create word document from powerpoint presentation

How to Convert PowerPoint to Word: A Step-by-Step Guide

Converting a PowerPoint presentation to a Word document can be a useful skill, whether you’re looking to create handouts, collaborate on content, or just prefer the Word format. It’s a pretty straightforward process that involves a few simple steps using Microsoft Office’s built-in features. After reading this paragraph, you’ll have a basic understanding of how to convert your PowerPoint file into a Word document.

Step by Step Tutorial: Converting PowerPoint to Word

Before jumping into the steps, it’s important to understand that converting your PowerPoint to Word will create a new document that displays the content of your slides in Word format. This can be handy for editing or sharing in a more universally accessible format.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation

First things first, you need to have your PowerPoint presentation open. Make sure it’s the final version, as any changes made after conversion won’t be reflected in the Word document.

Opening your PowerPoint presentation is the initial step in the conversion process. Ensure that all the information you want to convert is included and that you’re satisfied with the layout and content of your slides.

Step 2: Click on ‘File’ in the top-left corner

Once your PowerPoint is open, you’ll need to access the File menu to begin the conversion process.

Clicking on ‘File’ will bring up a list of options, including ‘Save As’ and ‘Export,’ which are the two main routes you can take to convert your PowerPoint into a Word document.

Step 3: Select ‘Export’ from the drop-down menu

After clicking on ‘File,’ you’ll see an option labeled ‘Export.’ Click on this to move forward with the conversion.

In the ‘Export’ menu, you’ll find different options for how you can convert and save your PowerPoint presentation. You’ll want to look for ‘Create Handouts.’

Step 4: Choose ‘Create Handouts’

Within the Export menu, you’ll see an option to ‘Create Handouts.’ This is the feature that will allow you to convert your PowerPoint slides into a Word document.

When you choose ‘Create Handouts,’ a new menu will pop up, giving you a few different options for how your content will appear in the Word document.

Step 5: Select ‘Create Handouts in Microsoft Word’

Click on the ‘Create Handouts in Microsoft Word’ button to initiate the conversion process.

After clicking this button, you’ll be prompted to choose how you want the slides to be arranged in the Word document. You can choose to have slides with notes next to them, blank lines next to the slides for audience notes, or just the slides themselves.

Step 6: Choose your page layout and click ‘OK’

Decide how you want your slides to be laid out in the Word document. You can have them appear as thumbnail images with or without accompanying notes.

Once you’ve selected your desired layout, click ‘OK.’ The PowerPoint will then convert and open as a Word document, which might take a few moments depending on the size of your presentation.

After completing these steps, you’ll have a new Word document with the content of your PowerPoint slides. You can now edit, format, and save this document just like any other Word file.

Tips: Making the Most of Your PowerPoint to Word Conversion

• Save your PowerPoint presentation before starting the conversion process to ensure you don’t lose any work.
• Consider the layout of your slides and how they will translate to a Word document. Some complex designs might not convert cleanly.
• If you have extensive notes in your PowerPoint, make sure to choose a layout that includes these in the Word document.
• Review and edit your converted Word document to fix any formatting issues that may have arisen during conversion.
• Save your new Word document in a location you’ll remember, and consider giving it a descriptive name that differentiates it from the original PowerPoint file.

Frequently Asked Questions

What versions of microsoft office do i need to convert powerpoint to word.

You will need a version of Microsoft Office that includes both PowerPoint and Word. Generally, any version from Office 2007 onwards should have this capability.

Can I convert a PowerPoint to Word on a Mac?

Yes, the process is similar to the one described above for Windows. The menus might look slightly different, but the overall process is the same.

Will animations and transitions in PowerPoint transfer to Word?

No, animations and transitions are specific to PowerPoint. When you convert to Word, these will not be included in the document.

Can I convert a PDF of a PowerPoint presentation to Word?

While it’s not the same process, you can use a PDF converter tool to convert a PDF into a Word document. However, the formatting may not be as clean as converting directly from PowerPoint.

What should I do if my formatting looks off after converting?

You may need to manually adjust the formatting in your Word document. This could include fixing line breaks, image placement, and text formatting.

• Open your PowerPoint presentation.
• Click on ‘File’ in the top-left corner.
• Select ‘Export’ from the drop-down menu.
• Choose ‘Create Handouts’.
• Select ‘Create Handouts in Microsoft Word’.
• Choose your page layout and click ‘OK’.

Converting a PowerPoint presentation to a Word document is a useful skill that can make your content more accessible and easier to distribute. Whether you’re a student wanting to create study guides or a professional needing to share presentation notes, mastering this process can save you time and make your work more versatile. Remember, the key is to carefully choose the layout that best fits your needs and to make any necessary formatting adjustments once the conversion is complete. With these tips and steps in mind, you’re ready to convert your PowerPoint to Word with confidence.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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• Add an image
• Draft and add content
• Rewrite text
• Chat with Copilot
• Create a summary
• Copilot in Word on mobile devices
• Create a new presentation
• Add a slide or image
• Summarize your presentation
• Organize your presentation
• Use your organization's branding
• Copilot in PowerPoint for mobile devices
• Draft an Outlook email message
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• Suggested drafts in Outlook
• Email coaching
• Get started with Copilot in Excel
• Identify insights
• Highlight, sort, and filter your data
• Generate formula columns
• Summarize your OneNote notes
• Create a to-do list and tasks
• Create project plans in OneNote

Create a new presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint

Note:  This feature is available to customers with either a Copilot for Microsoft 365 (work) or Copilot Pro (home) license.

Create a new presentation in PowerPoint.

Select Send and Copilot will draft a presentation for you!

Edit the presentation to suit your needs, ask Copilot to add a slide , or start over with a new presentation and refine your prompt to include more specifics. For example, "Create a presentation about hybrid meeting best practices that includes examples for team building."

Create a presentation with a template

Copilot can use your existing themes and templates to create a presentation. Learn more about making your presentations look great with Copilot in PowerPoint .

Enter your prompt or select Create presentation from file to create a first draft of your presentation using your theme or template.

Edit the presentation to suit your needs, ask Copilot to add a slide , organize your presentation, or add images.

Create a presentation from a file with Copilot

Note:  This feature is available to customers with a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license for full options, or a Copilot Pro license for limited options.

With Copilot in PowerPoint, you can create a presentation from an existing Word document—or a PDF if you have a Copilot for Microsoft 365 (work) license. Point Copilot in PowerPoint to your document, and it will generate slides, apply layouts, create speaker notes, and choose a theme for you.

Select the document you want from the picker that appears. If you don't see the document you want, start typing any part of the filename to search for it. You can use a Word document—or, if you have a Copilot for Microsoft 365 (work) license, you can use a PDF, and encrypted documents are available as well.

Note:  If the file picker doesn't appear, type a front slash (/) to cause it to pop up.

Best practices when creating a presentation from a Word document

Leverage word styles to help copilot understand the structure of your document.

By using Styles in Word to organize your document, Copilot will better understand your source document structure and how to break it up into slides of a presentation. 

Include images that are relevant to your presentation

When creating a presentation, Copilot will try to incorporate any images in your Word document. If you have images that you would like to be brought over to your presentation, be sure to include them in your Word document.

Start with your organization's template

If your organization uses a standard presentation template, start with this file before creating a presentation with Copilot. Starting with a template will let Copilot know that you would like to retain the presentation's theme and design. Copilot will use existing layouts to build a presentation for you. Learn more about making your presentations look great with Copilot in PowerPoint .

Tip:  Copilot works best with Word documents that are less than 24 MB.

Welcome to Copilot in PowerPoint

Frequently Asked Questions about Copilot in PowerPoint

Where can I get Microsoft Copilot?

Copilot Lab - Start your Copilot journey

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How to Convert a Word Document to a PowerPoint Presentation

Last Updated: June 14, 2024

Formatting the Document Before Converting

Converting to powerpoint.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA . Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 951,873 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow article will show you the best way to convert a Microsoft Word document into a PowerPoint presentation on your PC or Mac. By making a few quick formatting changes to your document, you can import the document into PowerPoint and automatically create pre-formatted slides without having to retype anything!

Exporting Word Documents to PowerPoint

In Word, highlight and change your title text to “Heading 1” and the information under each title to “Heading 2.” Save your document. In PowerPoint, open a blank presentation and click New Slide > Slides from Outline. Select your Word document and click “Insert.”

• Each section needs a title at the top, and the title should be on its own line. The title will then become the title of that section's PowerPoint slide.
• For example, let's say the first page of your Word document contains sales information that you'd like to appear on a PowerPoint slide called "Sales." At the top of that section, you'd type "Sales" as the title, since you want that to be the name of your slide. Below that would be the content of the slide.
• Press Enter or Return after each section so there's at least one empty line between the end of a section and the title of the next slide.

• If you don't see style examples on the toolbar, click the Styles menu to view them.

• Once you change the first title to "Header 1," go through the rest of your document and do the same with other slide titles. You'll want all of the titles to be set to this style so they'll convert properly.

• Make sure you have at least one blank line between the title and the rest of the page's content.

• In the content area, press the Enter or Return key to add space between every block of text you want separated on the slide. Every individual line or paragraph will be a different bullet on your final slide.

• Text formatted with "Heading 3"

• If you delete the spaces between lines or try to add new text, it may not be formatted correctly, so always do this step last.

• Close Word when you're finished so there are no conflicts with PowerPoint in the remaining steps.

• Every title you set to "Header 1" appears on its own slide, along with its corresponding content, which you set to "Header 2."
• You can now design the slides however you'd like using all of your favorite PowerPoint tools.
• Word will not automatically convert images for you—you will have to manually add the images into your presentation.

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-powerpoint-presentation-from-an-outline-f6294909-04e9-4020-b9a8-4587b112692c
• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/import-a-word-outline-into-powerpoint-a25f6e01-9a19-4c0d-a108-7f533e42dfe9

About This Article

1. Break the document into sections with titles. 2. Apply the "Heading 1" style to each section title. 3. Apply the "Heading 2" style to each section's content. 4. Separate each slide with a blank line. 5. Save the document as a new file. 6. Open PowerPoint and click Browse . 7. Navigate to the folder containing the Word document. 8. Select All Outlines from the drop-down menu. 9. Select the Word document and click Open . 10. Edit and save as a PowerPoint presentation. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Feb 23, 2021

Export Word documents into PowerPoint presentations

Mohit Anand

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Hi, Office Insiders, my name is Mohit Anand, and I’m a Program Manager on the PowerPoint team. I’m glad to share that a new scenario  is now available in Word for the web .  You can now export  Word document s   in to PowerPoint presentation s .  

Word document s  to PowerPoint presentation s  

Have you  ever  wished you could easily export an existing  Word document into a great PowerPoint presentation?  If so, the wait is over!   

When you use the Export command, it creates a  presentation  based on   all   the summarized sections of the document.  It also  adds   imagery, icons, videos, themes, and fonts  using  AI.  

How it works  

To turn your Word document into a PowerPoint presentation:  

• Open any document  you want to convert into a presentation  in Word for  the  web.  
• Click  File   >   Export > Export to PowerPoint presentation .  
• When  prompted ,  choose a design theme for your presentation.  
• Click  Open presentation  to  re view  the results  in PowerPoint for  the   w eb.  
• The presentation  w ill  be  created  in the OneDrive  root folder  of the user who used this option.  

Scenarios to try  

• Open a Word document and explore the available PowerPoint themes.  
• Open a Word document that is mostly text and see  which AI-backed assets are  added  by clicking on  Export .  

Known Issues  

• This feature is currently only available in English.  
• It is not available in the Internet Explorer  and Safari  browser.  
• We only support text content for the transformation to presentation, other media content support is not  currently  available.   You can add your own media to the presentation after  you have  exported  your Word document.  

Availability   

Export  your document to  PowerPoint presentation is rolling out to  all Word for the web users shortly .    

Features are released over some time to ensure that things are working smoothly.  Therefore, we highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Additionally, sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as Insiders, have had the opportunity to try them.  

Feedback  

If you have any feedback or suggestions, you can submit them by clicking  Help > Feedback.        

Learn more about what  other information you should include in your feedback  to ensure it’s actionable and reaches the right people.  

We’re excited to hear from you! Sign up for the  Office Insider newsletter , and you’ll get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month.

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Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Convert Microsoft Word Documents to PowerPoint Slides Using Word for the Web

By Erin Wright

This tutorial shows how to convert Microsoft Word documents to PowerPoint slides using Word for the web.

We will also look at how to download the converted file to your computer so you can finish customizing the slides in the desktop version of PowerPoint.

Watch all the steps shown here in real time!

Explore more than 250 writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel .

Table of Contents:

How to Convert Word Documents to PowerPoint Slides

• How to Download PowerPoint for Web Files to Your Computer

Your Word document’s first-level heading will become the cover slide. Your second-level headings will become the individual slide titles. For information about creating headings, see “ How to Create and Customize Headings in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac) .

• Log in to your Microsoft 365 account at microsoft365.com using a browser such as Edge or Chrome. (This feature isn’t available in the Safari browser.)
• If your Word file is stored on your computer, select the Upload option.

• Locate and select the Word file in the Open dialog box and then select the Open button.

• After your file opens, select the File tab.

• Select the Export tab.
• Select the Export to PowerPoint presentation option.

• Select a design option from the Export to presentation dialog box. (Select the See more themes button, if necessary.)

Pro Tip: You can change and customize your design later, so don’t worry if you can’t find one that is perfect.

• Select the Export button.

• Select the Open Presentation button.

Your Word document will appear as slides in PowerPoint for the web. The new PowerPoint (.pptx) file should be saved in your OneDrive account. Continue to edit the slides in PowerPoint for the web, as you normally would.

Alternatively, download the file to your computer in order to customize your slides in the PowerPoint desktop app.

How to Download PowerPoint for the Web Files to Your Computer

• Select the File tab.

• Select the Save as option.

• Select the Download a copy option.

• Select the Download button in the dialog box.

• Locate and select the file in your browser’s Download folder or press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
• Select the PowerPoint file in your Downloads folder to open it in your desktop PowerPoint app.

Friendly Reminder: Remember to save your PowerPoint file in another location other than your Downloads folder.

Related Resources

How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides

How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides on Mac

How to Insert a Linked PowerPoint Slide in Microsoft Word

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How to Convert a Word Document to a PowerPoint Presentation

To convert a Word document to a PowerPoint presentation is a relatively easy process that takes just a few steps. Although it’s not perfect.

Microsoft PowerPoint presentations sometimes grow out of Microsoft Word documents. Sure, you can go back and forth using copy/paste to create your presentation. However, there’s an easier way to do this by making two slight changes to the Microsoft Word text . Here are some ways to convert a Word document to a PowerPoint presentation.

Step One: Change Your Word Document

The first thing you need to do to convert a Word Document to a PowerPoint Presentation is to make formatting changes to the former. In the following example, we’ve taken text published in a GroovyPost article about podcasts .

When brought to Microsoft Word, this content was divided into two sections for each podcast: the header and the body.

To more easily convert this content for PowerPoint use, we’re changing each heading to Heading 1 style while changing the body to Heading 2 style . You can adjust the styles by clicking on the Home section, then choosing Styles. Repeat for each section. Once you’re finished changing your text to Heading 1 and Heading 2 sections, save your Microsoft Word document.

Here’s the finished Word document in our example; your document might look different, depending on the styles:

Step Two: Import Into Microsoft PowerPoint

It’s now time to convert a Word document to a PowerPoint presentation by following the directions below.

• Open Microsoft PowerPoint .
• Create a new Microsoft PowerPoint presentation .
• Select Home > New Slide > Slides from Outline .

• Choose the Microsoft Word document that includes the Headline 1 and Headline 2 styles mentioned above.
• Click Insert .

Each page in the new PowerPoint presentation includes every instance of the Headline 1 and Headline 2 styles.

From here, you can make changes to your Microsoft PowerPoint presentation just as you would any other. In this case, you’re going to need to adjust the fonts and format to suit your tastes better.

Another Option

There’s another way to confirm a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation. It’s not as easy as the option mentioned above. However, it still works and might better suit your situation.

In this example:

• Open Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer.
• Create a new presentation .
• Select the slide where you want to place the Word document.
• Click Insert > Object , which is under the Text section in Object.
• Choose Create From File .
• Click Browse , then find your Microsoft Word document.
• Select OK .

As you can see above, this solution brings everything from the Microsoft Word document into one PowerPoint presentation slide. With lengthy Microsoft Word documents, this isn’t ideal. However, for shorter documents, the solution works well.

The Latest Way

In March 2021, Microsoft announced another way to confirm Word documents into PowerPoint presentations. For now, this solution is only available through Microsoft 365 on the web.

• Log into your Microsoft 365 from the online Office website .
• Open your Word document you wish to convert.
• Choose File > Export > Export to PowerPoint presentation .
• Select a PowerPoint theme .
• Choose Export .

That’s it! Your Word document is converted into a PowerPoint presentation.

The new export to PowerPoint tool isn’t a finished product. It also comes with the following limitations at the time of this writing:

• This feature is currently only available in English.
• You currently cannot use the feature on the Internet Explorer and Safari browsers.
• This feature only supports text content; support for other media content is not currently available.
• You can add your own media to the presentation after you have exported your Word document to a PowerPoint presentation.

No doubt, once Microsoft finishes creating this solution (and on desktop versions), it will quickly become the best way to convert Word documents to PowerPoint presentations. In the meantime, you may have to use one of the other solutions.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful app that’s available on Windows, macOS, and mobile devices. Besides converting Word documents to PowerPoint presentations, you can convert a presentation to a video . You can also  add GIFs to a PowerPoint  and insert PDFs into your PowerPoint .

You can also record or add audio to a PowerPoint to add music or other audio to your presentation. Finally, you can add speaker notes  when presenting live, giving you extra points to mention without filling up your slides.

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