New Presentations

Learning Outcomes

  • Create and save a new presentation.

You can open PowerPoint from the Start menu (or the Applications folder on a Mac) by clicking on the PowerPoint icon. The PowerPoint icon comes in a variety of forms depending on your OS and version of PowerPoint, but it always features the color orange and the letter P.

4 different application icons for Microsoft PowerPoint are displayed. The oldest version is on the right and the newest on the left.

When you open PowerPoint, some versions of PowerPoint may take you straight to a new blank presentation. Newer versions such as PowerPoint 2019 and 365 will take you to a menu called the backstage view to choose to open a new blank presentation or open a new presentation from a template.

The backstage view of a Microsoft Powerpoint.

Note that the backstage view on a Macintosh computer is a little different.

The backstage view of Microsoft Powerpoint from a Mac user.

To open a blank presentation, double-click the blank presentation option. You can also choose to select a theme for a new presentation, but remember: themes can be changed at any time.

A blank Microsoft Powerpoint is open.

If you already have a file open in PowerPoint, you can create a new presentation by clicking File>New. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+N (Cmnd+N for Mac).

Once you have a new presentation open, you save it the same way you would a Word or an Excel file. The default file type is .pptx (PowerPoint Presentation). Refer to the Word lesson if you need a refresher.

Practice Question