PowerPoint slide size: dimensions in inches, centimetres and pixels

PowerPoint measures slides in inches or centimetres (depending on your system’s region settings), not in pixels, because slides are vector pages that can be printed or shown at any resolution. The number that matters most is the aspect ratio — the relation of width to height — because it decides whether the slide fills the screen or sits between black bars.

All common slide sizes at a glance

Note that PowerPoint’s A4 Paper preset is not exactly A4: it leaves room for a printer’s margin. If a deck must print edge to edge on A4 or be shared as an A4 PDF, set a custom size of 29.7 × 21 cm instead.

Slide sizes in pixels

Pixels only come in when you export a slide as a picture or a video, or when you design a background image. For 16:9 slides the usual targets are:

For 4:3 slides, 1024 × 768 and 1600 × 1200 are the matching sizes. For pictures you place on a slide, aim for at least the pixel size the picture will cover on a Full HD screen — a picture that fills half the slide needs about 960 pixels of width.

Which size should you use?

• 16:9 for almost everything shown on a screen: laptops, modern projectors, TVs, video calls, recordings. It is PowerPoint’s default for good reason.
• 4:3 for old projectors in classrooms and conference rooms, and some tablets. Ask the venue if you are unsure.
• 16:10 for some laptop screens and projectors; slides fill them without bars.
• A4 or Letter for decks that are mainly printed or read as PDF documents.
• Portrait or custom sizes for posters, flyers, social media pictures or vertical screens — see our guide to presenting on a TV for screens in reception areas.

How to change the slide size in PowerPoint

Custom sizes in PowerPoint can range from 1 inch to 56 inches on each side. Slides in one presentation always share one size and one orientation; if you need a portrait page in a landscape deck, link to a second file.

Slide size in Google Slides

Google Slides’ widescreen page is 10 × 5.625 inches — smaller in inches than PowerPoint’s, with the same 16:9 ratio. Decks moved between the two keep their proportions; fonts can look a little different in size relative to the page, so check headings after a move.

Pixel sizes when you export

• Pictures: File → Export → Change File Type → PNG (or JPEG) saves the current slide or all slides as pictures (on a Mac: File → Export and pick PNG or JPEG, with a width and height field). The default pixel size depends on your version and settings.
• Video: File → Export → Create a Video offers Ultra HD (4K), Full HD (1080p), HD (720p) and Standard (480p).
• PDF: File → Export → Create PDF/XPS keeps the slide as a vector page; it prints and zooms sharply at any size.

When the slide and the screen do not match

If a 16:9 deck is shown on a 4:3 projector, PowerPoint shrinks it to the projector’s width and fills the top and bottom with black bars (letterboxing). A 4:3 deck on a 16:9 screen gets bars at the sides (pillarboxing). Nothing is cut off, but the slides use less of the screen and small text gets smaller still.

• Ask the venue for the projector’s resolution or ratio before you build the deck. “1024 × 768” or “XGA” means 4:3; “1920 × 1080”, “1080p” or “Full HD” means 16:9; “1920 × 1200” or “WUXGA” means 16:10.
• Make the background match. If bars are unavoidable, a black or dark slide background makes them disappear into the frame; a white background makes them obvious.
• Do not stretch. Changing the projector or display settings to “fill” the screen distorts circles into ovals and logos into something your brand team will notice.
• Test on the real screen. Ten minutes in the room before the talk catch most problems: ratio, colours washed out by a bright projector, text too small for the back row.

For video calls the question is easier: screen sharing scales the slide to each viewer’s window, and 16:9 matches nearly every laptop and monitor. Share the slide show window rather than the whole screen, so notifications and other windows stay private.

Slide size in ExpertSlides

Every ExpertSlides deck is 16:9. The editor lays out slides on a canvas of 1280 × 720 pixels, and the designs, layouts and type sizes are made for it, so there is no size to choose and nothing to rescale. That fits screens, projectors, TVs, video calls and the browser alike.

On the way out, the size travels with the deck: the PowerPoint export (Pro and Business) is a widescreen 16:9 presentation, ready for the steps above if you need another size. The PDF has one 16:9 page per slide with sharp vector text. Every plan exports PDF; on Free the PDF carries the ExpertSlides mark. For a portrait poster or an exact A4 page, export to PowerPoint and change the size there.

More on screens and files: show a PowerPoint on a TV, templates and backgrounds, and our Design Templates. Plans and exports are compared on Pricing.