Add or Change Themes in PowerPoint

Are you tired of using the same theme over and over again? Would you like to change the design? In this new Slidesgo School tutorial, you’ll learn how to add and change themes in PowerPoint.

Changing a Theme

To change the theme of your presentation, follow these steps:

• Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
• Navigate to the Design tab and look for the Themes group. Here, you can select a theme that fits your needs from the available list. Hovering over any theme will give you a preview, and when you’re ready, simply click on the desired theme to apply it to the entire presentation.

Keep in mind that applying a new theme will remove the existing theme from all slides, unless the previous theme is a default PowerPoint theme. In that case, it will still be available in the list of default themes.

Applying a New Theme to Selected Slides Only

If you wish to apply a new theme to specific slides rather than the entire presentation, follow these steps:

• Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
• Go to the Design tab.
• Select the slide(s) you want to change. To select multiple slides, hold down the Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) key while clicking on each slide.

• After selecting the slides, choose the theme you want to apply, right-click on it, and select Apply to Selected Slides. Be aware that if you later change the main theme of the presentation, the selected slides will also be affected.

Importing a Theme

To import a theme from another presentation, use the following steps:

• Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
• In the Design tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Themes group and select Browse for Themes. A new window will appear where you can locate the presentation that contains the theme you wish to import.

Note that the imported theme will overwrite the current theme across all slides unless it is one of PowerPoint’s default themes.

Editing the Colors of the Theme

You can customize the colors within your theme to better fit your presentation by following these steps:

• Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
• Go to the Design tab. If your theme includes color variations, you’ll see these options in the Variants group.

• To change the color palette, click the Variants drop-down arrow, select Colors, and choose from the available presets. For a specific palette, click Customize Colors, where a new window will open allowing you to select your preferred colors. A preview will be visible in the top-right corner of this window.

• To modify the background color, click the Variants drop-down arrow again and select Background Styles. You can choose from preset options or click Format Background to utilize solid colors, gradients, images, or patterns. If you apply a custom background, remember to click Apply to All. Note that using the Format Background options will remove any existing background images.

• Additionally, in the Variants group, you’ll find options to adjust the font style or effects applied to your presentation. These options come with presets, and if you have the latest version of PowerPoint, you’ll see additional customization features available for both fonts and styles.