PowerPoint Templates

Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT) is the go-to choice for creating presentations. This series shares tips and ideas for working with PowerPoint, as well as beautiful PowerPoint templates and themes to make your presentations look stunning.

Microsoft PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software on the market. Everyone from school kids to CEOs uses it to create all kinds of presentations to share with others.

A PowerPoint template is a design tool to help you jumpstart that process and create a presentation with a more custom look and feel. While there are a handful of templates that come with the software, most designers avoid them because they are commonly used, making third-party free and premium PowerPoint templates a solid option.

What is a PowerPoint Template?

powerpoint template
A PowerPoint template is a pattern or blueprint of a slide or group of slides.

A PowerPoint template is a collection of settings that dictate the design or content of a slide deck in the popular presentation software.

Here’s how Microsoft describes it: “A PowerPoint template is a pattern or blueprint of a slide or group of slides that you save as a .potx file. Templates can contain layouts, colors, fonts, effects, background styles, and even content. You can create your custom templates and store them, reuse them, and share them with others.”

You can create your own PowerPoint templates or find third-party templates with everything you need to jumpstart a presentation design.

How to Install a PowerPoint Template

powerpoint template

One of the great things about using PowerPoint templates is that they are easy to find – and use.

There’s actually no “installation” per se unless you want a template to become a default setting on your computer.

Here’s how you do it:

  • Download and unzip (if necessary) the PowerPoint template. It’s a good idea to save templates in a common location that’s easy for you to remember.
  • Open PowerPoint; go to Options and open the Save tab.
  • Change the path to the “Default personal templates location” to your new PowerPoint template to make it the default on your computer.

If you don’t need a PowerPoint template to be a default on your computer, just open the file and save a new document to start using it.

How to Use + Edit PowerPoint Templates: 4 Quick Tips

Now that you know how to install a PowerPoint template here are few tips to get you started with the design process.

1. Customize the Design

The first step is customizing the design and the layout of your freshly installed PowerPoint template.

Many PowerPoint templates come with beautiful and professional designs. While you can use them as it is, it’s a good practice to edit the design to change fonts, colors, and rearrange the shapes and images to match your brand and business.

2. Drag and Drop Images

If your PowerPoint template comes with image placeholders, you can easily replace the default images in the template by simply dragging and dropping your own images into the slides. It’s that easy.

3. You Can Edit Shapes and Graphics

Don’t forget that you can change the colors of those shapes and resize them however you like. Most premium PowerPoint templates also come with editable vector graphics like infographics, charts, and mockups as well. You can edit these graphics to customize them to your preference.

4. Use the Master Slide Layouts

Master slides are one of the most useful features of PowerPoint templates. These are pre-made slide layouts you can use to create your own unique slides with creative content layouts. Simply go to the View tab and switch to Slide Master to access these layouts.

5 Tips for Finding an Effective PowerPoint Template

powerpoint template

When using a PowerPoint template, you need to find one that matches your content. While there are a lot of great looking templates available, they won’t be all the effective if the content types don’t work for the type of presentations you will create.

Here are a few tips for finding the right PowerPoint template for you:

  • Choose something flexible with the ability to easily change styles, colors and content.
  • Opt for a template that is simple. (It will be a lot easier to work with in the long run).
  • Pay attention to slide types. At a minimum, you probably need a template that includes a title slide, headers for content sections, image slides, text-only slides and mixed media slides with room for text, plus images or video.
  • Think about the style of the template. Does it match your branding and style? (It should.)
  • Pick a template that works for how you will use the PowerPoint – as a big-screen presentation, online or printed. Look for a template that includes light and dark styles if you plan to use it for multiple, varying venues.

10 Best Free & Premium PowerPoint Templates to Try

Check out these beautiful PowerPoint templates to find inspiration for your next project.

Be. – Modern PowerPoint Presentation Template

Be. Powerpoint Presentation Template

Be is a multipurpose PowerPoint template featuring more than 125 unique slide designs to choose from. Using this template you can design all sorts of slideshows for professional and creative presentations.

Slection – Professional PowerPoint Template

Slection - Powerpoint Template

This beautiful PowerPoint template is ideal for designing professional presentations, especially for marketing agencies and startups. It includes 150 slides featuring 5 different color schemes.

RUND – Modern Business PowerPoint Template

RUND - Modern Business Powerpoint Template

Another professional PowerPoint template you can use to make presentations, pitch decks, annual report slideshows, and much more. It comes with 30 unique slides you can easily customize to your preference.

Klai Business – PowerPoint Template

Klai Business - Powerpoint Template

This is a modern PowerPoint template designed for business and agency presentations. The template features 30 unique slides with creative and minimalist designs.

SIMPLECO – Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

SIMPLECO - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Simpleco is another multipurpose PowerPoint template that comes with more than 90 unique slide designs. The template is available in 2 different color schemes and with animations as well.

Flocue – Business SWOT Presentation

Flocue Business SWOT Presentation

Flocue is a business PowerPoint template designed around the popular SWOT analysis. It includes 120 slides in 4 different color schemes as well as with easily editable image placeholders and master slides.

Namira – Colorful PowerPoint Presentation

Namira - Powerpoint Presentation

This PowerPoint template is perfect for designing trendy and attractive presentations for creative projects. It comes with 50 unique slides featuring master slides, vector icons, and image placeholders.

Get Started – Modern PowePoint Template

Get Started PowePoint Template

Featuring a modern and creative design, this template is perfect for designing all types of professional and creative presentations. It includes 20 master slide layouts as well.

Penmarker – Clean PowerPoint Template

Penmarker - Clean Powerpoint Template

Use this template to design creative and professional presentations for business and corporate projects. It lets you choose from 30 unique slides that are available in 5 different color schemes.

SCRET – Minimal PowerPoint Template

SCRET - Minimal Powerpoint Template

Scret is a minimal and clean PowerPoint template that comes with more than 50 unique slide designs. It also includes editable infographics, vector shapes, and image placeholders.

10 Common PowerPoint FAQs

These are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers about PowerPoint presentations. Hopefully, you’ll be able to learn more about PowerPoint using these questions.

How to Convert a PDF to PowerPoint

To convert a PDF into a PowerPoint file, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat. Open the PDF file in Acrobat and select Export PDF from the menu on the right-hand side. Then choose Microsoft PowerPoint as the export format.

How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint

There are multiple ways to convert a Keynote file to PowerPoint. The easiest way is to use the Keynote app itself. Go to the File menu >> Export To and select PowerPoint.

How to Insert a GIF Into PowerPoint

You can now add GIFs to PowerPoint presentations. To do this, first, download the GIF file into your computer and then insert the file into the slide using Insert >> Pictures option.

How to Convert PowerPoint to Video

Converting your presentations to video format is another great way to make your slideshows more accessible to everyone. Simply go to the Save/Export tab and select Create Video option to save our presentation as a video file.

How to Compress PowerPoint Presentation Images

Compressing the images of a PowerPoint file can help make it easier to share via email and social media. Click on an image and go to the Picture Tools >> Format tab and choose Compress Pictures option to reduce the size of images.

How to Embed Fonts in PowerPoint

Embedding fonts in PowerPoint makes it easier to share with others who don’t have custom fonts installed on their computers. When saving your PowerPoint file, simply choose the option “Embed fonts in file” to embed the fonts.

How to Add Slide Numbers in PowerPoint

You can easily include the numbers of each slide to keep track of your slide deck during presentations. Go to Insert >> Header & Footer and check the box next to Slide Number.

How to Loop a PowerPoint

You can create an endless loop using your presentation. To do this, go to the Transitions tab and uncheck the box next to “On mouse click”. To apply the loop to all slides click on the Apply to All button.

How to Add Music & Audio to PowerPoint

To add a background music track or audio to your presentation, go to the Insert tab and then click on the Audio button at the end of the right-hand side. Then choose either Audio browser or Audio from file options to find and insert music to your presentation.

What is a Pitch Deck?

A pitch deck is a set of slides you design to pitch an idea, business, startup, or a project to an audience. Pitch decks use a very specific style of designs that helps showcase your project or idea more effectively.