Change Themes for Google Slides

A less-than-memorable presentation could be the result of using the wrong presentation theme. Use the right professional theme with great design layouts and your presentation is likely to be a hit. But with the wrong theme, you could leave your audience with a bad impression.

If you use Google Slides to create presentations, there are plenty of professional Google Slides themes you can import. Making a great impression has never been easier.

In this tutorial, I will explain in detail why choosing a high-quality Google Slides import theme is so important. I’ll also show you how to find and download professional Google Slides themes using either Envato Elements or the GraphicRiver marketplace—two terrific sources of premium themes. Finally, I’ll explain how to quickly apply customization to the Google Slides theme you chose after importing it into your presentation.

Importance of Presentation Theme Designs

You may have a great message for your presentation, extensive research, and hours of practice. However, unless you are careful about choosing your presentation theme design, all that hard work may not effectively reach your audience or best represent your brand.

No matter what presentation software you use, the presentation theme you select and use is important.

A good presentation theme helps you to:

1. Draw the Viewer In. We are all affected by what we see. The right theme makes good use of colors, images, fonts, and shapes to engage the audience through a presentation. The best themes come with excellent layout options and striking graphic features.

2. Shape the Reader’s Opinion. The appearance of your theme impacts the reader’s impression of you. A well-designed, professional theme leaves your audience with a positive impression of you and your message, whereas a sloppy design does the opposite.

3. Allow for Branding. A good theme enables you to add your unique branding elements, such as your color scheme and logo, which helps tie the presentation to your brand in your audience’s mind.

4. Save Time. The right theme saves you time. You no longer need to spend hours trying to develop the right look. A good theme will look attractive and come with unique slide designs, making it easy to customize for your needs.

5. Avoid Common Mistakes. There are many common design traps for those new to presentation design, such as using too many fonts or the wrong colors. A professional theme helps you avoid these pitfalls.

Curated Selections of Popular Google Slides Themes

• 30+ Cool Google Slides Themes (With Aesthetic Slide Design Ideas for 2023)

• 30 Google Slides Templates for Teachers, Educators, and Students for 2022

• 34 Best Google Slides Templates for Business Presentations in 2023

Exploring Envato Elements for Google Slides Themes

One source where you can find thousands of professionally designed Google Slides themes is Envato Elements. Here, you can download as many premium themes as you desire for one low subscription fee. With unlimited downloads, you can change Google themes for every presentation topic or audience.

Your unlimited downloads also include fonts, photos, icons, and other design elements to make your presentation unique and effective. Want to add a video clip or a soundtrack? You get unlimited access to those in Elements, too—all for one low monthly fee.

Each premium Google Slides theme from Envato Elements is designed for non-professional designers, making it easy to change and customize without needing special skills or software.

Finding & Downloading the Right Google Slides Theme

Step 1: Start at GraphicRiver or Envato Elements

When looking for a professional theme, our GraphicRiver marketplace and Envato Elements are excellent places to start. GraphicRiver features a premium selection of presentation templates available for download individually.

Each thumbnail represents a different Google Slides presentation theme. Click on a thumbnail to examine a theme closely. You will see slide design examples, information about the theme author, and details of what’s included in the download.

Step 2: Use Search to Look Through Google Slides Themes

If you have difficulty finding the right theme, use the search tool in the upper right corner to search for a Google Slides theme more aligned with your needs.

When you type in your search phrase, click the Search icon (magnifying glass) in the upper right. You will see a list of thumbnails that meet your search criteria. You can further narrow your search using tools on the left or sort the results in the upper-right corner.

Step 3: Select and Download a Google Slides Theme

Once you find a theme you’d like to download, click on its thumbnail.

Details about the selected theme will display. In the right sidebar, you will see an Add to Cart button and a Buy Now button. Click Add to Cart to add the theme to your cart and choose a license, or click Buy Now to check out with a Regular license.

When you click Add to Cart, a dialog box appears. By default, you are purchasing a Regular license, but you can switch to an Extended license if needed.

About These Licenses

• Regular License: Allows a single use of the theme for yourself or an end client without charging for it.

• Extended License: Allows for a single use of the theme, but you can charge the end user and sell the end result.

Learn more about these licenses.

Go to Checkout

Click the Go to Checkout button. If you need to log in to your GraphicRiver account, you will be prompted to do so.

Once logged in, enter your purchase information and complete the purchase. Click the Download button to complete the transaction. A popup will ask whether you wish to open or save your download. Select Save File and click OK. Your Google Slides template ZIP file will be downloaded to your computer.

To use the downloaded template, unzip the ZIP file.

Modifying the Google Slides Template

If you don’t have an existing presentation, you can get started by opening the downloaded template file and editing it.

Step 1: Drag Google Slides Theme File to Google Drive

After unzipping, drag the Google Slides folder to your Google Drive.

Step 2: Copy and Open the Template File

Open the folder and navigate to the Presentations subfolder. You’ll see several presentation themes. Right-click on the template you want to use and select Make a copy to avoid overwriting the original.

Step 3: Edit the Google Slides Theme

Open the copied theme and choose Open with Google Slides. Type your title in the upper left corner, highlight existing text to replace it, and edit the presentation as needed.

Changing a Google Slides Theme for an Existing Presentation

Now that you’ve found a theme to use, let’s apply it to an existing Google Slides presentation.

Step 1: Open a Presentation

Open your Google Drive and select an existing presentation.

Step 2: Change the Theme

Select the slides you wish to change by clicking on them. To apply the new Google Slides theme, click Slide > Change theme. A side panel will appear showing available themes. Click the Import theme option to upload your chosen theme from your computer.

Step 3: Make Adjustments

After applying the theme, you may need to adjust some formatting to ensure it looks cohesive. For instance, reformat text where white text appears on a white background.

Conclusion

The theme you use for your presentation is crucial. A professional presentation theme can significantly impact the impression you make. Now that you know how to change Google themes by importing one into your Google Slides presentation, you can enhance your presentations effectively.