PowerPoint for Windows has a built-in screen recorder under Insert → Screen Recording. It records an area of your screen, with sound and the pointer if you like, and puts the result on the current slide as a video. To keep the controls out of the recording, its small control dock slides up out of view as soon as recording starts. If you do not know that, it looks as if there is no stop button at all.
The quick answer: the shortcut
| Action | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Stop recording | Windows+Shift+Q | — |
| Pause or resume recording | Windows+Shift+R | — |
| Stop a macOS screen recording | — | Cmd+Control+Esc |
Press Windows+Shift+Q (the Windows logo key, Shift and Q together). The recording stops, the dock returns, and the video appears on the slide you were on. If nothing happens, click once on the screen area you recorded to give it focus, then press the shortcut again.
Stop it with the hidden dock
Find the dock and stop the recordingWindows
Move the pointer to the top edge
Move the mouse pointer to the very top of the screen, in the middle. The control dock slides down: Select Area, Record/Pause, Stop, Audio and Record Pointer.
The screen recording dock at the top of the screen Click Stop
Click the square Stop button. The recording ends and PowerPoint comes back with the video inserted on the current slide.
The Stop button of the dock Pin the dock next time
Before you start the next recording, click the pin icon at the dock’s right end. It then stays visible while you record — but it will also appear in the recording if it lies inside the recorded area.
How to record a screen in PowerPoint (for next time)
Record the screen cleanlyWindows
Start the recorder
Go to the slide where the video should go and choose Insert → Screen Recording. PowerPoint minimises and the dock appears.
Insert → Screen Recording Select the area
Click Select Area and drag a rectangle over what you want to record, or press Windows+Shift+F to record the full screen.
Choose sound and pointer
Audio records your microphone and Record Pointer shows the mouse pointer; both are on by default.
Record and stop
Click Record. A three-second countdown runs, then the dock hides. When done, press Windows+Shift+Q or use the dock’s Stop button.
Where the recording goes, and how to save it
The recording is embedded in the presentation, on the slide that was selected when you started. It is not saved as a separate file anywhere. To keep it as a video file:
Save the recording as an MP4 fileWindows
Save the presentation first
Press Ctrl+S. The video is part of the file from then on.
Save the media
Right-click the video on the slide and choose Save Media as…. Pick a folder and name; it is saved as an .mp4.
Right-click → Save Media as Trim if needed
Select the video and choose Playback → Trim Video to cut the start and end — the moment you reached for the stop button, for example. Trimming in PowerPoint affects playback in the deck; Save Media as saves the full recording.
If the presentation file has grown large because of recordings, File → Info → Compress Media reduces video quality and size. Our guide to presenting a PowerPoint on a TV covers exporting the whole deck as a video.
Stopping a slide show recording instead
PowerPoint has a second kind of recording: recording a presentation with your voice, camera and ink, opened with Slide Show → Record (or the Record tab in Microsoft 365). It is easy to confuse with screen recording.
- Stop: click the square Stop button at the top of the recording window. Recording also stops at the end of the last slide.
- Leave: press Esc or close the recording window to return to the editor; what you recorded is kept per slide.
- Redo a slide: go back to it and record again, or use Clear → Clear Recording on Current Slide.
- Remove all narration: in the editor choose Slide Show → Record → Clear and clear the recordings on all slides.
On a Mac
The screen recorder described above is PowerPoint for Windows’ own. If your PowerPoint for Mac has no Screen Recording under Insert, use the recorder of macOS: press Cmd+Shift+5, choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, and click Record. To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar at the top of the screen or press Cmd+Control+Esc. The recording is saved to the desktop as a .mov file; insert it on a slide with Insert → Video → Movie from File. PowerPoint for Mac does have slide show recording (Slide Show → Record Slide Show), stopped with the Stop button or Esc.
If the recording will not stop
- Try the shortcut again after clicking into the recorded area.
- Look for the dock on every monitor’s top edge.
- Switch windows with Alt+Tab back to PowerPoint; the dock often reappears.
- As a last resort end PowerPoint with Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), but the recording and unsaved changes are lost — save often when you record.
Tips for screen recordings worth watching
Most screen recordings in presentations are too long and too small. A few habits make them useful:
- Plan the clicks. Write the steps down and rehearse them once before you record, so the video has no searching and no dead ends.
- Record a small area. The slide will show the recording scaled down; a recorded area the size of the window you need, not the whole 4K screen, keeps text readable.
- Enlarge what matters. Zoom the browser or application to 125 to 150 % before recording, and close notifications and unrelated tabs.
- Keep it short. Thirty to ninety seconds per clip. Several short clips on several slides are easier to follow and to redo than one long one.
- Mind the sound. Use a headset microphone, record in a quiet room, and say what you are doing as you do it.
- Hide private data. Use test accounts and sample data; anything on screen ends up in the file you send.
Once the clip is on the slide, set Playback → Start → When Clicked On (or Automatically), and consider Play Full Screen for detailed screens. Test it in the slide show on the computer and screen you will present from.
Other ways to record your screen
Windows also has the Snipping Tool, which records video in recent versions of Windows 11, and the Xbox Game Bar (Windows+G, stop with Windows+Alt+R) for recording a single application. Both save a file you insert with Insert → Video → This Device, which keeps the recording out of PowerPoint until you need it there.
Designs for this kind of deck
Every design brings its own colours, fonts and layouts to the whole deck.
Decks that present themselves
People often record their screen to send a presentation to someone who cannot attend. An alternative that needs no recording: share the deck itself. In ExpertSlides, Web link in the editor’s top bar publishes the presentation read-only; the recipient opens it in any browser and clicks through with Present, at their own pace. A link carries only what the slides show — speaker notes stay with you —, so put on the slides what you would have said. When you fix a slide and publish again, the same link shows the new version — no new video to make.
For training content, interactive slides of the library (tabs, steppers, checklists, quizzes; part of Pro and Business) let the viewer explore a process step by step instead of watching it. And if a file is needed after all, send the PDF. Every plan exports PDF; on Free the PDF carries the ExpertSlides mark.
More on sending and showing decks: presenting on a TV, converting files to PowerPoint, and rules for good slides. Read about the editor’s AI on PowerPoint AI.
Questions, answered
How do I stop a screen recording in PowerPoint?
Press Windows+Shift+Q, or move the pointer to the top edge of the screen to show the hidden control dock and click its Stop button.
Where does a PowerPoint screen recording go?
It is inserted as a video on the slide that was selected when you started recording. Right-click it and choose Save Media as to save it as an MP4 file.
How do I pause a PowerPoint screen recording?
Press Windows+Shift+R, or show the dock at the top of the screen and click Pause. Press it again to resume.
Can I screen record in PowerPoint on a Mac?
Use the macOS recorder with Cmd+Shift+5 and stop it from the menu bar or with Cmd+Control+Esc, then insert the movie with Insert, Video, Movie from File.
How do I stop recording a slide show in PowerPoint?
Click the Stop button at the top of the recording window or press Esc. Recordings are kept per slide and can be cleared with Clear in the Record menu.
