Keynote User Guide for Mac

  • What’s new in Keynote 14.2
  • Intro to Keynote
  • Intro to images, charts, and other objects
  • Create a presentation
  • Choose how to navigate your presentation
  • Open or close a presentation
  • Save and name a presentation
  • Find a presentation
  • Print a presentation
  • Undo or redo changes
  • Show or hide sidebars
  • Quick navigation
  • Change the working view
  • Expand and zoom your workspace
  • Customize the Keynote toolbar
  • Change Keynote settings on Mac
  • Touch Bar for Keynote
  • Create a presentation using VoiceOver
  • Add or delete slides
  • Add and view presenter notes
  • Reorder slides
  • Group or ungroup slides
  • Skip or unskip a slide
  • Change the slide size
  • Change a slide background
  • Add a border around a slide
  • Show or hide text placeholders
  • Show or hide slide numbers
  • Apply a slide layout
  • Add and edit slide layouts
  • Change a theme
  • Add an image
  • Add an image gallery
  • Edit an image
  • Add and edit a shape
  • Combine or break apart shapes
  • Draw a shape
  • Save a shape to the shapes library
  • Add and align text inside a shape
  • Add 3D objects
  • Add lines and arrows
  • Animate, share, or save drawings
  • Add video and audio
  • Record audio
  • Edit video and audio
  • Add live video
  • Set movie and image formats
  • Position and align objects
  • Use alignment guides
  • Place objects inside a text box or shape
  • Layer, group, and lock objects
  • Change object transparency
  • Fill shapes and text boxes with color or an image
  • Add a border to an object
  • Add a caption or title
  • Add a reflection or shadow
  • Use object styles
  • Resize, rotate, and flip objects
  • Move and edit objects using the object list
  • Add linked objects to make your presentation interactive
  • Select text
  • Copy and paste text
  • Use dictation to enter text
  • Use accents and special characters
  • Format a presentation for another language
  • Use phonetic guides
  • Use bidirectional text
  • Use vertical text
  • Change the font or font size
  • Add bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough to text
  • Change the color of text
  • Change text capitalization
  • Add a shadow or outline to text
  • Intro to paragraph styles
  • Apply a paragraph style
  • Create, rename, or delete paragraph styles
  • Update or revert a paragraph style
  • Use a keyboard shortcut to apply a style
  • Adjust character spacing
  • Add drop caps
  • Raise and lower characters and text
  • Format fractions automatically
  • Create and use character styles
  • Format dashes and quotation marks
  • Format Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text
  • Set tab stops
  • Format text into columns
  • Adjust line spacing
  • Format lists
  • Add a highlight effect to text
  • Add mathematical equations
  • Add borders and rules (lines) to separate text
  • Add or delete a table
  • Select tables, cells, rows, and columns
  • Add or remove rows and columns
  • Move rows and columns
  • Resize rows and columns
  • Merge or unmerge cells
  • Change the look of table text
  • Show, hide, or edit a table title
  • Change table gridlines and colors
  • Use table styles
  • Resize, move, or lock a table
  • Add and edit cell content
  • Format dates, currency, and more
  • Create a custom cell format
  • Highlight cells conditionally
  • Format tables for bidirectional text
  • Alphabetize or sort table data
  • Calculate values using data in table cells
  • Use the Formulas and Functions Help
  • Add or delete a chart
  • Change a chart from one type to another
  • Modify chart data
  • Move, resize, and rotate a chart
  • Change the look of data series
  • Add a legend, gridlines, and other markings
  • Change the look of chart text and labels
  • Add a chart border and background
  • Use chart styles
  • Animate objects onto and off a slide
  • Animate objects on a slide
  • Change build order and timing
  • Add transitions
  • Present on your Mac
  • Present on a separate display
  • Present during a FaceTime call
  • Use a remote
  • Make a presentation advance automatically
  • Require a password to exit a presentation
  • Play a slideshow with multiple presenters
  • Rehearse on your Mac
  • Record presentations
  • Check spelling
  • Look up words
  • Find and replace text
  • Replace text automatically
  • Set author name and comment color
  • Highlight text
  • Add and print comments
  • Send a presentation
  • Intro to collaboration
  • Invite others to collaborate
  • Collaborate on a shared presentation
  • See the latest activity in a shared presentation
  • Change a shared presentation’s settings
  • Stop sharing a presentation
  • Shared folders and collaboration
  • Use Box to collaborate
  • Create an animated GIF
  • Post your presentation in a blog
  • Use iCloud Drive with Keynote
  • Export to PowerPoint or another file format
  • Reduce the presentation file size
  • Save a large presentation as a package file
  • Restore an earlier version of a presentation
  • Move a presentation
  • Delete a presentation
  • Password-protect a presentation
  • Lock a presentation
  • Create and manage custom themes
  • Transfer files with AirDrop
  • Transfer presentations with Handoff
  • Transfer presentations with the Finder
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Keyboard shortcut symbols

how to move keynote presentation to icloud

Use iCloud Drive with Keynote on Mac

When iCloud Drive is turned on for your device, it stores your presentations and keeps them up to date on your computers, iOS devices, and iPadOS devices where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account . You always see the latest versions of your presentations, no matter where you made your last edits.

For seamless syncing of presentations, use iCloud Drive and devices that meet these minimum system requirements: macOS 13, iOS 16, or iPadOS 16, or later. On iPhone or iPad, items stored in iCloud Drive appear in the presentation manager .

You can also use Keynote for iCloud to create and edit Keynote presentations using a supported web browser on a Mac computer or Windows device.

Set up iCloud Drive on your Mac

how to move keynote presentation to icloud

If you’re already signed in to your Apple Account: Click your name at the top of the sidebar.

If you’re not signed in to your Apple Account: Click “Sign in,” enter your Apple Account email address (or phone number) and password, click Continue, then follow the instructions.

If you don’t have an Apple Account: To create an Apple Account, click “Sign in,” click Don’t Have an Account?, then follow the instructions.

Important: If you forget the sign-in information for your Apple Account, you can recover it on the Apple Account website . Though you can have more than one Apple Account, it’s not recommended. Purchases made while signed in to one Apple Account can’t be merged with those made while signed in to another Apple Account.

Click iCloud, go to Saved to iCloud, then click See All.

Turn on Keynote (you may need to scroll down), then click Done.

When iCloud Drive is turned off for Keynote on your Mac, new presentations you create or edits you make aren’t saved to iCloud. Similarly, new presentations you create or edits you make to presentations on your devices or on your other computers aren’t available in Keynote on your Mac.

Open the Keynote for iCloud web app

Presentations you create using Keynote for iCloud are automatically available in Keynote on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, as long as they are set up to use iCloud and signed in to the same Apple Account. Similarly, if you create a presentation using Keynote on Mac, iPhone, or iPad, the presentation appears automatically in Keynote for iCloud.

Make sure you’re signed in to your Apple Account and are using iCloud Drive.

Click iCloud, click Drive, click "Apps syncing to iCloud Drive," then make sure Keynote is turned on.

On your Mac computer or Windows device, go to iCloud.com , then sign in to the same Apple Account.

Click Keynote.

For more information about using Keynote for iCloud, see Keynote for iCloud Help .

Tips for managing presentations across devices

Here are a few things to keep in mind about using iCloud to manage your presentations across devices:

If you edit and then close a presentation when you’re not connected to the internet, you see a cloud icon next to the presentation thumbnail in the Open dialog on your Mac. The next time you connect to the internet, the edited presentation is saved in iCloud Drive.

If you edit a presentation on multiple computers or devices and don’t allow time for your edits to sync, you will see conflicts. If you do get a conflict, you can choose to preserve any or all of the versions. (This applies only to presentations not shared with others ).

If you delete a presentation that someone shared with you, it’s deleted from your iCloud Drive and from Keynote on all your devices. You can click the shared link again to add the presentation back to your iCloud Drive, where it’s again available on all your computers and devices with iCloud turned on.

If you use folders to organize your presentations, the same folder organization applies on all your devices.

If you add a password to a presentation on one device, it’s required to open the presentation on all your devices.

You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you  sign up with your Apple Account , you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by  upvoting helpful replies and User Tips .

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Keynote not syncing

I just got a new iMac, and Keynote is not syncing with iOS devices and with MacBook Air. I did a presentation on the iMac and it doesn’t show up on my laptop or on my iPhone or iPad. Annoying because I can’t work on my presentation when I’m away from home.

Posted on Dec 3, 2022 11:01 PM

Similar questions

  • Help with Keynote on PC Cant figure out how to move one keynote slide to another on a PC. I'm working on a PC, google Chrome and logged onto icloud.com. I brought up an existing keynote presentation and in a separate window, started a new presentation. How do i import/copy/drag etc slides from the existing keynote to the new presentation in a different window? Is is possible while on a PC using icloud.com site? Thx 272 1
  • I recently upgraded to Sonoma on my Mac Book Pro and Mac MINI. I am creating a Keynote project on my Mac mini but want it to appear on my MacBook Pro, How do I do that. I recently upgraded to Sonoma on my Mac Book Pro and Mac MINI.   I am creating a Keynote project on my Mac mini but want it to appear on my MacBook Pro,  How do I do that. 286 2
  • does Keynote work on my iMac after I have turned iCloud off? does Keynote work on my iMac after I have turned iCloud off? 186 2

Loading page content

Page content loaded

Brandon_J_321

Dec 6, 2022 11:23 AM in response to LindaBre

Greetings LindaBre,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

Congratulations on your new iMac! We understand wanting to continue with your presentation on the go, so let's see if we can help with that.

For starters, let's have you confirm that you're signed in with the same Apple ID and iCloud information on your devices. This will be how your presentation can sync between your iMac, iPhone, and iPad. Check out the steps below to sync a presentation from your Mac, and you can find additional helpful information here: Sync a Keynote presentation across devices - Apple Support

Sync a presentation from a Mac
Make sure your  Mac is set up with iCloud  and has macOS 11 or later installed.
1. On your Mac, open the presentation you want to appear in iCloud.
2. Do either of the following:
• For an already saved presentation:  Choose File > Move To, then click the Where pop-up menu and choose iCloud.
• For an unsaved presentation:  Choose File > Save, then click the Where pop-up menu and choose iCloud.
Changes you make to the presentation in Keynote for iCloud appear automatically in Keynote on your Mac, and vice versa.

We hope that helps! Let us know if you've already taken these steps, and provide more details for understand what happens better. We'll pick up from there.

Have a great day!