10 Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft PowerPoint Slideshows

10 Keyboard Shortcuts to Use When Presenting PowerPoint Slideshows

In business meetings, you can use Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows to highlight important information and capture audiences’ attention. During a slideshow, clicking through various options with the mouse can throw off your timing. Plus, the audience can see you perform these actions.

A better approach is to use keyboard shortcuts. Besides being faster, you will look like a more experienced presenter. Here are 10 keyboard shortcuts that you can use when presenting slideshows using PowerPoint 2016, 2013, 2010, or 2007. You can also Google some other keyboard shortcuts!

Keyboard Shortcuts For PowerPoint

1. F5

Pressing the F5 key begins the slideshow from the first slide.

2. Shift+F5

To begin the slideshow from the current slide, press Shift+F5. In other words, press the Shift and F5 keys at the same time.

3. Spacebar, N, or Right Arrow

When you are ready to advance to the next slide or perform the next animation, you can press any of the following: the Spacebar, the N key, or the right arrow key.

4. Backspace, P, or Left Arrow

If you need to backtrack, press the Backspace, P, or left arrow key to go back to the previous slide or animation.

5. Ctrl+P

Pressing Ctrl+P changes the mouse pointer from an arrow to a pen. You can then use the pen to add a note to a slide or call attention to an item.

6. W or Comma

During a presentation, you might want to pause the slideshow so that you can discuss a certain point. Pressing the W or comma key pauses it and displays a white screen. Pressing the W or comma key again resumes the slideshow. When the slideshow is paused, you can use the pen to write on the white screen. If you do not already have the pen activated, though, you will need to do so with the mouse (Pressing Ctrl+P to activate the pen does not work – it simply prompts the slideshow to resume.) Anything you write on the white screen will not be saved when you resume the slideshow.

7. B or Period

Pressing the B key or period key pauses the slideshow and displays a black screen, which you can write on. Press the B or period key again to resume the slideshow.

8. Ctrl+E or E

If you need to erase a mark you made with a pen on a slide, you can change the pointer to an eraser by pressing Ctrl+E. You can erase all the marks you made to a slide at once by pressing the E key. (The pointer will not change in the latter case.) You cannot use Ctrl+E or E to erase marks on a white or black screen created when pausing a slideshow.