screen readers. Microsoft 365 can generate it automatically, which is why pictures sometimes come with an odd description you never wrote.
Edit or remove alt textWindows and Mac
Open the alt text pane
Right-click the picture and choose View Alt Text (or Edit Alt Text). Or select it and choose Picture Format → Alt Text.
Right-click → View Alt Text Edit it
Type one or two sentences describing what matters in the picture for the slide’s point: “Bar chart: sales doubled from 2023 to 2025”.
Remove it for decoration
For a purely decorative element (a background shape, an ornament), tick Mark as decorative. Screen readers then skip it; deleting the text alone may leave an automatic description.
Mark as decorative in the Alt Text pane Turn off automatic alt text
On Windows choose File → Options → Accessibility and untick Automatically generate alt text for me. On a Mac: PowerPoint → Preferences → Accessibility.
Review → Check Accessibility lists every picture without alt text and other issues such as low contrast or missing slide titles.
Placeholders: “Click to add text”
Placeholders are the dotted boxes a layout gives a new slide. Their “Click to add text” prompts never show in the slide show or a PDF, so empty placeholders do no harm — but they clutter the editor and can confuse colleagues. Click the dotted border (not inside) and press Delete. If a deleted placeholder should come back, choose Home → Reset. To change what placeholders a slide offers, choose another layout with Home → Layout.
Cropping a picture
Crop a pictureWindows and Mac
Start cropping
Select the picture and choose Picture Format → Crop. Black handles appear at the edges.
Picture Format → Crop Drag the handles
Drag edge handles inwards; drag the picture itself to choose which part shows. Click outside the picture to finish.
Crop to a shape or ratio
Click the arrow under Crop for Crop to Shape (a circle for a portrait) or Aspect Ratio (16:9, 1:1).
Cropped areas stay in the file unless you choose Picture Format → Compress Pictures and tick Delete cropped areas of pictures — useful before sending a large file.
Making a quick flyer in PowerPoint
For a one-page flyer, set Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size to A4 (21 × 29.7 cm) or Letter (8.5 × 11 in) in Portrait. Choose Home → Layout → Blank, then build from the top: a large headline, one picture, three short points, the date and place, and contact details or a QR code. Export with File → Export → Create PDF/XPS for printing. Our guide to posters in PowerPoint covers larger formats.
Shortcuts for the basics
| Action | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| New slide | Ctrl+M | Cmd+Shift+N |
| Duplicate slide or object | Ctrl+D | Cmd+D |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z |
| Start slide show | F5 | Cmd+Shift+Return |
| Group objects | Ctrl+G | Cmd+Option+G |
| Save | Ctrl+S | Cmd+S |
Moving, copying and reusing slides
- Reorder: drag a thumbnail up or down in the slide list, or in Slide Sorter for long moves. A line shows where it will land.
- Copy to another deck: select thumbnails, Ctrl+C (Cmd+C), click in the other deck’s slide list and Ctrl+V. The paste options button offers Use Destination Theme (adopt the new deck’s look) or Keep Source Formatting.
- Reuse without opening the other file: Home → New Slide → Reuse Slides (Microsoft 365: Home → Reuse Slides) lists the slides of another presentation in a pane.
- Duplicate as a starting point: select a slide and press Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) to build a similar slide without touching the original.
Text that will not behave
Two settings explain most text surprises. AutoFit shrinks text to fit its box: right-click the box, choose Format Shape → Text Options → Text Box and pick Do not Autofit, Shrink text on overflow or Resize shape to fit text. And text pasted from elsewhere brings its own fonts: right-click where it should go and choose the paste option Keep Text Only, so it takes on the slide’s formatting. (Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V in PowerPoint copy and paste formatting, not text — handy for making one box look like another.)
Designs for this kind of deck
Every design brings its own colours, fonts and layouts to the whole deck.
The same basics in ExpertSlides
The ExpertSlides editor follows the habits above. The slide rail on the left works like PowerPoint’s: click a thumbnail and press Delete, Shift-click or Cmd/Ctrl-click to choose several, Cmd+D / Ctrl+D to duplicate, and the right-click menu has the same entries. Alt+2 (Option+2 on a Mac) switches to the slide overview, the editor’s slide sorter, and Alt+1 back. Every change can be undone, and the History tab of the side panel lists the editor’s steps.
There are no placeholders to delete: a slide holds only what it shows, and an empty picture frame offers Upload, Gallery and AI in place. Pictures are cropped inside their frame, and instructions in plain words do the rest — “delete slides 4 to 6”, “hide this slide”. The PowerPoint export (Pro and Business) gives you a file to continue with the steps above.
Next: how to make a presentation step by step and mirroring pictures. See the editor’s AI on PowerPoint AI and designs in Design Templates.
Questions, answered
What is the primary editing view in PowerPoint?
Normal view: the slide thumbnails on the left, the current slide in the middle and the notes pane below. Choose View, Normal to return to it.
How do I delete a slide in PowerPoint?
Click the slide’s thumbnail in Normal view and press Delete, or right-click it and choose Delete Slide. Hold Ctrl or Cmd to select several slides first.
How do I remove alt text in PowerPoint?
Right-click the picture, choose View Alt Text, and tick Mark as decorative, or replace the text. To stop automatic alt text, untick Automatically generate alt text for me under File, Options, Accessibility.
How do I get back a deleted slide?
Press Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z right away. For files in OneDrive or SharePoint, File, Info, Version History restores an earlier version.
Can I delete slides with Power Automate?
There is no standard Power Automate action that deletes slides inside a PowerPoint file. Use a VBA macro in PowerPoint for Windows, or a premium or third-party connector if your organisation allows it.
