powerpoint presentation dimensions cm

Unsupported browser

This site was designed for modern browsers and tested with Internet Explorer version 10 and later.

It may not look or work correctly on your browser.

• Presentations

What Are the Right Dimensions (Size) for Your PowerPoint PPT Slides? (+ Video)

• Bahasa Indonesia

How important are PowerPoint slide dimensions? Consider the following. Ever plugged your laptop in, and your slides didn't look quite right? Were they cut off on the edges, or boxed in on the screen, like this? Changing PowerPoint slide size can avoid this.

You've spent time doing research, crafting your message and creating visuals. Now you're ready to give a PowerPoint presentation. In PowerPoint, changing slide size ensures that you maximize your screen space.

Knowing your PowerPoint slide dimensions helps your presentation look right on the screen. In this tutorial, I'll teach you how to choose the right PowerPoint dimensions. I'll also share some top PowerPoint slide designs  from Envato Elements. These have slide designs and dimensions already set for you!

Learn More About Presentations

Before you dig into this tutorial, be sure to download our free eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations .  It'll help you master the complete presentation process. 

What Are the Right Dimensions (Size) for Your PowerPoint Slides? (Video)

Are you unsure of how to set up PowerPoint dimensions? The wrong dimensions can have a very real impact on the success of your presentation. Before you connect to a big screen monitor or projector to share your hard work, check the  size and aspect ratio  of your presentation. 

Watch the video below for a quick walk-through on how to set up PPT slide size:

Continue reading to learn even more about PowerPoint size. Discover which sizes to use for which screens, and more.

Jump to content in this section:

What's the Right Size for Your PowerPoint?

• How to Change the Size of Your PowerPoint

Top PowerPoint Templates (With Ready-Made Slide Dimensions)

5 quick powerpoint presentation format tips, find more great powerpoint templates: 5 top designs, more powerpoint slide size templates (for 2023 slide designs), learn more about using microsoft powerpoint, make great presentations (free ebook download).

Choosing PowerPoint slide size is a key part of your presentation setup. It ensures that your content looks its best in the way that you want to share it. 

You might present PowerPoint presentations on a variety of screens, such as:

• laptop screens
• conference room projectors
• iPads and tablets
• widescreen, large format displays

Each of these displays has a different shape or aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is a measure that describes the width versus height of a screen. The same PowerPoint slides will appear differently on each device. That's because the aspect ratio can vary. 

This brings us to the first step. Begin by choosing a size for PPT slide layouts by deciding what device your slides are most likely to appear on. This drives the slide size in PPT that you’ll want to use for best results. 

The specific setting depends on the device you'll use. Here are rules of thumb for which one to choose:

These aren't the only options, of course. PowerPoint slide size change features like Letter Paper or Ledger Paper are also available. These are meant for printed slides, so that they fit perfectly on different sizes of paper.

The key is to choose the size that works for your audience. It's how to change slide size in PPT in a way that works best for you and your work.

How to Change the Size of Your PowerPoint 

We've learned the basic rules for slide size in PPT. Now, let's put this knowledge to work. Read on to learn how PowerPoint slide size change works. We'll work through it step-by-step. In moments, you'll know how to change slide size in PPT.

1.  How to Change the Size of PowerPoint Slides

You've chosen the screen you'll present on. And you've chosen the right size for your PowerPoint presentation. Now, it's time to change your PowerPoint file to match.

Click on the  Design  tab on PowerPoint's ribbon. The available options will change on the ribbon. Find the  Customize  section on the ribbon and click on the  Slide Size  icon. 

A drop-down menu opens with several options. Click on Custom Slide Size  to open the Slide size menu and change your presentation's dimensions.

The Slide Size  menu opens, and now we can change the PPT slide size using the dropdown options.

It may not always be possible to choose the perfect size for your presentation. If you send and share your presentation, then you can't control the device that your audience will open your presentation on. 

You can optimize the presentation for most viewers. Let’s look at the process for PowerPoint changing slide size.

2. Setting Slide Size in PPT (Quickly and Easily)

Let's see how to PPT change slide size. Start by clicking on the drop-down box under the Slides sized for: option. The slide size in PPT you choose should be based upon the screen it'll appear on.

There are several choices on this drop-down menu. The most common choices that I use are On-screen Show (4:3) , On-screen Show (16:9) , and On-screen Show (16:10).  Think of these as the choices for PPT size of slides.

I use each of these settings often. That's because they match the most common devices PowerPoint presentations are shown on. Refer to our handy table earlier in the tutorial to decide which to use. 

After you select a slide size in PPT, press OK on this menu. PowerPoint will show a new menu that gives you a choice of how to change slide size in PPT. Let's take a closer look at which PPT change slide size option will be right for you.

PowerPoint Slide Settings: "Maximize" Versus "Ensure Fit"

When we size for PPT slides, PowerPoint presents us with two unique options. These are drastically differing options for changing PowerPoint slide size. We already have content on our slide, so it makes sense that we need to think about how to handle changing the slide.

The menu shows two options for PPT change slide size:

• Ensure Fit 

Choose one of these PPT size of slide options. They've got different approaches for PowerPoint slide size changes.

• Choosing  Maximize zooms in on the slide so that the content fills the slide. The downside to this approach is that some content may be clipped off if you've got elements on the slides' edge.
• Ensure fit makes sure that everything stays on the slide after you adjust the slide size in PPT. But it might leave horizontal bars above and below your content.

When you use a PowerPoint slide size change, give your presentation a thorough look. This is to make sure the content hasn't been altered after the PPT change slide size.

I typically choose to Maximize Slides . But it might take some re-working of the slides to fit properly. Learning how to change slide size in PPT requires reviewing your deck after this adjustment.

When to Use Special Case Sizes

The Slide Size options window can change your presentation size for practically any situation.

Imagine that presentation will be viewed on a portrait orientation device. Portrait orientation implies that a screen is taller than it's wide. Maybe the viewer is viewing it on a tablet in portrait mode, or on a monitor that's rotated in portrait mode.

To change a PowerPoint presentation to Portrait orientation, change the  Slides  option to  Portrait  as shown above.

You may not use these options often but remember that they exist. PowerPoint truly accommodates. 

3. Remember to Test

The success of a presentation comes down to the preparation behind it. Giving a presentation to an audience is daunting. But doing a " dry run " (practice presentation) reduces surprises.

This is especially key when you've changed PowerPoint slide size.  The PowerPoint slide size may make unexpected adjustments. They're easy to correct, but you can't fix them until you find them! You never want to first see issues in the real production.

Doing a dry run of your presentation will ensure two things: 

• That you've got all the cables and connections you need to display your presentation. 
• It's a great time to compare the dimensions of your file to the screen you'll use. That way, you can re-work your slides dimensions as needed. You can also rearrange content in case you find something out of place. 

Don't forget to include testing your PowerPoint file on the display you'll use for your pitch. It's another variable you can control for while preparing. This helps reduce the uncertainty of your presentation.

What if you didn't have to worry about the dimensions of your PowerPoint slide? You know how to change slide size in PPT, but you can avoid the adjustment altogether. Instead of guessing at the PowerPoint slide size , you can use a pre-built template from Envato Elements.

Not only does it feature templates with the perfect PowerPoint slide sizes, but it also does so with excellent designs. Many of the templates contain more than one PowerPoint slide size so that you always have what you need. 

What's even better is that Envato Elements helps you keep costs low. That's thanks to an unlimited download model. With one subscription, you unlock  everything.  Not only does that include perfectly sized PowerPoint slides, but stock photos, graphics, and more.

Many Envato Elements PowerPoint slide size templates have many aspect ratios built in. So, you can work with great slide designs at the common sizes you're likely to need for your presentation. They make it even easier to use PPT change size slide options.

Other presentation designs are made at Full HD (16:9) aspect ratio, which is a popular display size. Or they come with extra dimensions supported. Discover more in our curated selection of the best below, and then continue with this tutorial: 

No matter your skill level in PowerPoint, it always helps to have a few extra tips. Let's check out five more top tips for PowerPoint slide sizes, including PowerPoint dimensions.

1. Edit the PowerPoint Dimensions First

Earlier in this tutorial, you worked with PowerPoint slide dimensions. But the most important part of doing so is the order of your steps. 

Make sure your first step is  Design > Slide Size.  When you set the size of your PPT as soon as you open the presentation, you won't clip or stretch your slides.

This is the best way to avoid re-work while working with PowerPoint slide sizes. Set your PowerPoint dimensions first!

2. Use the PowerPoint Rulers

Many presenters (myself included) use PowerPoint to create printed, products too. And the size of your PowerPoint slide  really  matters when you're trying to fit them to a printed page.

That's why it helps to check your PPT slide size with rulers (in inches.) To view them, go to the  View > Ruler  menu option.

Of course, you can scale the PowerPoint slide size while you're printing to match the paper. Check out our guide to printing, no matter the size of your PowerPoint slides.

3. Edit the Slide Master

Slide masters control several slide designs at the same time. Instead of setting layouts and PPT dimensions on each slide, consider editing the slide. Set the PPT slide size and dimension on the master on the  View > Slide Master  menu.

Learn more about editing slide masters and presentation slide sizes in the tutorial below:

4. Simulate a Preview

Earlier in this tutorial, I recommended checking your presentation as a rehearsal. Ideally, you check your PowerPoint slide size on the exact display you'll use for the real thing.

Unfortunately, you won't always have the option to rehearse in the presentation room. But you can check it on your computer screen. You can preview your PowerPoint presentation and see how it uses the screen real estate.

Go to the Slide Show > From Beginning menu option to preview your presentation. Then, review if you can see any bars or lines on your screen. 

Most computer screens are 16:9 or 16:10. If you know your final screen has the same dimensions, this is a good check for PowerPoint dimensions.

5. Use Slide Layouts

You shouldn't have to set the PowerPoint slide size on each slide. You can set the dimensions of your PowerPoint presentation, but the presentation slide size matters too. Set the PowerPoint slide size with layouts that position elements perfectly.

In a template like The X Note , every slide layout carefully considers the size of the PPT. Use a layout for the size of PowerPoint slides on the  Home > Layout menu.

Use the Layout  drop-down to select the dimensions of your PowerPoint slide.

Here's an even better way to nail your PowerPoint dimensions . Start with a template. Most PowerPoint templates from Envato Elements have several versions of PowerPoint dimensions.

These are five of the best PowerPoint templates on Elements. Check them out to create a presentation with perfect PowerPoint dimensions:

1. Style Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

This template is packaged with two colors and one PowerPoint slide size, but I find it easily adjustable in my testing. It features the 16:9 aspect ratio that's the classic PowerPoint slide size. Use the 100 unique designs, each with perfect PPT slide sizes.

Agio is a clean and minimal PowerPoint template. You'll find that the 16:9 PPT slide sizes are perfect for most screens. Not only are the presentation slide sizes set nicely, but the designs are also simply stunning. Fill out these slide blueprints for a professional presentation.

3. Ever PowerPoint Template

When you open this presentation, you'll find two PowerPoint dimension options: 4:3 and 16:9. It's these two PPT size options that give this template extra value. There are beautiful slide designs for both PowerPoint slide sizes. Use the hand-designed infographics for business-friendly illustrations.

4. Sprint PowerPoint Template

Life might be a marathon instead of a sprint but designing a presentation shouldn't be. The aptly named Sprint presentation is a 4:3 design with a bright orange color scheme. Choose this if your PPT slide size should be in the more traditional 4:3 size.

Rounding out our options, MaxMax is a 16:9 PowerPoint dimension template. With 234 unique slide designs, there are options for practically every design you could need. The size of your PPT is already set and you can use the free icons for a bit of extra flair.

Need the perfect PPT size of slide? Premium templates from Envato Elements are perfect for you. Here are several collections of the very best available now:

In this tutorial, we learned how to set the right size for PowerPoint files. It all comes down to how and where your recipient will view the presentation. 

You may not be able to perfectly format your PowerPoint for every screen. But sticking to the PowerPoint standard sizes will work most of the time. You can also save time by working with a great PowerPoint template that's already set up with the PPT slide dimensions you need.

At Envato Tuts+, we've put together a deep resource of PowerPoint tutorials. Make sure to check out our guide, How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide.)  This single resource is comprehensive to learn the app, including PowerPoint sizes.

To keep learning more PowerPoint, check the helpful tutorials below:

For another helpful resource, be sure to grab this helpful eBook: 

We've got the perfect complement to this tutorial. It'll walk you through the complete presentation process. 

Download our eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It's available for free with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. 

Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.

Design a Presentation With Perfect PowerPoint Slide Size Today

This tutorial showed you how to set your PowerPoint slide size. With the proper dimensions for your PowerPoint slide, your slides will look stunning as they fill the screen. Set your slide size before you start designing to avoid costly re-work.

Also, don't forget that you can save hours of design work. Envato Elements features unlimited downloads with the perfect PowerPoint slide size . 

With these tips in mind, design confidently today! You now know how to set the dimensions of a PowerPoint slide to make the best use of the screen space.

Editorial Note : This post was originally published in June of 2017. It's been comprehensively revised to make current, accurate, and up-to-date by our staff—with special help and a video from Andrew Childress .

Change the size of your slides

Basic steps.

To change the slide size:

Select the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon.

Select Standard (4:3 aspect ratio) or Widescreen (16:9) or Custom Slide Size .

For more about the predefined sizes (including formats like Overhead, A3, A4, Banner, B4, and B5) or your own custom sizing, click a heading below to expand it and see the details .

Detailed steps

Choose the standard or widescreen slide size.

On the Design tab of the Ribbon, locate Slide Size in the Customize group, near the far right end of the toolbar.

Select Slide Size , and then select either Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

When PowerPoint is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:

Maximize : Select this option to increase the size of your slide content when you are scaling to a larger slide size. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.

Ensure Fit : Select this option to decrease the size of your content when scaling to a smaller slide size. This could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation.  However, you can make it easy to create a new 4:3 presentation for yourself whenever you want—by defining a custom theme that uses the 4:3 aspect ratio. See the section below named "Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations."

Choose another size, such as A3, B4, or Overhead

Select Slide Size , and then select Custom Slide Size .

In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option. Their dimensions are listed below:

Overhead provides an aspect ratio very close to the standard 4:3 slide size.

There are two options for 16:9 aspect ratios:

On-screen Show (16:9) sets the slide dimensions to 10 in x 5.625 in.

Widescreen sets it to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.

Both of these options are the same aspect ratio so they will look the same in Normal View , since PowerPoint automatically adjusts the zoom level. Widescreen (13.333 in x 7.5 in.) provides more slide surface area for the content, so that is the best choice for presentations. Widescreen won’t fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper without you having to scale it down.

Select OK to accept the dimensions and close the Slide Size dialog box.

Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimeters, or pixels)

The Slide Size dialog box opens.

In the Slide Size dialog box, ensure the orientation is set the way you want it.

In the Height and Width boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in , cm , or px .

PowerPoint then converts measurements, if necessary, to the type of unit your operating system uses.

You can change the unit of measure that is shown in PowerPoint dialog boxes if you like.

Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations

This version of PowerPoint has a default size of 16:9 for new presentation, but you can create a different default for yourself.

Start PowerPoint.

On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New . Then double-click the Blank Presentation to create a new, empty presentation.

Then on the Design tab, click Slide Size and choose the size you want for a default.

(If you want a different default slide size than what's listed there, select Custom Slide Size and then choose your size in the Slide Size dialog box, and then click OK .)

Select Save Current Theme .

Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save . Don't change the folder that the new theme is to be saved in.

On the Design tab, click the More arrow again in the bottom-right corner of the Themes group. You'll see your newly saved theme under a Custom heading.

Right-click that new custom theme under the Custom heading, and then select Set as Default Theme :

Close PowerPoint. Don't save any files if it prompts you.

Open PowerPoint again. On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New .

The custom theme that you just saved is listed at the top left corner, named Default Theme . The thumbnail image looks like a widescreen slide, but in reality, when you create a new presentation based on that theme, the presentation has the aspect ratio that you've defined for this default theme.

The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the custom size you chose by default.

Sizing applies to all slides in a presentation

PowerPoint isn't able to resize one slide within a presentation. All slides in a presentation are the same size.

If this is a feature you’d like to request, please send us your feedback to help us prioritize new features in future updates. See  How do I give feedback on Microsoft 365  for more information.

Orientation applies to all slides in a presentation

PowerPoint isn't able to change the page orientation of certain slides. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.

Change the page orientation in PowerPoint between landscape and portrait

Use portrait and landscape slide orientation in the same presentation

Reduce the file size of a picture

On the File menu, select Page Setup .

In the Page Setup dialog box, under Slides sized for , select the predefined size you want, or choose Custom and specify the dimensions you want.

Select Slide Size .

Select Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

PowerPoint may prompt you about scaling your content. Choose one of the following options:

Scale: Select this option to decrease or increase the size of your slide content. When scaling to a smaller slide size, this could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.

Don't Scale: Select this option to maintain the size of your slide content. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.

Choose Page Setup from the menu that appears.

Page Setup gives you an assortment of predefined slide/page size options. The options and their dimensions are listed below:

In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option.

Widescreen sets the dimensions to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.

Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimers, or pixels)

Select Slide Size , and then click Page Setup .

The Page Setup dialog box opens.

In the Width and Height boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in (inches) or cm (centimeters) or px (pixels).

PowerPoint then converts the measurements, if necessary, to the unit of measurement your operating system uses.

Make a new slide size the default for new presentations

Select Slide Size , and then select Page Setup .

Follow the steps in the prior section to choose the slide size you want.

On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes.

Click Save Current Theme at the bottom of the window.

Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save .

On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes again. You'll see your newly saved theme under Custom .

Right-click your new custom theme, and then click Set as Default Theme .

The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the size you chose for your default theme.

Some folks have asked about resizing one slide within a presentation. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation are the same size.

Some folks have also asked about changing the page orientation of certain slides. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.

On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, click Slide Size in the Customize group.

Click Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

When PowerPoint for the web is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation. 

You can also change the orientation of all the slides in your presentation. See Change the page orientation for instructions.

Choose custom dimensions

In the Width and Height boxes, type a measurement in inches . PowerPoint doesn't accept measurements outside the minimum and maximum shown below:

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials PowerPoint Slide Size: What is the Best Size for a Presentation

PowerPoint Slide Size: What is the Best Size for a Presentation

Whether you’re a business professional, educator, or public speaker, understanding what are the optimal slide dimensions can enhance the impact of your presentation. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the size of your PowerPoint presentation, from the basics to advanced tips.

What is the PowerPoint Slide Size?

PowerPoint slide size refers to the dimensions of the slides within your PowerPoint presentation. These dimensions determine how your content is displayed in a monitor or projector, and can significantly affect the overall look and feel of your presentation.

The most common slide sizes in PowerPoint are 16:9 (widescreen) and 4:3 (standard).

Choosing the right slide size is essential as it impacts how your content is perceived and ensures compatibility with various display devices. Once you define the optimal slide size for your next presentation, you can change the slide dimensions in PowerPoint following the steps described in our article.

It is important to understand the differences between Aspect Ratio and Pixel Dimensions.

The specific pixel dimensions for a standard 16:9 slide are 1920 pixels in width by 1080 pixels in height.

Understanding Aspect Ratio vs. Pixel Dimensions

Aspect ratio vs. pixel dimensions: what’s the difference.

When defining the optimal slide size for your presentation, it’s important to understand the difference between aspect ratio and pixel dimensions, as these terms often cause confusion but are critical for creating well-designed presentations.

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio refers to the proportional relationship between the width and height of your slide. It’s expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, such as 4:3 or 16:9. The aspect ratio defines the shape of your slide and how it will appear on different screens.

Pixel Dimensions:

Pixel dimensions, on the other hand, specify the total number of pixels in the width and height of your slide. This measurement determines the resolution and quality of your images and text in your PowerPoint slide size. For example:

• 1920 x 1080 pixels: This is a common dimension for a 16:9 aspect ratio, known as Full HD. It provides high clarity and detail, making it suitable for large screens and high-resolution displays.
• 1024 x 768 pixels: This dimension matches a 4:3 aspect ratio and is often used for smaller screens or lower resolution displays. It’s less detailed than 1920 x 1080 but can be effective for standard printouts or older projectors.

Why both slide size definitions matter? Understanding both aspect ratio and pixel dimensions is important because they impact how your PowerPoint slide size is viewed across different devices and formats. Here’s why:

• Consistency Across Devices: Ensuring your aspect ratio is compatible with the display device prevents issues like black bars on the sides (letterboxing) or content being cut off (cropping).
• Clarity and Detail: Choosing appropriate pixel dimensions ensures that your images and text appear sharp and clear, avoiding pixelation or blurriness.
• Professional Appearance: Matching the right aspect ratio and pixel dimensions helps maintain a polished and professional look, whether you’re presenting on a large screen, sharing a PDF handout (as we will see later), or displaying your slides online.

The Impact of Slide Size on Different Industries

Different industries have unique needs when it comes to presentation slide sizes. For instance:

• Business: Corporate presentations often require widescreen formats (16:9 slide size) to showcase detailed charts and data on modern projectors and screens. However, in some environments there are still projectors using the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio format for slide sizes.
• Education: Lectures and workshops benefit from both 16:9 and 4:3 formats, depending on the teaching aids and screen setups used.
• Design: Creative professionals need to create visually appealing slides that may require custom dimensions to stand out and effectively communicate their ideas.

Best Practices for Choosing a Proper Slide Size for your Presentation

When selecting an optimal PowerPoint slide size, consider the following:

• Audience and Venue: Tailor your slide size to the screen size and setup of your presentation venue. Widescreen (16:9) is typically best for large screens, while standard (4:3) works well for print distributions.
• Presentation Type: Webinars and online presentations held via Zoom or Teams , for example, often benefit from widescreen formats, while in-person meetings might require flexibility.
• Aesthetics vs. Functionality: Balance visual appeal with readability and content integrity.

When creating PDF handouts from your PowerPoint presentation, it’s also important to choose a convenient slide size that ensures readability and clarity in print.

The 4:3 aspect ratio is generally preferred for printed handouts as it aligns well with standard paper sizes such as A4 or Letter. This format ensures that your content fits neatly onto the page without excessive margins or cropping.

Additionally, using 4:3 for print ensures that text and graphics are appropriately scaled, maintaining the legibility and professional appearance of your handouts. This consideration is essential for creating effective printed materials that complement your live presentations.

Overcoming Challenges with Slide Size

Adapting content for different slide sizes.

Resizing images and adjusting layouts can be challenging. Here are some tips:

• Resizing Images: Ensure that images maintain their aspect ratio to avoid distortion.
• Text Adjustments: Modify font sizes and text boxes to fit the new slide dimensions without compromising readability.
• Consistency: Keep a consistent layout throughout your presentation to maintain a professional look.

Dealing with Mixed Slide Sizes in a Presentation

Sometimes, you may need to integrate slides with different dimensions. Here’s how:

• Transition Techniques: Use smooth transitions to blend slides of varying sizes seamlessly.
• Tools and Add-Ins: You can use PowerPoint add-ins that help manage and standardize slide sizes across your presentation.

Advanced Tips for Custom Slide Sizes

When it is time to innovate, the PowerPoint slide size can also play an important role. If you are considering to create a presentation for digital signage, or non traditional devices, choosing a custom PowerPoint slide size can help to achieve this. Here are some ideas and ways you can innovate by choosing a different slide size:

• Unique Dimensions: Create custom slide sizes for branding or special events.
• Custom Branding: Use non-standard slide sizes to align with your brand identity and marketing materials.
• Innovative Uses: Experiment with different dimensions to create unique visual experiences.

For example, to create high-quality digital signage content, you’d need to set the PowerPoint slides to a 1920×1080 resolution in vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) mode, which are the typical digital sign screen sizes.

Understanding what is the optimal slide size and how to configure it is essential for creating effective and engaging presentations. By optimizing your slides, and overcoming common challenges, you can ensure your visual aids are impactful and professional. Keep experimenting with different sizes and formats to find what works best for your needs. Remember, the key to a successful presentation lies in the details—choosing the right slide size is one of them.

Like this article? Please share

Presentation Tips Filed under PowerPoint Tutorials

Related Articles

Filed under Google Slides Tutorials • June 3rd, 2024

How to Copy a Slide in Google Slides

Learn how to quickly duplicate slides in Google Slides with this guide.

Filed under PowerPoint Tutorials • June 3rd, 2024

How To Insert a Calendar in PowerPoint

Get the most out of calendar templates for PowerPoint by learning how to insert them into your presentation projects. A step-by-step guide for inserting and customizing the calendar template to your style.

How to Hide a Slide in PowerPoint Presentations

Discover how to quickly hide a slide in PowerPoint presentations by following one of these two methods. Print settings for hidden slides listed as well.

Leave a Reply

Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Claim Your FREE Training Module and Get Your Time Back!

How to Change Your PowerPoint Slide Size (16:9 vs. 4:3)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• March 10, 2019

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to change your slide size in PowerPoint.

That way you can create slides for any situation including on-screen presentations, printed documents, posters, postcards, handouts, etc.

First off, the two most used PowerPoint slide sizes are:

• 16:9 ratio  for onscreen presentations and new overhead projectors. This is the default setting for the latest versions of PowerPoint.
• 4:3 ratio  for printing slides on standard 8.5 x 11 pieces of paper as handouts.

When starting with a blank PowerPoint presentation, changing your slide size is super easy and straightforward. If not, there are a few issues you’ll need to deal with, each covered below.

That’s why it’s worth figuring out what slide size you need BEFORE you build your presentation. If you later convert your presentation to a different size, it can be painful!

It’s just like the old carpenter saying, “measure twice and cut once.” In PowerPoint, you’ll want to “ask twice (to double confirm the required size) and build once.”

Changing your PowerPoint slide size does not make your PowerPoint presentation larger or smaller. To reduce your PowerPoint file size, you need to learn how to compress a PowerPoint presentation .

Table of Contents

How to change your powerpoint slide size.

By default, new PowerPoint presentations start in the 16:9 slide size format.

This is the NEW standard for most modern overhead projects and monitors and is recommended for most presentations. That said, you can easily change your slide size to something else.

To change your slide size in PowerPoint, simply:

• Navigate to the  Design tab
• Open the  Slide Size  drop down menu
• Select  4:3 ,  16:9  or  Custom Slide Size  (see options below)

When starting with a blank presentation, you are now good to go. You will not have to worry about any of the conversion issues discussed below.

Notice too, how much wider the 16:9 slide size is versus the 4:3 slide size in the picture below. The new size gives you more room for the content on your slides.

When you are converting an existing presentation to a new slide size, you will additionally be given the following prompt:

“You are scaling to a new slide size. Would you like to maximize the size of your content, or scale it down to ensure it will fit on the new slide?

Maximize  leaves all your content as is on your slide, even if it no longer fits on the new slide size that you selected.

Ensure Fit  scales down your content in proportion to the new slide size you have selected. You will only see this option when moving from a larger slide size to a smaller one.

Custom PowerPoint slide sizes

Choosing  Custom  for your slide size gives you additional options to work with. Inside the dialog box you can choose your size on the left and your orientation on the right.

On top of that, you can also input your own custom slide size. However, I recommend using one of the preset PowerPoint dimension options.

• On-screen show (4:3)
• Letter Paper (8.5×11 in)
• A3 Paper (297×420 mm)
• B4 (ISO) Paper (250×353 mm)
• B5 (ISO) Paper (176×250 mm)
• 35mm Slides
• On-screen Show (16:9)
• On-screen show (16:10)

For your orientation options on the right-hand side of the dialog box, you can choose between  Landscape  and  Portrait .

In most situations, you will want one of the default settings. Best practice is  Landscape  for your presentation slides and  Portrait  for your printed notes, handouts and outlines.

Issues when converting 4:3 to the 16:9 slide size in PowerPoint

When converting an existing 4:3 presentation with content into the 16:9 format, you are not given any conversion options. Instead, PowerPoint simply does the conversion for you, which can create several problems.

There are two issues you will face in the new 16:9 slide size.

The first issue is that all the images on your slide master (including company logos) will be stretched to fit the new, larger slide size.

To fix the stretched images, you will need to fix those images (or reinsert them) on your slide master, as if you were creating a PowerPoint template from scratch.

The second issue you will face in the larger 16:9 slide size is that you will have a lot of extra white space on your slides.

While you can leave the space blank, doing so will make your content look weird. Ideally you don’t want a lot of white empty space like that on your slides. Especially since all your font sizes will be so small.

That’s why if you have the time, I recommend resizing your content to fill in the white space. You can do this by either increasing the font size of your content, or adding additional visuals that support your message.

Issues when converting 16:9 to the 4:3 slide size in PowerPoint​

When converting an existing 16:9 presentation to the 4:3 slide size, you are given the option to either  Maximize  or  Ensure Fit  (both covered below).

1. The Maximize option

This option means that the content on your slides will not be resized to fit the 4:3 slide size. The same is true if you move to any smaller slide size.

Maximize Issue #1:  All the images on your slide master (including your company logo) will be distorted.

You might also have issues with other content placeholders, slide backgrounds or anything else that was built on your slide master.  For these issues, you’ll first need to navigate to your Slide Master. Once you are there, you either adjust (or rebuild) your PowerPoint template so that everything fits properly.

Maximize Issue #2:  Your content will not be scaled down to the smaller slide size. Instead, you’ll have overhanging content as pictured above.

For these kinds of spacing issues, you will need to work through your slides to adjust your content.

One recommendation as you move from the larger 16:9 slide size to 4:3, is to break up your slides. Take the contents from one larger slide and break it into two (or even three) separate slides.

Breaking up your content is preferable to just cramming more content on the smaller slide space. Doing so will make your content easier to read when presented on an overhead projector.

2. The Ensure Fit option

This option means that PowerPoint will scale down your content to fit the smaller slide size based on the size you selected.

Ensure Fit Issue #1:  Distorted images, slide backgrounds and anything else that PowerPoint had to automatically resize on your slide master.

To fix these issues, you’ll need to navigate to your slide master and adjust (or rebuild) your template to make everything fit.

Ensure Fit Issue #2:  Your content will be scaled down to fit your new slide size, leaving you with a lot of white space. In addition, all your font sizes will be smaller, making them hard to read.

For small content like this, you’ll need to work through your slides and resize your content accordingly. Keep in mind the people at the back of the room too when choosing a new font style and size.

Saving your custom slide size as a PowerPoint theme

If want to use your own custom slide size for all your future PowerPoint presentations, you can save and set it as a PowerPoint theme.

This is a two-step process as discussed below.

1. Save your custom slide size as a theme

To save your custom slide size (and settings) as your own custom PowerPoint theme, simply:

• Open the M ore options
• Click  Save Current Theme
• Name your Theme (and don’t change the file location it saves to)
• Click  Save

2. Set your custom theme as the default

To set a custom PowerPoint theme as the default for all your future presentations, simply:

• Open the  More options
• Right-click  your custom theme
• Select  Set as Default Presentation
• Close out of PowerPoint (and do not save any presentations if it prompts you)

Once you’ve set your own custom theme as the Default Presentation, it will open every time you start PowerPoint. This saves you from always having to switch your slide sizes.

So that’s how you can change your PowerPoint slide size, either before or after you create your presentation.

And although you are given a lot of flexibility in the slide sizes you can choose from, I recommend using the default slide sizes as used by most people.

It’s also important to remember that switching slide sizes after you have built your presentation can be a total pain. So, to the extent possible, figure out your PowerPoint slide size first before you build out your presentation.

If you enjoyed the depth of this article, you’ll love our PowerPoint training courses and other free resources that you can learn more about here .

🔒 Unlock the PowerPoint Shortcuts Trusted by Industry Leaders KKR, American Express, HSBC, and More!

Join over 114,880 professionals from diverse fields including consulting, investment banking, advertising, marketing, sales, and business development who have supercharged their PowerPoint game with our proven methods.

✅ Customize compelling presentations effortlessly.

✅ Master time-saving techniques for faster deck creation.

✅ Boost your career prospects with top-notch PowerPoint skills.

Get FREE access to the Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts module of our premium training course by entering your name and email below.

DISCLAIMER: PC Users Only!

We respect your privacy and will keep your info safe and confidential.

Related Articles

About the author.

Popular Tutorials

• How to Strikethrough Text (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) in Word, Excel & PowerPoint
• How to Make Animated Fireworks in PowerPoint (Step-by-Step)
• Strikethrough Shortcut (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) for Word, Excel & PowerPoint
• How to Create a Flash Card Memory Game in PowerPoint (Like Jeopardy)
• Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working: Solved

PowerPoint Tutorial Categories

• Strategies & Opinions
• Shortcuts & Hacks
• Presentation Design
• Pictures, Icons, Videos, Etc.
• New Features
• Miscellaneous
• Charts & Data Viz

We help busy professionals save hours and gain peace of mind, with corporate workshops, self-paced courses and tutorials for PowerPoint and Word.

Work With Us

• Corporate Training
• Presentation & Template Design
• Courses & Downloads
• PowerPoint Articles
• Word Articles
• Productivity Resources

Find a Tutorial

• Free Training
• For Businesses

We help busy office workers save hours and gain peace of mind, with tips, training and tutorials for Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.

Master Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Secure Your FREE Training Module and Save Valuable Time!

⌛ Master time-saving expert techniques.

🔥 Create powerful presentations.

🚀 Propel your career to new heights.

We value your privacy – we keep your info safe.

Discover PowerPoint Hacks Loved by Industry Giants - KKR, AmEx, HSBC!

Over 114,880 professionals in finance, marketing and sales have revolutionized their PPT skills with our proven methods. 

Gain FREE access to a full module of our premium PowerPoint training program – Get started today!

We hate spam too and promise to keep your information safe.

You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Facebook . To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

Master Learning

All Microsoft Office Tutorials

Mastering PowerPoint Dimensions: A Guide to Perfect Presentations**

Standard dimensions.

PowerPoint slides have default dimensions that vary depending on the slide size you choose. Understanding these dimensions is crucial for creating visually appealing and effective presentations.

Slide Dimensions

The standard slide size in PowerPoint is 4:3, which translates to 10 inches wide by 7.5 inches high or 1280 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. This format is suitable for most presentations, as it provides a comfortable viewing experience on standard monitors.

For widescreen presentations, a 16:9 aspect ratio is recommended. This results in a slide size of 16 inches wide by 9 inches high or 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high. The widescreen format is ideal for presentations displayed on projectors or large screens.

Custom slide sizes can also be created in PowerPoint, allowing you to tailor the dimensions to your specific needs. However, it’s important to consider the aspect ratio and resolution of your intended display device to ensure optimal viewing.

Importance of Correct Dimensions

Using the correct dimensions for your PowerPoint slides is essential for several reasons:

– Visual Aesthetics: The right dimensions ensure that your slides appear balanced and visually appealing, enhancing the overall presentation quality.

– Content Optimization: The slide dimensions influence the amount of content you can fit on each slide. Choosing the appropriate dimensions allows you to present your information effectively without overcrowding or underutilizing the space.

– Display Compatibility: Different devices and platforms have varying screen resolutions. Using the correct dimensions ensures that your slides display properly on all devices, preventing distortions or cropping issues.

Custom Dimensions

PowerPoint offers the flexibility to create custom slide dimensions that suit specific presentation needs. This feature allows you to tailor the size and shape of your slides to match the content, audience, and display requirements.

When setting custom dimensions, consider the following factors:

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio determines the proportional relationship between the width and height of the slide. Common aspect ratios include 16:9 (widescreen), 4:3 (standard), and 16:10 (widescreen with more vertical space). Choose an aspect ratio that aligns with the content and intended display method.

Resolution refers to the number of pixels per inch (PPI) in the slide. Higher resolution results in sharper and more detailed images and graphics. However, higher resolution also increases file size. Consider the display capabilities of the devices where the presentation will be shown and adjust the resolution accordingly.

Examples of Custom Dimensions

Custom dimensions can enhance the impact of presentations. Here are a few examples:

– 16:9 (widescreen): Ideal for presentations on widescreen monitors or projectors, providing ample space for images, videos, and text. – 4:3 (standard): Suitable for traditional presentations or presentations displayed on square-shaped screens. – 16:10 (widescreen with more vertical space): Useful for presentations that require additional vertical space, such as infographics or spreadsheets.

Powerpoint Dimensions – Aspect ratio refers to the proportional relationship between the width and height of a rectangular image or screen. It’s a crucial factor in slide design as it determines the overall shape and proportions of your slides, affecting the visual impact and readability of your content.

PowerPoint dimensions are essential for creating visually appealing presentations. By understanding the optimal dimensions, you can ensure your slides are the perfect size for both on-screen and printed formats. If you’re looking to incorporate PDFs into your PowerPoint presentation, check out this helpful guide on Inserting Pdf To Powerpoint . Once you’ve inserted your PDF, you can further customize the dimensions to fit your presentation’s specific needs, ensuring a cohesive and professional-looking end result.

PowerPoint offers several common aspect ratios, each suited to different presentation scenarios:

Table of Common Aspect Ratios

Choosing the Appropriate Aspect Ratio

Selecting the appropriate aspect ratio depends on the type of content you’re presenting:

• Text-heavy slides: Use 4:3 or 16:10 aspect ratios to maximize vertical space and ensure readability.
• Multimedia content: Choose 16:9 aspect ratio to fill the screen and provide an immersive viewing experience.
• Custom presentations: Use custom aspect ratios to tailor your slides to specific screen sizes or presentation requirements.

Resolution, in the context of digital images and PowerPoint slides, refers to the number of pixels that make up the image or slide.

Resolution is distinct from dimensions, which refer to the physical size of the image or slide in terms of width and height.

Impact of Resolution on Image Quality and File Size, Powerpoint Dimensions

Resolution has a significant impact on the quality of an image or slide.

• Higher resolution images contain more pixels, resulting in sharper and more detailed images.
• Lower resolution images contain fewer pixels, resulting in blurrier and less detailed images.

Resolution also affects the file size of an image or slide.

• Higher resolution images have larger file sizes due to the increased number of pixels.
• Lower resolution images have smaller file sizes due to the reduced number of pixels.

Guidelines for Choosing Optimal Resolution

When choosing the optimal resolution for PowerPoint slides, consider the following guidelines:

• For slides that will be viewed on-screen (e.g., during a presentation), a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (ppi) is generally sufficient.
• For slides that will be printed, a higher resolution of 300 ppi or more is recommended to ensure sharp and high-quality prints.

Best Practices: Powerpoint Dimensions

When setting PowerPoint slide dimensions, it’s crucial to follow certain best practices to ensure an effective and visually appealing presentation. These best practices include:

Considering Audience and Purpose

Consider the intended audience and the purpose of the presentation. Different audiences may have varying expectations and preferences for slide dimensions. For example, a presentation for a technical audience may require a wider aspect ratio to accommodate more detailed charts and graphs, while a presentation for a general audience may be more effective with a standard aspect ratio.

Ensuring Consistency

Maintain consistency throughout the presentation by using the same slide dimensions for all slides. This creates a cohesive and professional look, making it easier for the audience to follow the flow of the presentation. Avoid mixing different slide dimensions within the same presentation, as this can be distracting and confusing.

Optimizing for Different Devices and Platforms

Optimize the slide dimensions for different devices and platforms. Consider the aspect ratio and resolution of the devices or screens on which the presentation will be displayed. For example, if the presentation will be shared online or viewed on mobile devices, it’s important to choose dimensions that are compatible with these platforms.

In the realm of PowerPoint presentations, dimensions play a crucial role in creating visually appealing slides. From the aspect ratio to the slide size, every dimension affects the impact of your content. To add a touch of creativity and elegance, consider incorporating curved text into your designs.

PowerPoint Curve Text allows you to bend text along paths, creating a dynamic and engaging visual experience. Whether you’re creating custom headings or adding emphasis to key points, curved text can elevate your PowerPoint dimensions to the next level.

How to change the PowerPoint Slide Size: All you need to know

It’s always a good idea to know how to change Slide Size in PowerPoint, as you might have to adapt your presentation to different devices. Did you know that the default size of a PowerPoint slide depends on the version of the program you’re using? That’s another reason why the same content can look different on various devices, so it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for surprises and learn to scale your presentation properly in Microsoft PowerPoint. This tutorial illustrates how to change the PowerPoint Slide Size to match the screen of any device, using Windows 10, your iPhone, or Mac:

Skip to chapter

First things first: about powerpoint slide dimensions, how to change the powerpoint slide size in windows 10, how to change slide size in powerpoint on your mac, how to change slide size in powerpoint on your iphone, which powerpoint slide size did you end up using.

NOTE: This guide applies to Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 and 2019. If you’re not sure about your PowerPoint version, read What version of PowerPoint do I have? . You can download PowerPoint straight from Microsoft , but you must own the Microsoft Office suite or have an Office 365 subscription to use it. This tutorial covers only Windows 10, iOS, and macOS, because the option to change the PowerPoint Slide Size is not available on Android.

You’ve done your research, practiced your speech, and spent time adding visual aids for your audience. However, it can all be ruined if you created a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint 2019, whose default slide size is Widescreen (16:9) , and you now have to use an old projector with the Standard (4:3) size. Your slides look different from what you originally intended and need to be adjusted to fit the screen you’re currently using.

To avoid any mismatches that might result in your pages being cut off on the edges or framed by black bars in Microsoft PowerPoint, change Slide Size as soon as you know where and how you’ll deliver your presentation. Unfortunately, not everyone knows which PowerPoint Slide Size is best in each situation. If you’re in doubt, you can always rely on the two most common PowerPoint slide dimensions:

• Standard (4:3) – the default PPT Slide Size in PowerPoint 2010 and previous versions. Works best on older screens with low resolutions, old projectors, online presentation sharing platforms like SlideShare , and iPads.
• Widescreen (16:9) – the default in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 and newer. Works best on new screens with a wide aspect ratio (HDTVs, Smart TVs, LCDs, 4K monitors), new or HD projectors, Microsoft Surface devices, and online platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. Most laptops use a 16:9 aspect ratio, with the exception of MacBook’s 16:10 aspect ratio.

Common PPT Slide Size options

These are the only two settings available on iPhones. However, Microsoft PowerPoint offers you more Slide Size options in Windows 10 and macOS, such as Letter Paper or A4 Paper , which are better suited for printing your presentation. On top of that, if you want to optimize everything as much as possible, you can input a custom PPT Slide Size in inches, centimeters, or pixels, as you’re about to see in this guide.

IMPORTANT: It’s best to change Slide Size in PowerPoint before designing your presentation, to create a perfect canvas for your ideas. If you change the size of a PowerPoint slide after adding content to it, the elements and images you included might appear distorted and need further adjustments, so the sooner you find out the aspect ratio or resolution of the device you’re using for your presentation, the better.

Open the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation you want to work with or start a new project. To change the PowerPoint slide dimensions, first access the Design tab on the app’s ribbon. Then, you can find the Slide Size button in the Customize section on the right.

Change size of PowerPoint slide from the Design tab

Depending on your screen and the size of the PowerPoint window, the option might be hidden. If you can’t see the button, press Customize to reveal it, and then click or tap on Slide Size .

Press the PowerPoint Slide Size button

This opens a dropdown menu with three available options:

In PowerPoint, change Slide Size using one of these three options

• Standard (4:3) - click or tap on this option to get slides of 10 x 7.5 inches or 25.4 x 19.05 cm.
• Widescreen (16:9) - press to get slides of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 33.867 x 19.05 cm.
• Custom Slide Size - access this option if you are looking for something different than the two commonly used settings we discussed.

Choosing the last option opens the Slide Size pop-up window, where you can select a custom size to work with or change other slide aspects, like their orientation.

The PowerPoint Slide Size pop-up in Windows 10

While you can use the options on the right of the window to tweak the Orientation options, the settings related to the size of a PowerPoint slide are on the left side of the Slide Size pop-up. Click or tap the “Slides sized for:” field to access a dropdown menu with other presets you can use for your PowerPoint slide dimensions.

Change size of PowerPoint slide with one of the preset options

To modify the Width and Height fields, use the arrow buttons next to them or write the specific values you prefer into each box. When you change slide size in PowerPoint, you can use pixels, inches, or centimeters by typing px , in , or cm accordingly, next to the value you want.

Enter a custom value to change the PowerPoint slide size

Once you are done choosing the slide size, click OK in the Slide Size window. In Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 and newer, you get a pop-up window and can choose how to change the slide size. This only happens when scaling down to a smaller Slide Size - e.g., from Widescreen to Standard . There are two available options:

Decide what happens with the content when you change Slide Size in PowerPoint

• Maximize - click or tap on either of the two Maximize buttons to leave the contents of your slides as they are, without resizing them. If there is a lot of information on a slide, some elements might not fit anymore and bleed out.
• Ensure Fit - reduces the size of your texts or images to fit the smaller slide size. While your content is not cut out, it does scale down in proportion to the new selected size.

The new slide size is immediately applied to your PowerPoint presentation.

TIP: If you are going to hold your presentation on a Windows device, read our tutorial listing 7 ways to find out your screen resolution to find the right size for your slides.

The options to change PowerPoint Slide Size on your Mac are similar to the ones in Windows. Access the Design tab and click on the Slide Size option on the right.

Click the PowerPoint Slide Size button on the macOS Catalina version

You also get a dropdown menu with three available options on the macOS version of PowerPoint:

Change the size of a PowerPoint slide by choosing one of the three options available on your Mac

• Standard (4:3) – click on this option if you want slides of 10 x 7.5 inches or 25.4 x 19.05 cm.
• Widescreen (16:9) – clicking on this setting gets you slides of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 33.867 x 19.05 cm.
• Page Setup – lets you define a custom size (preset or custom) if the previous common sizes are not what you want for your presentation. Clicking on it opens the Page Setup pop-up seen below.

Change the PPT Slide Size from the Page Setup pop-up on macOS Catalina

The size options in the Page Setup pop-up are identical to the ones found in Windows. Scroll up to the previous chapter to learn more about the preset values in the “Slide(s) sized for” dropdown menu or the custom ones you can insert in the Width and Height fields using inches ( in ), centimeters ( cm ), or pixels ( px ).

When you are done, click OK, and you get a different pop-up, asking you how to handle your content. If you choose to Scale , PowerPoint tries to fit everything into the new scale size, reducing your content size if needed. Clicking the Don’t Scale button keeps elements at their original sizes, even if they no longer fit correctly.

Decide to scale or keep your original content when resizing your PowerPoint slides

The new Slide Size is immediately applied to the presentation, with slide content being resized or cut if needed, according to your preferences.

On your iPhone’s slightly more basic version of PowerPoint, change slide size by accessing the Design options, which house the setting on iOS as well. The steps you need to follow are, however, not as straightforward on these devices. First, tap on the More button in the lower-right corner. Its icon looks like three horizontal dots.

Press on the three horizontal dots icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen on iPhone

You can now see and edit the PowerPoint tab you’re in. Tap on the Home button to see other available options.

Press Home to change the PowerPoint tabs on your iPhone

This opens a dropdown menu, where you can finally find the Design tab. Press on it.

Tap the PowerPoint Design tab on your iPhone

Tap on the Slide Size button listed in the Design screen.

Press the PowerPoint Slide Size button shown on the iPhone

There are only two options available, and we covered them at length in the first chapter of this guide. Tap on the Slide Size you want, and it is immediately applied.

Choose a PowerPoint Slide Size from the two options available on your iPhone

TIP: If you need to know the aspect ratio of an iOS device, read our tutorial listing 3 ways to find the screen resolution of your iPhone or iPad .

If you must regularly create and send PowerPoint presentations at work, it may not be possible to choose the perfect size, as you can’t control the devices your audience is using. The best you can do is use our guidelines to ensure the content is optimized for most viewers. If you show a PPT or PPTX project to a larger audience, make sure to review your slides, test your file in advance on the exact device you plan to use, and leave time for any adjustments.

We tend to stick with the common PowerPoint slide sizes, which are good enough for most devices we come across. What about you? Which PowerPoint Slide Size did you select? Did you find it necessary to create a custom one, or did you end up using the preset ones? Tell us your story in the comments.

• Subscribe to newsletter.

Receive our daily newsletter. You may unsubscribe at any time. For details read the Privacy policy.

Check this box if you agree to receive our emails.

You are subscribed to www.digitalcitizen.life .

Receive our weekly newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For details, read our Privacy policy.

Related articles

How to embed MP3 and other audio files into PowerPoint presentations

4 ways to align text in Microsoft Word

How to embed videos into your powerpoint presentations, how to change the orientation of all the pages in a microsoft word document.

• Slidesgo School
• PowerPoint Tutorials

How to Change the Slide Size in PowerPoint

Are you tired of presentations that don’t adapt well to the screens used in the venue? That’s mostly due to them not being properly suited for conventional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) formats.

Before giving your presentation, it’s important to know which type of screen it’s going to be shown on, so you can optimize it as much as possible. However, have in mind that after changing the original aspect ratio of your presentation , any elements and images already included will probably appear scrambled, so you’ll need to readjust them one by one in the slides or even the master slides.

To change the aspect ratio in PowerPoint, click Slide Size, which is in the Customize group on the Design tab, and choose the desired aspect ratio for your presentation.

As with Google Slides, you can set your own slide size by clicking Custom Slide Size…

When scaling the content, PowerPoint asks you to choose between two different options: 

• Maximize: With this option, PowerPoint will increase the size of the content when scaling to a greater size. As a result, the content might get redistributed in the slides.
• Ensure Fit : With this option, the size of the content will be reduced when scaling to a smaller size. As a result, the content will be smaller and you might need to scale it up again where needed.

Now your presentation is ready and adapted for the new aspect ratio. If you want to learn more about PowerPoint and/or Google Slides and how to get the most out of them, stay tuned for more Slidesgo School tutorials. For further information on how to change the aspect ratio of your slides in PowerPoint, please refer to this article of the Microsoft Office support page .

Do you find this article useful?

Related tutorials.

New feature available: edit our templates with Canva

Whenever you need to create, Slidesgo is there. We’re continually enhancing your presentation design process with templates that are primed to impress for any occasion. And in order to let your ideas flow best, comfort is key. How could Slidesgo help you with this? By making you feel right at home with our resources, no matter your preferred platform.You spoke, and we listened. Now, your favorite slides can be accessed on a new platform: Canva! This new format adds to our existing options (PowerPoint and Google Slides), expanding your ways to utilize our first-rate presentation content. We’ve started with a selection of Canva-ready...

How to print PowerPoint notes

Crafting an impactful PowerPoint slideshow and delivering a captivating presentation are distinct skills. The first focuses on designing appealing visuals to convey a clear message, while the second involves employing effective presentation techniques to ensure the audience grasps the idea. The content of this article will help you with the latter part of this process, guiding future presenters on how to print PowerPoint with speaker notes to enhance your presentations success and effectiveness.

Discover Our Online Presentation Software for Free

We have great news for you today! If you’ve been a Slidesgo fan for years (or months, or weeks, or days, or mere hours, we welcome everyone!), you’ll probably know for now that our templates are available mostly in two formats: for use in Google Slides and PowerPoint.Google Slides is a free tool, since you only need a Google account in order to use it. PowerPoint, on the other hand, is part of the Microsoft Office suite, so it’s not a free program, but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most popular options in the world!What if we...

Webinar: Presentation Audit

With more than 15,000 templates released on Slidesgo and a user base composed of millions of people, we estimate that the total number of presentations created adds up to… um, a lot! Our team of professional designers work very hard to provide you with editable slides so that the only thing you need to do is, well, customize the elements to your liking. Starting from any given template, the results may vary a lot depending on the person who edited the contents.Have you ever wondered “Is my presentation good enough?” and wished that an expert on presentations looked at your template...

How-To Geek

How to change slide size in powerpoint.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Top Tech Deals: Security Cameras, Anker Power Bank, Razer Gaming Headset, and More

How copilot can change the way you use outlook forever, 7 signs an online seller is running a scam, quick links, changing powerpoint slide sizes, changing to a custom powerpoint slide size.

PowerPoint allows you to format and present the content of your slides in different ways. If you want to print out or display your PowerPoint slides in a bigger or smaller-than-average size, you can change the slide sizes to match.

PowerPoint has two common slide sizes. The first, 4:3, is a good option if you're using older hardware to present your slides. If you're planning on presenting your PowerPoint presentation using a modern projector or display, then the 16:9 slide size should be your preferred choice.

By default, PowerPoint will default to the 16:9 side slide. To print your slides (full size, one per page), you'll likely need to use a custom slide size, rather than one of these options.

Switching to another size is thankfully an easy process---open your PowerPoint presentation to begin and then click the "Design" tab on the ribbon bar.

In the "Customize" section of the "Design" tab, select the "Slide Size" button. This will display the two common slide sizes in a drop-down menu.

Click either the "Standard (4:3)" or "Widescreen (16:9)" option to switch all of your PowerPoint slides to that size.

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to use multiple slide sizes in a PowerPoint presentation. Just as if you were making PowerPoint slides vertical , any changes you make to your PowerPoint slide sizes will apply to all slides.

Related: How to Make Slides Vertical in PowerPoint

It's possible to use a custom PowerPoint slide size if the default 4:3 or 16:9 options are unsuitable. You might choose to use a custom slide size if you're printing full-size PowerPoint slides using a custom page layout, for instance.

To do this, select Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size to display the "Slide Size" options menu.

Various preset slide sizes, such as A3 or A4 paper sizes, are shown under the "Slides Sized For" drop-down menu.

Select one of these preset options, or set your slide dimensions manually using the "Width" and "Height" option boxes. From there, click the "OK" button to save.

If you're scaling down to a smaller size, PowerPoint will ask you how it should handle any slide content.

Choose "Maximize" if you want the slide contents to remain at a similar scale, but with the risk that some of the content may be cut. Alternatively, click "Ensure Fit" to scale the slide contents down in size to match the new slide size without losing any content.

Once saved, the custom slide size you selected will be immediately applied to all of your slides, with slide content being resized or cut to match.

• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint

May 2, 2024

PowerPoint slide size and dimensions

Are you creating a presentation for a device other than a widescreen display? Our guide shows you how to change the slide size in PowerPoint for the right fit.

When you’re planning out a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint, one item to consider is the slide size. If you’re presenting the slideshow on your own screen, this is a bit simpler. But if not, you’ll need to consider where your audience will be viewing it such as on a mobile device or computer monitor.

We’ll guide you through the available sizes and dimensions for PowerPoint slides, how to adjust the size to fit your needs, and how an AI presentation maker like Plus AI can make quick work of building and editing presentations.

Available PowerPoint sizes and dimensions

When you create a new presentation in PowerPoint, the slide size is set by default as Widescreen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. But you may want to make your slideshow fit a mobile screen, overhead projector, or older monitor. You can choose the size from a variety of preset options or use your own dimensions.

Standard (4:3) : This preset gives you the original size and dimensions used by earlier Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides versions. Because it was intended for square monitors, it doesn’t work well on widescreen displays, but is still available if you need it.

Common 4:3 aspect ratio dimensions include 1024 by 768 and 1280 by 960 pixels.

Widescreen (16:9) : This preset is the default size for new blank PowerPoint slideshows. It fits modern computer displays and TV screens making it the most widely-used slide size for presentations.

Common 16:9 aspect ratio dimensions include 1280 by 720 and 1920 by 1080 pixels.

Custom Slide Size : For additional presets such as letter size, 35mm slides, or your own exact dimensions, you can pick the Custom Slide Size option. Then, use the drop-down list to select a preset or choose Custom and enter the slide height and width.

How to change slide size in PowerPoint

When you’re ready to change the slide size for your presentation, you can do so in just a few steps. Keep in mind that you cannot use different sizes for individual slides or sections in the same presentation. Once you pick the size, it applies to all slides.

• With your slideshow open in PowerPoint, go to the Design tab.
• Select the Slide Size menu in the ribbon and choose the Standard or Widescreen preset or pick Custom Slide Size to use a different preset or enter the dimensions manually.

• You should see a prompt asking how you’d like to adjust your content. You can either maximize the slide content or scale it to fit. Pick Maximize or Ensure Fit per your preference.

You’ll then see your presentation update with the new slide size.

If you don’t like the new slide size, you can reverse the change. If you don’t make any other edits after changing the size, click Undo in the Quick Access Toolbar. Otherwise, follow the same steps above to pick the previous size.

Tips for after changing your PowerPoint slide size

When you change the size in PowerPoint after you have elements placed on your slides, you may need to make adjustments. This is especially true if you choose a vertical layout rather than a horizontal one. Things like text may need to be resized or images might need to be repositioned.

After you choose the new size, review each slide for these considerations:

• Text size : You might need to make the text larger or smaller for readability.
• Image and object placement : You may have to shift positions for images, videos, shapes, or other objects.
• Animations and transitions : You might need to reorder animations or edit transitions.
• Formatting : You may have to reformat tables, diagrams, or charts to better fit the new slide size.
• Whitespace : You might notice more or less empty space at the top or bottom of the slides that needs addressing.

Remember, you can make a copy of your presentation before you change the slide size or begin adjusting the slide elements. This allows you to experiment on a copy without losing your original slideshow setup.

To create a duplicate, go to File > Save a Copy . Edit the name to reflect the copy, optionally choose a new location, and click Save .

Create stunning presentations with Plus AI

If you’re struggling for the best design for your PowerPoint slideshow, especially with a unique slide size, you do have options such as AI presentation makers .

One tool to consider is ChatGPT for creating a PowerPoint presentation ; however, it does have limitations. For example, you cannot create a PPT or PPTX file with this option. So, while you may get help composing informative content, it cannot “build” your presentation like with other tools.

A terrific presentation maker is Plus AI for Google Slides and Docs . With it, you can create a presentation using Slides and then download it to PowerPoint for a slideshow that’s ready to go.

Additionally, you can edit existing slideshows with the Plus AI add-on for Google Slides to enhance the appearance as well as improve the content.

Apply an attractive template, change the slide layout, or create a custom theme that you can reuse for consistent presentations. Additionally, you can ask Plus AI to add more content details, shorten specific text, or even translate it to another language.

Head to the Plus AI website for more on the complete feature set, to view video demos, see the template gallery, and start your free trial!

If your audience will be viewing your PowerPoint presentation on an unconventional display, you can make sure that it fits the screen by changing the slide size and dimensions. While it’s ideal to make the slide size decision from the start, it’s not always possible. So be sure to keep Plus AI in mind for editing your slideshows.

How do you change the size of a PowerPoint slide without distortion?

You can avoid distorting your elements when you choose a new slide size with a simple setting. When you select the new size and the pop-up window displays, choose Ensure Fit to scale your slide elements without skewing them.

What are the best dimensions for a PowerPoint poster?

Using PowerPoint to create a poster gives you flexibility along with great features for the design, images, and text. Typical poster sizes range from 24 by 36 inches to 36 by 48 inches. Use the Custom Slide Size option in the Slide Size menu to set your poster size.

Why is PPT size too large?

If you’re trying to send or share your PowerPoint slideshow, you may run into trouble if the file size is too large. There can be a few reasons for the hefty presentation file size, so take a look at how to compress a PowerPoint slideshow for ways to decrease it.

Latest posts

Latest post.

How to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint

A video in your slideshow can invoke emotion, provide information, or demonstrate a product or task. Here’s how to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint.

Everything you need to know about Pecha Kucha

An overview of Pecha Kucha, example Pecha Kucha presentations, and tips for your next presentation

PowerPoint Karaoke: Rules, tips, and free slide decks

Overview of PowerPoint Karaoke, rules, and free slide decks for PowerPoint Karaoke

Why Chatbots Aren’t Working

Four reasons chatbots are not the right interface for AI

More resources

How to prepare presentation slides.

Tips, tricks, and a shortcut to getting your next slide deck ready

How to combine PowerPoints

Wondering how to merge or combine PowerPoints to save time, blend ideas, or address a different audience? These methods for combining slideshows have you covered.

How to give a great presentation: Move your viewers with these tips and tricks

Learn how to structure and give a killer presentation on any topic.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to footer

Laura M. Foley Design

Cheat Death by PowerPoint!

What size should my slides be, 16:9 or 4:3?

July 3, 2017 by Laura Foley 2 Comments

Deciding on a slide format used to be easy when there was only one choice. Nowadays, you can choose between 4:3 format or 16:9. What do these numbers mean and which size should you choose for your presentations?

What the numbers mean

The above notation is called the “aspect ratio,” or the ratio of the width to the height of the slide. In the 4:3 aspect ratio, the dimensions are 1024 x 768 pixels (10.67″ x 8″); the height is 3/4 of the width. Back in the Ye Olde Days of PowerPoint, it was your only choice. Why? Because that’s the aspect ratio of actual slides, pictured above, television screens, and early computer monitors.

When high-definition screens came on the scene in the early 2000s, they were built in a 16:10 aspect ratio. But as more and more high-definition screens were manufactured, it became clear that screens with a 16:9 aspect ratio were cheaper to manufacture. So the 16:9 aspect ratio (1920 x 1080 pixels or 13.3″ x 7.5″) became the new standard.

What size should you choose?

From boardrooms to computer monitors to smartphone screens, 16:9 is the default screen aspect ratio so that’s the slide size I always go with. The 16:9 format gives you a lot of slide real estate to play around with! The legacy 4:3 aspect ratio, while still used, creates smaller slides and doesn’t look that great on newer screens.

How do you change an old 4:3 deck to the new 16:9 format?

Oh, this is super-fun to do and you’re a lucky duck if it becomes your job.

To resize your slides go to the Design tab on the ribbon and select Slide Size/Widescreen on the right side of the screen.

After you select the new size, this window will appear:

Now you’re faced with either everything on the slides being stretched out or squished to fill the space. Oh boy! Either way, after you make your selection you’ll need to go through the presentation slide by slide to ensure that everything looks good. This can be fairly straightforward if the creator of the presentation stayed within the template or a real pain in the rear if he/she didn’t. But do go through the deck to ensure that everything looks right.

If you’re a production artist that charges by the hour, reformatting an organization’s slides from 4:3 to 16:9 could be a nice little gig for you!

Other slide sizes for special events

Now, the 16:9 format is great for everyday use but what if you’re designing a presentation for an event? Last year, I was designing slides for a corporate conference where the setup included multiple, massive screens. For that event, the slides measured 52″ x 17″ and had a “leave this space blank” area on the bottom. Each event is different, so if you’re working on slides like these you need to become friends with the AV folks and find out what size slides they recommend for optimal viewing on that particular setup. The last thing you want to see on a gigantic stage are distorted graphics!

Bottom line

Unless you’re told otherwise, use the 16:9 format. You get a lot more space on each slide for your visuals and it’s really the way things are going.

Share this:

What is the Size of a PowerPoint Slide in Pixels?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

When creating a PowerPoint presentation, it is essential to determine the appropriate size for your slides. Understanding the size of a PowerPoint slide in pixels is crucial to ensure that your presentation looks great on all devices, from desktops to mobile devices.

The standard size of a PowerPoint slide is 1024×768 pixels and the widescreen PowerPoint slide is “1920×1080” pixels. It can also be adjusted based on your preferences or the requirements of the platform on which you plan to present your slides.

In this article, we will discuss the standard size of a PowerPoint slide in pixels or inches as well as how to adjust it to fit your needs. Let’s get started!

1. What is the Size of a PowerPoint Slide in Pixels?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, there are multiple preset slide sizes available. You can also customize the size of the slide using the “Custom Slide Size” feature available in the application. Depending on the slide size you select, the size of the slide in pixels will vary.

1.1 What is the Size of a PowerPoint Standard Slide in Pixels?

The “Standard (4:3)” option in Microsoft PowerPoint used to be the only size option in the beginning since most screens from 2010 and before were that size. The standard slide size in PowerPoint is “1024×768” pixels. 

1.2 What is the Size of a PowerPoint Widescreen Slide in Pixels?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the default size of the slides is the “Widescreen (16:9)” option. The widescreen PowerPoint slide is “1920×1080” pixels.

2. What is the Size of a PowerPoint On-Screen Show Slide in Inches?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the size of the slides is mostly measured in inches. Using the “Slide Size” dialog box, you can check the dimension of a slide in inches. Depending on the type of the selected slide, the slide size varies. There are three different “On-Screen Show” slide sizes available in Microsoft PowerPoint.

2a On-Screen Show (4:3)

The “On-Screen Show (4:3)” slides are “10×7.5” inches in size. This is the “Standard” slide size.

2b On-Screen Show (16:9)

The “On-Screen Show (16:9)” slide size is “10 x 5.625” inches in dimension. This is the “Widescreen” option which is the default slide size in PowerPoint.

2c On-Screen Show (16:10)

The “On-Screen Show (16:10)” slides are “10 x 6.25” inches in width and height respectively.

3. How to Find the Size of the Slide in Inches?

Using the “Slide Size” dialog box in Microsoft PowerPoint, you can find the size of the slides in your presentation in inches. To do so, follow the 3 quick steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Design” tab

In the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen, click on the “Design” tab. This will open the “Design” menu.

Step-2: Click on the “Slide Size” option

In the “Customize” group of the “Design” menu, click on the “Slide Size” option. Then click on the “Custom Slide Size” option in the dropdown menu under the “Slide Size” option. This will open a dialog box.

Step-3: Click on the “OK” button

In the “Slide Size” dialog box, you can now see the size of the slide in inches in the “Width” and “Height” boxes. Then click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box to close it.

4. How to Change the Size of a PowerPoint Slide?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can change the side of the slides using the “Design” menu. However, you can only change the size of all the slides in a presentation at once. To change the size of the slide in PowerPoint, follow the 3 simple steps.

The first step is to open the “Design” menu. To do so, click on the “Design” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen.

In the “Customize” group of the “Design” menu, you have to now click on the “Slide Size” option. This will open a dropdown menu containing the preset slide size options available in PowerPoint.

Step-3: Click on your preferred slide size

Finally, all you have to do is click on your preferred slide size option from the preset options available in the dropdown menu under the “Slide Size” option. The available slide sizes are “Standard” and “Widescreen” .

4.1 How to Customize the Size of a PowerPoint Slide?

The “Custom Slide Size” feature in Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to customize the size of all the slides in a presentation. Using the feature, you can set any dimension to the slides in your presentation. To customize the size of the slides in a presentation, follow the 7 easy steps.

The first step is to open the PowerPoint presentation file where you want to customize the size of the presentation slides. Then click on the “Design” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen to open the “Design” menu.

The next step is to click on the “Slide Size” option in the “Customize” group of the “Design” menu. In the dropdown menu, the default slide size is the “Widescreen (16:9)” option.

Step-3: Click on the “Custom Slide Size” option

Now all you have to do is click on the “Custom Slide Size” option at the bottom of the dropdown menu under the “Slide Size” option in the “Design” menu. This will open a dialog box.

Step-4: Click on the “Slide sized for” option

In the “Slide Size” dialog box, click on the “Slides sized for” option. Then click on the “Custom” option at the bottom of the dropdown menu under the “Slides sized for” box.

Step-5: Click on the “Width” box

In the “Slide Size” dialog box, the next step is to click on the “Width” box. Now you can type in your preferred width of the slides in inches. You can also use the up and down arrows in the “Width” box to increase or decrease the width of the slide respectively.

Step-6: Click on the “Height” box

The next step is to customize the height of the slides. To do so, click on the “Height” box in the “Slide Size” dialog box and type in your preferred slide height in inches. You can also click on the up or down arrows in the “Height” box to adjust the height of the slides to your preference.

Step-7: Click on the “OK” button

Finally, all you have to do is click on the “OK” button at the bottom of the “Slide Size” dialog box to save the custom size for the slides in the presentation file.

• Slide Library
• Slide Library for PowerPoint
• Downloadable slides and shapes
• Slide Library search
• Search Library via shortcut keys
• Slide Library update alerts
• Rename or delete objects
• Share Slide Library
• Save slides or shapes to Slide Library
• Save presentation to Slide Library
• Manage Templates
• View all templates and set default
• Agenda Wizard
• Create Agenda Slides
• Update Agenda Slides
• Agenda Slide Numbering
• Navigate via Agenda
• Table of Contents
• Import Agenda Items
• Save Agenda Format
• Manage Colors
• Color Palette Toolbar
• Customize Color Toolbar
• Apply fill with outline color
• Recolor Charts
• View RGB color values & names
• Theme Color Tints and Shades
• Share Color Palette with team
• Insert Shapes
• Standard PowerPoint shapes
• Callouts / Speech Bubbles
• Hand Drawn Circles
• Harvey Balls
• Create Mini Slides
• Move to Multiple Slides
• Right Facing Centered Triangle
• Status Indicators
• Arrange and Align Shapes
• Select same color or size
• Select shapes by attribute
• Align shapes
• Align to first selected shape
• Choose Align anchor point
• Align using shortcut keys
• Copy paste position multiple shapes
• Straighten Lines
• Swap positions
• Distribute evenly
• Set Horizontal Gaps
• Set Vertical Gaps
• Squeeze or expand gaps
• Remove gaps
• Group Objects by Row
• Group Objects by Column
• Send to back, bring to front
• Send backward, bring forward
• Flip or rotate
• Group, ungroup and regroup
• Edit Shapes
• Same height, same width
• Copy paste position, size
• Resize shapes
• Slice shapes
• Multiply shapes
• Stretch shapes and fill gaps
• Toggle line weight and style
• Change margins toggle
• Chevrons same angle
• Paragraph Styles
• Save Paragraph Styles
• Apply Paragraph Styles
• Use PowerPoint Indent Increase/ Decrease to apply bullet styles
• Reset Paragraph Styles
• Ticks and Crosses bullets
• Paint Formatting
• Advanced Format Painter
• Position & Size Painter
• Table Format Painter
• Style Painter
• Text Format Painter
• Change Shape Painter
• Chart Format Painter
• Angles & Curves Painter
• Animation Painter
• Cycle Accent Colors
• Format Text
• Fit text to textboxes
• Wrap Text Toggle
• Merge Textboxes
• Split Textboxes
• Increase/ Decrease Font size
• Change Text Case
• Color Bold Text
• Delete Text or Replace
• Insert Superscript text
• Format Tables
• Create table from text boxes
• Convert table to text boxes
• Convert text to table
• Insert columns and rows
• Paste Excel data without source formatting
• Paste Excel data into text box tables
• Export Table or Box Table Data to Excel
• Set cell margins
• Express Table layout
• Table stripes
• Autofit columns
• Evenly space columns
• Align shapes over tables
• Harvey Balls for Tables
• Status Indicators for Tables
• Customizable PowerPoint Shortcuts
• Extra PowerPoint shortcuts
• Add PowerPoint shortcuts
• Search shortcut keys
• Reassign PowerPoint shortcuts
• Reset PowerPoint shortcuts
• McKinsey PowerPoint shortcuts
• F4 or Ctrl+Y redo or repeat
• Printable PowerPoint Shortcuts PDF
• How to Print a Custom Shortcuts list
• Search Shortcut Keys
• Searchable PowerPoint Shortcuts list
• Format Toolbar Overview
• Format Toolbar Layout Options
• Lock or Unlock Objects
• Lock objects
• Lock objects to the Slide Master
• Unlock objects
• Proofing Tools
• Fix Lines & Outlines
• Fix Layout, Transitions, Animations
• Fix Punctuation & Spacing
• Fix Margins, Bullets, Indents
• Check for Confidential items
• Reduce File Size
• Check Slide Master
• Set Proofing Language
• Change set language for PowerPoint presentations
• Flip PowerPoint Slides
• Flip Slides for Translation
• Slide Numbering
• Manage Slide Numbering
• Slide Numbers with totals
• Add words to Slide Numbers
• Change Starting Slide Number
• Skip Slide Numbers on Hidden Slides
• Slide Navigator
• Footers & Footnotes
• Filename Footer
• Enlarge Footnotes
• Refine Slides
• Add summary slide
• Format slide title
• Display No Fly Zone
• Send slide to appendix
• Camouflage mode
• Format Painter
• Set Grayscale
• Format Images
• Compress file size
• Format Charts
• Charts Toolbar
• Config Options
• Customize Settings
• Dark Mode Display
• Review Slides
• Customizable Status Stamps
• Sticky Notes
• Tag slides with filename and page number
• Share Slides
• Email selected slides in PPT or PDF format
• Print selected slides
• Save selected slides
• Slide Library for Teams
• Team Slide Library
• Create multiple Team Slide Libraries
• Synchronize Team Slide Libraries
• Synchronize Team Slide Library to your company Dropbox/ Box/ OneDrive folder
• Updating your Team Slide Library
• Import entire presentation to the Slide Library
• Share Slide Library with a colleague
• Share Custom Settings
• Share Custom Settings with Team
• Getting Started
• Getting started with PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint
• Downloadable PowerPoint Elements for Slide Library
• Tutorial - How to Create Custom Paragraph Styles for PowerPoint
• Can I use PPT Productivity on a Mac?
• PPT Productivity Basic Tools Tutorial
• PPT Productivity Plus Tools Tutorial
• New Features
• August 2023 update: Color Toolbar enhancement, new icons and more
• February 2023 update: New Slide Libraries available to download!
• January 2023 Update: Agenda Wizard, Format Painters + More
• How to copy and paste formatting in PowerPoint
• PowerPoint How To
• What are the most popular PowerPoint shortcuts?
• Where are PPT templates stored? Finding templates in PowerPoint
• Pasting data into a PowerPoint table without source formatting?
• Consulting Toolkit
• How to create effective consulting slides using Minto Principles
• Missing the McKinsey PowerPoint Shortcuts?
• Missing the Accenture QPT for PowerPoint?
• Missing the BCG PowerPoint Tools?
• Missing the Bain Toolbox for PowerPoint?
• How to add Stamps or Stickers to PowerPoint slides?
• Looking for a Consulting PowerPoint Toolbar?
• Top 10 PowerPoint Hacks / Shortcuts used by strategy consultants
• PowerPoint Tips

How to change slide size in PowerPoint 16:9, 4:3 and custom?

• March 25, 2021

Trying to change slide size in PowerPoint presentations? PowerPoint lets you choose between a couple of standard slide sizes plus a custom option. In this hints and tips blog post we provide a guide to:

• The different slide sizes in PowerPoint 16:9, 4:3 and custom sizes
• How to change a PowerPoint slide size
• How to change the orientation of PowerPoint slides from landscape to portrait
• A workaround to change selected slides to portrait for printing

Where to change slide size in PowerPoint?

From the PowerPoint Design tab on the ribbon, select the Slide Size feature button. You can find the slide size feature button on the far right end of the ribbon - refer to the screenshot below.

The three slide size options of standard, widescreen and custom will display, as shown in the screenshot below.

What are the PowerPoint slide size options?

PowerPoint offers three different slide sizes. What's the difference 4:3 vs 16:9 PowerPoint slide sizes? The Standard 4:3 and Widescreen 16:9 both have the same slide width , but have different slide heights:

• PowerPoint Standard (4:3) Slide Size: This is the original PowerPoint slide size. The standard screen size is easy to print and works well on older style pull down projector screens (when the screen shape is closer to a square than the newer widescreen layout). Powerpoint 4:3 dimensions are 10 in x 7.5 in (which is 33.867 cm x 19.05 cm). Standard PowerPoint slide size pixels = 1024 px x 768px
• PowerPoint Widescreen (16:9) Slide Size: The PowerPoint 16:9 widescreen option was a later addition but is now the default value in PowerPoint for new presentations. Widescreen is more commonly used now because the size is well suited for presenting on digital screens (typically shaped like elongated rectangles similar to a current TV screen). Powerpoint 16:9 dimensions are 10 in x 5.625 in (33.867 cm x 14.288 cm). Widescreen size 16:9 size ppt dimensions pixels = 1920 px x 1080 px
• On-screen show (4:3)
• Letter Paper (8.5x11in)
• Ledger Paper (11x17in)
• A3 Paper (297x420mm)
• A4 Paper (210x297mm)
• B4 (ISO) Paper (250x353mm)
• B5 (ISO) Paper (176x250mm)
• 35mm slides
• On-screen Show (16:9)
• On-screen show (16:10)

You can either select from one of the many options in the drop down list, or you can directly key in your preferred Width and Height for your PowerPoint presentation. As soon as you key in width and/ or height values, the drop down menu will update to show the Custom option.

Note that when you are entering a custom slide size you have the option to specify your PowerPoint size in pixels (e.g. specify pixels for width and height). You can do this by typing in your preferred height and width in pixels using px at the end. The minimum width or height in pixels for PowerPoint slides is 120 px and the maximum width or height is 720 px. When you specify the pixel size of PowerPoint slide, PowerPoint will convert the pixels automatically to your default unit of measurement (e.g. either cm or in).

You can then select the Orientation of the PowerPoint slides. You have the option of Portrait or Landscape orientation and you can select separately for the slides and the Notes, Handouts & Outline.

Can I resize selected slides in a PowerPoint presentation?

No - the PowerPoint resize option is applied to all slides in your presentation. You cannot change size of selected slides in your PowerPoint presentation.

Does PowerPoint auto resize content if slide size changes?

If you select to change the slide size for an existing presentation, PowerPoint will display a slide scaling popup menu. The menu will give you the following options for scaling your slides:

• Maximise : The maximize size scaling option in PowerPoint will make the content larger, but it may spill over the edges of your slide.
• Ensure Fit: The ensure fit scaling option in PowerPoint ensures that all content remains visible on the slide, however the content may shrink to ensure that it fits.

Can I change orientation of PowerPoint slides from Portrait to Landscape?

Trying to work out how to change PowerPoint to portrait layout? You can change the orientation of your PowerPoint slides from Landscape to Portrait for the entire presentation, (you cannot change only selected slides in a presentation). To change orientation of PowerPoint slides:

As per the steps above, from the PowerPoint Design tab on the ribbon, select the Slide Size feature button (on the far right end of the ribbon).

The three slide size options will display, as shown in the screenshot below. Irrespective of what size layout you want this time, you need to select the Custom Slide Size option from the PowerPoint ribbon.

From the Slide Size popup menu on the PowerPoint ribbon, you have the option to select Portrait or Landscape mode. You can select the orientation display without modifying your slide size if you already have the correct slide size selected.

You can change the orientation for both your PowerPoint slides and handouts. Note that changing the orientation does not automatically adjust your template (for example your logos will likely appear distorted and the title page of your presentation will look squished). You need to adjust your PowerPoint template separately. If you are changing orientation only for a single PowerPoint presentation, you can do this via your presentation's Slide Master. Or if you plan on creating multiple presentations in the new orientation, its worth spending the extra time to create a new .potx template file suited to the new orientation.

Can you have different orientation slides in a PowerPoint? presentation?

Trying to add a vertical slide in PowerPoint, but keep the rest of the presentation horizontal? Unfortunately it's not possible to have a combination of Portrait and landscape slide orientations in a single PowerPoint presentation. But there is a workaround if you are printing rather than online presenting your PowerPoint presentation.

If you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation that will be printed, a workaround to include different orientation pages in PowerPoint is to create a slide master layout with the orientation on its side. This is a way to rotate PowerPoint slides to Portrait without changing all slides. Refer to the screenshot below for an example.

This How to Guide was brought to you by the PPT Productivity team.

See our tools at work

Book a personal demo with our PPT professionals

Start 30 Day Free Trial

Start your 30 day free trial - Microsoft Office for Windows

Download and Install

Existing customers download to install on a new computer

Related productivity tips

How to hide slide numbers on PowerPoint Title Slide?

Want to hide the page or slide number on your PowerPoint Title slide, but display slide numbers on ...

Can I change PowerPoint starting slide number?

Do you want to start your PowerPoint Slide number / page numbers at zero or another number? By ...

Can I insert slide totals with slide numbers in PowerPoint? Yes!

PPT Productivity add-in recently released our Manage Slide Numbering feature for PowerPoint. ...

• PowerPoint Slide Size

PowerPoint Slide Size report

The most common PowerPoint slide ratios are "4:3" and "16:9". In previous versions of PowerPoint, the slide size was 4:3, widescreen, and high-definition formats have been adapted for TV and video. The default slide size in new versions of PowerPoint is widescreen (16:9). And the PowerPoint slide size can be changed by the following method.

The PowerPoint slide size also needs to be adjusted to cover the entire screen for different monitors and devices. You can often see some special proportions of slides at the press conference. In this case, [Custom Slide Size] is used. The following post will explain different PowerPoint Slide sizes and change them.

PowerPoint Slide Size Guide

Whether you are preparing your presentation for a class or your work, you should adapt it to the device which will be used for projecting it. Some devices or even laptops can have different sizes, so you will need to change the dimensions of your presentation. To change the size of your presentation slides, on the Design tab, in the Customize group, click the Slide Size button and then choose one of the pre-defined sizes.

Common PowerPoint Slide Sizes

• Standard (4:3) was the default slide size in older versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, like 2003 or 2007. Standard (4:3) slides have a size of 10 x 7.5 inches or 25.4 x 19.05 cm.
• Widescreen (16:9) is the default slide size in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013, 2016, and 365. Widescreen (16:9) slides have a size of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 33.867 x 19.05 cm.

4:3 is best viewed on a standard computer screen, while the 16:9 is best viewed on a widescreen computer screen or TV. Using the proper dimensions ensures the presentation is scaled suitably not to appear warped. Widescreen is the default in most versions of PowerPoint.

Custom PowerPoint Slide Size

Using a custom PowerPoint slide size is possible if the default 4:3 or 16:9 options are unsuitable. You might choose to use a custom slide size if you are printing full-size PowerPoint slides using a custom page layout, for instance. To do this, select Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size to display the "Slide Size" options menu.

• From the Slides sized for the drop-down list, you can choose pre-defined popular sizes, such as Letter Paper (8.5 x11 in), Ledger Paper (11 x 17 in), A3 Paper (297 x 420 mm), etc.
• Enter the custom sizes in the Width and Height fields.
• Choose the slide orientation in the Orientation group.

You can run your slideshow on a computer screen, a television screen, or a projector. It is best to know your display device upfront. It would be best to change your slide dimensions before designing your slides before adding shapes and images to slides. Changing the dimensions afterward is possible, but it can ruin your slide design. If pictures are distorted, you will need to manually resize each image or delete them and insert them again.

Related Articles

Standard Refrigerator Size

Standard Quilt Sizes

Shower Pan Sizes

Cord Of Wood Size

Cal King Size

Standard Bathtub Size

TV Size Chart

Dumpster Size

Wallet Size Photo Dimensions

FedEx Box Sizes

Pickleball Court Size

Basketball Court Size

Baseball Diamond Dimensions

Tennis Court Size

Volleyball Court Size

Mona Lisa Size

SIM Card Sizes

Hot phones size.

• Xiaomi Poco F6 Pro Size

Dimensions: -

• Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) Size

Dimensions: 281.6 x 215.5 x 5.1 mm (11.09 x 8.48 x 0.20 in)

Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024) Size

Dimensions: 249.7 x 177.5 x 5.3 mm (9.83 x 6.99 x 0.21 in)

Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) Size

Dimensions: 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1 mm (11.05 x 8.46 x 0.24 in)

Apple iPad Air 11 (2024) Size

Dimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm (9.75 x 7.03 x 0.24 in)

Xiaomi Poco Pad Size

Dimensions: 280 x 181.9 x 7.5 mm (11.02 x 7.16 x 0.30 in)

Samsung Galaxy C55 Size

Dimensions: 163.9 x 76.5 x 7.8 mm (6.45 x 3.01 x 0.31 in)

Xiaomi Redmi Pad Pro Size

Xiaomi Redmi Turbo 3 Size

Dimensions: 160.5 x 74.4 x 7.8 mm (6.32 x 2.93 x 0.31 in)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) Size

Dimensions: 244.5 x 154.3 x 7 mm (9.63 x 6.07 x 0.28 in)

Report a problem on this page

Submit   

• iPhone 15 Size
• iPhone 15 Pro size
• iPhone 15 Pro Max Size
• iPhone 15 plus Size
• Huawei MatePad 11.5 S Size
• Realme GT Neo6 Size
• Nokia 3210 Size
• ZTE Axon 60 Lite Size
• ZTE Axon 60 Size
• A1 Paper Size
• A2 Paper Size
• A3 Paper Size
• A4 Paper Size
• A5 Paper Size
• Legal Paper Size
• Letter Paper Size
• Envelope Sizes
• Photography Sizes
• Passport Photo Size
• Business Card Size
• Crib Bed Size
• Twin / Single Bed Size
• Twin XL Bed Size
• Full / Double Bed Size
• Full XL Bed Size
• Queen Bed Size
• Olympic Queen Bed Size
• King Bed Size
• California King Bed Size
• Mountain Bike Size
• Women's Mountain Bike Size
• Road Bike Size
• Women's Road Bike Size
• Hybrid and Fitness Bike Size
• Children's Bike Size

How to Change the Slide Size in PowerPoint for Better Presentations

Choosing the right slide size is an important design consideration when creating PowerPoint presentations. The slide size impacts how content appears, what aspect ratios work best for your audience’s display equipment, and overall visual cohesion. Follow this guide to change PowerPoint slide sizes for beautifully designed and impactful presentations.

Aspect Ratios – What Are Your Options?

Common options include:

How To Change Slide Size in PowerPoint

Create custom slide sizes.

To make custom slide sizes:

Example custom sizes:

Optimize File Size

Test on multiple screens, design amazing presentations with new slide sizes.

Adjusting PowerPoint slide dimensions takes your presentations to the next level. Match projector ratios, create Instagram-ready visuals, format video slides, reduce file sizes, and craft visually stunning slides tailored to every audience. Dynamic slide sizes help presentations stand out while improving viewing experiences.

About The Author

Vegaslide staff, related posts, how to use eyedropper tool to match colors, powerpoint 2013: finalizing and protecting presentations, powerpoint 2007: wordart and shapes, powerpoint 2003: ordering objects on a slide.

How to change the size of slides in Microsoft PowerPoint

To change the size of your presentation slides, on the Design tab, in the Customize group, click the Slide Size button and then:

• Standard (4:3) was the default slide size in older versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, like 2003 or 2007. Standard (4:3) slides have a size of 10 x 7.5 inches or 25.4 x 19.05 cm.
• Widescreen (16:9) is the default slide size in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 and 2016. Widescreen (16:9) slides have a size of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 33.867 x 19.05 cm.
• Click Custom Slide Size... :

In the Slide Size dialog box:

• Choose the slide orientation in the Orientation group.

After choosing the necessary options, click OK . The Microsoft PowerPoint dialog box will show two options on how to scale the existing slides to a new slide size:

The Maximize the size of the content or scale it down to Ensure Fit it on the new slide.

Note : It is impossible to change the size or orientation just for some slides.

Please, disable AdBlock and reload the page to continue

Today, 30% of our visitors use Ad-Block to block ads.We understand your pain with ads, but without ads, we won't be able to provide you with free content soon. If you need our content for work or study, please support our efforts and disable AdBlock for our site. As you will see, we have a lot of helpful information to share.

Header and Footer on slides

How to Change the Measurement System Units in PowerPoint (from Inch to Cm and Vice Versa)

Change PowerPoint's Measurement System from Inches to Cms or Vice Versa by Changing Your Control Panel Settings

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 6, 2021

Applies to: Microsoft ®  PowerPoint ® 2013, 2016, 2019 and 365 (Windows)

When you're working on your slide decks in PowerPoint, the Ruler and various dialog boxes or task panes (such as picture or object size) display in inches or centimetres (cm). If you want to change your measurement system from inches to centimetres or vice versa, you'll need to change your control panel settings for your device. Unfortunately, unlike Microsoft Word, you can't change the measurement system directly in PowerPoint.

Below is the Control Panel in Windows 10:

Recommended article: How to Quickly Remove All Animations in PowerPoint Presentations

Do you want to learn more about PowerPoint?  Check out our virtual classroom or live classroom  PowerPoint courses >

Changing PowerPoint's Measurement System in Windows 10

To change PowerPoint's measurement system in Windows 10:

• Close PowerPoint.
• Click Start on the bottom left, type Control Panel in the search box and press Enter. The Control Panel displays in Windows 10.
• In the Control Panel, click Clock, Language and Region. A dialog box appears.
• Click Region. A dialog box appears.
• Click Additional settings. The Customize Format dialog box appears.
• Under Measurement system, select Metric if you want your measurements in centimetres or U.S. if you want your measurements in inches.
• Click OK twice.
• Start PowerPoint. The Ruler, dialog boxes and task panes will now display measurements in the system you chose.

Below is the Customize Format dialog box in the Control Panel:

Subscribe to get more articles like this one

Did you find this article helpful? If you would like to receive new articles, join our email list.

More resources

How to Turn Off Automatic Text Resizing in PowerPoint

10 Ways to Compress PowerPoint Presentations to Reduce File Size

How to Quickly Remove All Speaker Notes in a PowerPoint Presentation

How to Crop an Image into a Circle in PowerPoint (Crop to Shape Method)

How to Change the Background of PowerPoint Slides to a Color, Gradient or Picture

Related courses

Microsoft PowerPoint: Intermediate / Advanced

Microsoft PowerPoint: Design for Non-Designers

Microsoft PowerPoint: Animations Bootcamp

Microsoft Excel: Intermediate / Advanced

VIEW MORE COURSES >

Our instructor-led courses are delivered in virtual classroom format or at our downtown Toronto location at 18 King Street East, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (some in-person classroom courses may also be delivered at an alternate downtown Toronto location). Contact us at [email protected] if you'd like to arrange custom instructor-led virtual classroom or onsite training on a date that's convenient for you.

Copyright 2024 Avantix ® Learning

You may also like

How to Insert or Type I with an Accent Mark in Word (Í, í, Ì, ì, Î, î, Ï, or ï)

You can insert or type i with an accent mark in Word using built-in tools or keyboard shortcuts (including Alt code shortcuts). The letter i can be inserted with an accent in both upper or lower case. The following are common accents in upper or lower case – Í, í, Ì, ì, Î, î, Ï, or ï.

How to Insert or Type A with an Accent Mark in Word (À, Á, Â, Ä, à, á, â, or ä)

You can insert or type a with an accent mark in Word using built-in tools or keyboard shortcuts (including Alt code shortcuts). The letter a can be inserted with an accent in both upper or lower case. The following are common accents in upper or lower case – À, Á, Â, Ä, à, á, â, or ä.

10 Word Shortcuts to Select Text Using a Keyboard

You can use several shortcuts in Word to select text in your documents using only your keyboard. When you select text, it will typically be highlighted in grey. After you select text, you can cut, copy, or delete the selected text or apply character or paragraph formatting.

Microsoft, the Microsoft logo, Microsoft Office and related Microsoft applications and logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in Canada, US and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of the registered owners.

Avantix Learning |18 King Street East, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C 1C4 | Contact us at [email protected]

Our Courses

Avantix Learning courses are offered online in virtual classroom format or as in-person classroom training. Our hands-on, instructor-led courses are available both as public scheduled courses or on demand as a custom training solution.

All Avantix Learning courses include a comprehensive course manual including tips, tricks and shortcuts as well as sample and exercise files.

VIEW COURSES  >

Contact us at  [email protected]  for more information about any of our courses or to arrange custom training.

Privacy Overview

Pin it on pinterest.

• Print Friendly