PowerPoint VBA Macro Examples & Tutorial

This is a complete guide to automating PowerPoint using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) Macros.  Below you will find many useful examples.

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PowerPoint VBA (Macros) Tutorial

Save As Macro-Enabled Presentation

The Presentation with VBA code should be ‘Saved As’ PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation (*.pptm)

Enable ‘Developer’ Tab in the Ribbon

You should to enable the Developer tab on the Ribbon before creating VBA code. To do so choose File -> Options then click on ‘Customize Ribbon’ and check the box next to ‘Developer’ tab in the right pane.

Create PowerPoint Macro

This is a simple example of a PowerPoint VBA Macro:

Sub SavePresentationAsPDF()
    Dim pptName As String
    Dim PDFName As String
    
    ' Save PowerPoint as PDF
    pptName = ActivePresentation.FullName
    ' Replace PowerPoint file extension in the name to PDF
    PDFName = Left(pptName, InStr(pptName, ".")) & "pdf"
    ActivePresentation.ExportAsFixedFormat PDFName, 2  ' ppFixedFormatTypePDF = 2
 
End Sub

It saves the active presentation as a PDF. Each line of code does the following:

• Creates variables for the PowerPoint name and PDF name
• Assigns the active presentation name to pptName variable
• Creates the full PDF name
• Saves the presentation as a PDF

PowerPoint Application

When VBA code is running within a PowerPoint Presentation, PowerPoint Application is the default application and it can be manipulated without explicitly reference. Create a New Presentation

To create a presentation, use the Add method of PowerPoint application.

Application.Presentations.Add
' or without explicit reference
Presentations.Add

Open a New Presentation

To open a new and blank presentation use the Add method of Application.Presentations collection

Presentations.Add

Open an Existing Presentation

To open a presentation which you have already created, use the Open method of Application.Presentations collection

Presentations.Open ("My Presentation.pptx")

The code above assumes that the presentation is in the same directory as the PowerPoint Presentation containing the code.

Open and Assign to a Variable

You should assign the presentation you open to a variable so that you can manipulate it as per your requirements.

Dim ppt As Presentation
Set ppt = Presentations.Open("My Presentation.pptx")

Refer to Active Presentation

Use the reference ActivePresentation to manipulate the Presentation active in the GUI when the VBA code is executed.

' Print the name of the ActivePresentation to the Immediate Window
Debug.Print ActivePresentation.Name

Save Current Presentation

The statement below will save the Active Presentation if it was saved before. It it has not been saved then you will be prompted with the ‘Save As’ dialog.

ActivePresentation.Save

Close Current Presentation

The statement below will close the Active Presentation even if it was not saved after the last edit.

ActivePresentation.Close

Useful References

Assign Existing Presentation (by name) to Variable

Dim myPresentationByName As Presentation
Set myPresentationByName = Application.Presentations("My Presentation")

Assign Active Slide to Variable

Dim currentSlide As Slide
Set currentSlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide

Assign slide by Index to Variable

Dim mySlide As Slide
Set mySlide = ActivePresentation.Slides(11)

Count Number of Slides

Dim slideCount As Long
slideCount = ActivePresentation.Slides.Count

Get Slide Index Number of Current Slide

Dim currentSlideIndex As Integer
currentSlideIndex = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide.SlideIndex

Add a Blank Slide to End of Slide Show

Dim slideCount As Long
Dim newSlide as Slide

slideCount = ActivePresentation.Slides.Count
Set newSlide = ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(slideCount + 1, 12)
' or as ppLayoutBlank = 12
Set newSlide = ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(slideCount + 1, ppLayoutBlank)

Add a slide after current slide

Dim newSlide As Slide
Dim currentSlideIndex as Integer

currentSlideIndex = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide.SlideIndex
Set newSlide = ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(currentSlideIndex, ppLayoutBlank)

Delete a Slide

Dim currentSlideIndex as Integer

currentSlideIndex = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide.SlideIndex
ActivePresentation.Slides(currentSlideIndex).Delete

Go to a Specific Slide

' This will take you to slide number 4
Application.ActiveWindow.View.GotoSlide (4)

Move Slide

You can move a slide from its old position to the new position

' Move from slide 3 to first slide
Dim oldPosition as integer, dim newPosition as integer

oldPosition = 3
newPosition = 1
ActivePresentation.Slides(oldPosition).MoveTo toPos:=newPosition

Loop Through All Slides

You can do something with each slide or go through all slides to find a few slides and do something about with using the code;

Dim mySlide as Slide

For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
   ' Do something with the current slide referred to in variable 'mySlide'
   ' Debug.Print mySlide.Name
Next Slide

Loop through All Shapes of Active Slide

The power of PowerPoint can be realized by using ‘Shapes.’ The code below loops through all the shapes on the current slide so that you can manipulate them as you want;

Dim currentSlide as Slide
Dim shp as Shape

Set currentSlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide
For Each shp In currentSlide.Shapes
  ' Do something with the current shape referred to in variable 'shp'
  ' For example print the name of the shape in the Immediate Window
  Debug.Print shp.Name
Next shp

Loop through All shapes in All Slides

You can loop through all the shapes in the presentation by adding a loop to go through all slides.

Dim currentSlide as Slide
Dim shp as Shape

For Each currentSlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
  For Each shp In currentSlide.Shapes
    ' Do something with the current shape referred to in variable 'shp'
    Debug.Print shp.Name
  Next shp
Next currentSlide

Loop through All TextBoxes of Active Slide

TextBoxes are the most often used Shape in PowerPoint presentations. You can loop through all the Text Boxes by adding a check for ‘Shape Type.’ TexBoxes have the shape type defined as the VBA constant msoTextBox (the numerical value of the constant is 17)

Dim currentSlide as Slide
Dim shp as Shape

Set currentSlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide
For Each shp In currentSlide.Shapes
  ' Check if the shape type is msoTextBox 
  If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
    'Print the text in the TextBox
    Debug.Print shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Text
  End If
Next shp

Loop through All TextBoxes in All Slides

Again, you can loop through all the textboxes in the presentation by adding a loop to go through all slides.

Dim currentSlide as Slide Dim shp as Shape

For Each currentSlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
  For Each shp In currentSlide.Shapes
    ' Check if the shape type is msoTextBox 
    If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
      ' Do something with the TextBox referred to in variable 'shp'
      Debug.Print shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Text
    End If
  Next shp
Next currentSlide

Copy Selected slides to new PPT Presentation

To copy certain slides to a new presentations, first select the desired slides in the existing presentation and then run the code below;

Dim currentPresentation as Presentation
Dim currentSlide as Slide
Dim newPresentation as Presentation

' Save reference to current presentation
Set currentPresentation = Application.ActivePresentation

' Save reference to current slide
Set currentSlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide

' Add new Presentation and save to a reference
Set NewPresentation = Application.Presentations.Add

' Copy selected slides
Selection.Copy

' Paste it in new Presentation
NewPresentation.Slides.Paste

Copy Active Slide to End of Active Presentation

' Copy current slide
Application.ActiveWindow.View.Slide.Copy

' Paste at the end
ActivePresentation.Slides.Paste

Useful PowerPoint Macro Examples

Here are some useful macro examples showing how to do tasks. These will also demonstrate the concepts described above.

Change Slide During Slide Show

Sub ChangeSlideDuringSlideShow()
    Dim SlideIndex As Integer
    Dim SlideIndexPrevious As Integer
 
    '  Change Current slide to selected slide 4 during during slide show
    SlideIndex = 4
    ' Index of the current slide show window is 1 in the SlideShowWindows collection
    SlideIndexPrevious = SlideShowWindows(1).View.CurrentShowPosition
    SlideShowWindows(1).View.GotoSlide SlideIndex
     
End Sub

Change Font on All Slides in All TextBoxes

Sub ChangeFontOnAllSlides()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
    
    ' Change Font Size on all Slides
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For Each shp In mySlide.Shapes
        If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
          ' Change Fontsize to 24
          shp.TextFrame.TextRange.Font.Size = 24
        End If
      Next shp
    Next mySlide
 
End Sub

Change Case From Upper to Normal in All TextBoxes

Sub ChangeCaseFromUppertoNormal()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
    
    ' Change From Upper Case to Normal Case for all slides
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For Each shp In mySlide.Shapes
        If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
          ' Change Upper Case to Normal Case
          shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Allcaps = False
        End If
      Next shp
    Next mySlide
 
End Sub

Toggle Case between Upper and Normal in All TextBoxes

Sub ToggleCaseBetweenUpperAndNormal()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
 
    '  Toggle between Upper Case and Normal Case for all slides
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For Each shp In mySlide.Shapes
        If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
          ' Toggle between Upper Case and Normal Case
          shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Allcaps = _
            Not shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Allcaps
        End If
      Next shp
    Next mySlide
 
End Sub

Remove Underline from Descenders

In typography, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font. In most fonts, descenders are reserved for lowercase characters such as g, j, q, p, y, and sometimes f.

When you underline text, it does not look nice under descenders. Here is the code to remove underline from all such characters g, j, p, q, and y in the whole Presentation.

Sub RemoveUnderlineFromDescenders()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
    Dim descenders_list As String
    Dim phrase As String
    Dim x As Long
    
    ' Remove underlines from Descenders
    descenders_list = "gjpqy"
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For Each shp In mySlide.Shapes
        If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
         ' Remove underline from letters "gjpqy"
         With shp.TextFrame.TextRange
            phrase = .Text
           For x = 1 To Len(.Text)
             If InStr(descenders_list, Mid$(phrase, x, 1)) > 0 Then
              .Characters(x, 1).Font.Underline = False
             End If
           Next x
         End With
       End If
      Next shp
    Next mySlide
 
End Sub

Remove Animations From All Slides

Use the code below to remove all animations set in a Presentation.

Sub RemoveAnimationsFromAllSlides()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim i As Long
 
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For i = mySlide.TimeLine.MainSequence.Count To 1 Step -1
       'Remove Each Animation
       mySlide.TimeLine.MainSequence.Item(i).Delete
      Next i
    Next mySlide
     
End Sub

Save Presentation As PDF

You can easily save Active Presentation in PDF format.

Sub SavePresentationAsPDF()
    Dim pptName As String
    Dim PDFName As String
    
    ' Save PowerPoint as PDF
    pptName = ActivePresentation.FullName
    ' Replace PowerPoint file extension in the name to PDF
    PDFName = Left(pptName, InStr(pptName, ".")) & "pdf"
    ActivePresentation.ExportAsFixedFormat PDFName, 2  ' ppFixedFormatTypePDF = 2
 
End Sub

Find and Replace Text

You can find and replace text in All TextBoxes of All Slides. After the fist instance of the text you want to find (defined by findWhat) you need to loop through the Find command to find other instances, if any.

Sub FindAndReplaceText()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
    Dim findWhat As String
    Dim replaceWith As String
    Dim ShpTxt As TextRange
    Dim TmpTxt As TextRange

    findWhat = "jackal"
    replaceWith = "fox"
     
    ' Find and Find and Replace
    For Each mySlide In ActivePresentation.Slides
      For Each shp In mySlide.Shapes
        If shp.Type = 17 Then ' msoTextBox = 17
          Set ShpTxt = shp.TextFrame.TextRange
          'Find First Instance of "Find" word (if exists)
          Set TmpTxt = ShpTxt.Replace(findWhat, _
             Replacewhat:=replaceWith, _
             WholeWords:=True)
     
          'Find Any Additional instances of "Find" word (if exists)
          Do While Not TmpTxt Is Nothing
            Set ShpTxt = ShpTxt.Characters(TmpTxt.Start + TmpTxt.Length, ShpTxt.Length)
            Set TmpTxt = ShpTxt.Replace(findWhat, _
              Replacewhat:=replaceWith, _
              WholeWords:=True)
          Loop
        End If
      Next shp
    Next mySlide
 
End Sub

Export Slide As Image

You can export Current SLide (or any other slide) as a PNG or JPG (JPEG) or BMP image.

Sub ExportSlideAsImage()
    Dim imageType As String
    Dim pptName As String
    Dim imageName As String
    Dim mySlide As slide
    
    ' Export current Slide to Image
    imageType = "png" ' or jpg or bmp
    pptName = ActivePresentation.FullName
    imageName = Left(pptName, InStr(pptName, ".")) & imageType
    Set mySlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.slide
    mySlide.Export imageName, imageType
 
End Sub

Resize Image To Cover Full Slide

Sub ResizeImageToCoverFullSlide()
    Dim mySlide As slide
    Dim shp As Shape
    
 
    ' Resize Image to full slide size
    ' Change height and width of the first shape on the current slide
    ' to fit the slide dimensions
    Set mySlide = Application.ActiveWindow.View.slide
    Set shp = mySlide.Shapes(1)
    ''
    '' Replace two statemetns above with
    '' the following statement if you want to
    '' expand the currently selected shape
    '' will give error if nothing is selected
    'Set shp = ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange(1)
     
    With shp
        .LockAspectRatio = False
        .Height = ActivePresentation.PageSetup.SlideHeight
        .Width = ActivePresentation.PageSetup.SlideWidth
        .Left = 0
        .Top = 0
    End With
 
End Sub

Exit All Running Slide Shows

If you have multiple Slide Shows open at the same time then you can close all of them using the macro below.

Sub ExitAllRunningSlideShows()
 
    Do While SlideShowWindows.Count > 0
        SlideShowWindows(1).View.Exit
    Loop
 
End Sub

Automating PowerPoint from Excel

You can also connect to PowerPoint though other applications (like Excel and Word). As as first step, you must refer to an instance of PowerPoint.

There are two ways of doing it – early binding and late binding .

Open PowerPoint – Early Binding

In ‘Early Binding’ you must explicitly set a reference to ‘Microsoft PowerPoint 16 Object Library’ (for MS Office 2019) in the VBE (Visual Basic Editor) using the option Tools->References.

' Early Binding
Dim pptApp As Application
Set pptApp = New PowerPoint.Application

Open PowerPoint – Late Binding

In ‘Late Binding’ application variable is declared as an object and VBA engine connects to the correct application at run time.

' Late Binding
Dim pptApp As Object
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")

Make Application Visible

After setting the reference to PowperPoint application, you may need to make it visible.

pptApp.Visible = True

Maniplulate PowerPoint

You can use all the methods to manipulate presentations, from within PowerPoint, described above from Excel by just adding the reference to PowerPoint created by you above.

For example

Presentations.Open ("My Presentation.pptx")

has to be used liked this

pptApp .Presentations.Open ("My Presentation.pptx")

Close the Application

Once you have completed what you wanted to do with the PowerPoint application you must close it and should release the reference.

pptApp.Quit
Set pptApp = Nothing

Copy From Excel to PowerPoint

This code will copy a range from Excel to PowerPoint:

Note: It has been kept as simple as possible to show how a range from Excel can be copied to PowerPoint using VBA.

Sub copyRangeToPresentation()

' Open New PowerPoint Instance
Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")

With pptApp
    ' Create A New Presentation
    Set ppt = .Presentations.Add
    ' Add A Blank Slide
    Set newSlide = ppt.Slides.Add(1, 12) ' ppLayoutBlank = 12
    ' Copy Range from Active Sheet in Excel
    ActiveSheet.Range("A1:E10").Copy
    ' Paste to Powerpoint as an Image
    newSlide.Shapes.PasteSpecial DataType:=2  '2 = ppPasteEnhancedMetafile
    ' Switch to PowerPoint
    .Activate
End With

End Sub

PowerPoint VBA FAQs

What are macros in PPT?

A Macro is a general term that refers to a set of programming instructions that automates tasks. PowerPoint (PPT) Macros automate tasks in PowerPoint using the VBA programming language.

How do I use VBA in PowerPoint?

To use VBA in PowerPoint, open the VBA Editor (ALT + F11 or Developer > Visual Basic).

How do I create a Macro in PowerPoint?

1. Open the VBA Editor (ALT + F11 or Developer > Visual Basic)
2. Go to Insert > Module to create a Code Module
3. Type ‘Sub HelloWorld’ and press Enter
4. In between the lines ‘Sub HelloWorld’ and ‘End Sub’, type ‘MsgBox “Hello World!’
5. You’ve created a Macro!
6. Now press ‘F5’ to run the Macro

Written by: Vinamra Chandra