How to Reduce Powerpoint File Size

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: March 29, 2022

This wikiHow teaches you how to lower a PowerPoint presentation file's size by compressing its images on a Windows or Mac computer, or by clearing the editing data on a Windows computer. There is currently no option to delete the editing data of PowerPoint presentations on a Mac.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Compressing Images on Windows

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Double-click an image. Doing so will open the Format tab at the top of the PowerPoint window.
- If your PowerPoint file isn't yet open, first open it by double-clicking it.
- It doesn't matter which picture you double-click, since all of them will open the appropriate tab.
This option is just below the Transitions tab. Clicking it will invoke a pop-up window.

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It's the first option at the top of the Compress Pictures window. Disabling this option will ensure that all pictures in your presentation are compressed.^{[1]
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This option is near the bottom of the Compress Pictures window.
Doing so will apply the compression settings to all images in your PowerPoint file, thereby reducing its overall size.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Compressing Images on Mac

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Click File. This menu item is in the far-left corner of your Mac's menu bar at the top of the screen.^{[2]
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- If your PowerPoint file isn't yet open, first open it by double-clicking it.
It's toward the bottom of the drop-down menu.
Doing so will invoke a drop-down menu.
This option will reduce the quality of all images in your PowerPoint file to 96 ppi, which is a generally lower resolution than most images' defaults.
Doing so will ensure that any unused data will be removed from your presentation.
This option applies your changes to every image in the presentation.
This will drastically lower your PowerPoint file's size.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Removing Edit Data on Windows

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Click the File tab. It's on the far-left side of the PowerPoint window's top row of options.
- If your PowerPoint file isn't yet open, first open it by double-clicking it.
This tab is at the bottom of the list of options on the left side of the window.
You'll see this option near the middle of the left-hand column of options.
It's below the "Image Size and Quality" heading, which is about halfway down the window. This option removes excess information from your PowerPoint presentation.
This button is at the bottom of the window.
It's the square in the top-left corner of the screen. Doing so will save your changes and apply the "discard editing data" changes to your presentation, which may lower the overall file size.

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Tips

Using JPEG files rather than other file formats will cut down on your presentation's overall size.

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When formulating a presentation, using the default plain backgrounds in your slides will make your file smaller than if you upload detailed backgrounds.

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If you can't get your PowerPoint file to shrink down enough to send it via email, you can upload it to a cloud service (e.g., Google Drive) and send an email with a link to the file instead. Your recipient will be able to download the file from Google Drive.

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