Reduce PowerPoint Presentation Size

Sometimes, after creating a presentation, you come to realize that its size is bigger than what you expected and, thus, you need a way to reduce the space it takes up on your drive or storage device.

In this Slidesgo School tutorial, we are going to give you some hints on how to decrease the size of a PowerPoint file.

Reducing the Size of the Images

One of the most effective ways to reduce the size of your PowerPoint presentation is by optimizing images.

• Open your PowerPoint presentation.
• Select an image.
• The Format tab will appear at the top of the screen. Go to that tab and click Compress Pictures.

A dialog box will appear, where you can choose whether to:

• Apply the changes only to the selected picture or all of them.
• Delete all cropped areas (please note that if you choose this option, these areas will be deleted and you will not be able to restore the image to its original state).
• Under “Resolution”, we recommend that you select “Use default resolution”.

Changing the Resolution

Adjusting the overall resolution settings can also help decrease your file size.

• Open your PowerPoint presentation, go to the File tab and click Options. Then, select the Advanced tab.
• Under “Image Size and Quality”, check Discard editing data and uncheck Do not compress images in file.

There’s an option that allows you to set the default resolution (measured in ppi). We recommend that you choose one that suits your presentation mode.

Lowering the Amount of Characters from Embedded Fonts

To minimize the file size further, consider embedding only the characters used in your presentation. This will limit some editing capabilities for other users who do not have the same font already installed on their computers. To do this, follow these steps:

• Go to File tab > Options > Save.

Under “Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation”, check the following boxes:

• Embed fonts in the file.
• Embed only the characters used in the presentation.

Pro Tip: If you have used fonts that you would like to keep or you think other users will need when editing this presentation, check Embed all characters instead of Embed only the characters used in the presentation.

Exporting the Presentation as a PDF

Another effective method to reduce the file size is by converting your PowerPoint presentation to a PDF. This will generate a lighter file with the same contents, which is particularly useful for sharing.

To do this, go to:

• File tab > Save as Adobe PDF.
• If you do not have Adobe PDF installed, this option will not appear. Instead, go to the File tab, click Save as and select “PDF” from the “Save as type” drop-down list.

Note that the instructions listed in this tutorial assume you are using the PowerPoint version included within Office 365. If you have a different version, some of the options might change. Please visit Microsoft Support for more information if that is the case.