Microsoft PowerPoint Web App lets you make basic edits and formatting changes to your presentation in a web browser. PowerPoint Web App also runs a slide show in the browser and--in SkyDrive--provides iframe embedding of presentations in a web page, such as a blog. For more advanced editing features, use PowerPoint Web App’s Open in PowerPoint command. When you save the presentation in PowerPoint, it is saved on the website where you opened it in the web app
The presentation you open in PowerPoint Web App is the same as the presentation you open in the PowerPoint desktop app, but some features work differently in the two environments.
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File formats supported in PowerPoint Web App Technical Preview
PowerPoint Web App opens presentations in these formats:
- PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)
- PowerPoint Template (.potx)
- PowerPoint Show (.ppsx)
- OpenDocument Presentation (.odp)
- PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation (.pptm), PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Template (.potm), or PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Show (.ppsm)
The presentation can be opened, but macros do not run. These presentations cannot be edited in the browser.
- PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation (.ppt) or PowerPoint 97-2003 Show (.pps)
PowerPoint Web App displays presentations in these formats, but to edit the presentation in the browser, PowerPoint Web App saves a new copy of the presentation in .pptx format. PowerPoint Web App can’t save presentations in the .ppt or pps formats.
- PowerPoint 97-2003 Template (.pot)
PowerPoint Web App displays presentations in this format, but they cannot be edited in the browser.
PowerPoint Web App can’t open presentations in other file formats. For example, these formats are not supported: PowerPoint Add-in (.ppam), PowerPoint 97-2003 Add-in (.ppa), Rich Text Format (RTF), and Portable Document Format (PDF).
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Features supported for viewing and printing
When you view a presentation in PowerPoint Web App, you can advance through the slides or play the slide show in the browser.
In SkyDrive you can print the presentation as full-page slides. PowerPoint Web App uses a PDF reader to print presentations (see the list of supported PDF readers). If you want PowerPoint features for printing (such as printing handouts) or you are using PowerPoint Web App in SharePoint, click Open in PowerPoint, and print in the PowerPoint desktop app.
When you are viewing a presentation, some features work differently in the browser than they do in the PowerPoint desktop app. To use features that are not available in PowerPoint Web App, click Open in PowerPoint.
| This feature |
Works like this in PowerPoint Web App |
| Normal, Slide Sorter, Notes Page, Reading View, and Master views |
Reading view provides a way to advance through the slides, to jump to a particular slide, and to display or hide slide notes. Editing view in PowerPoint Web App is similar to Normal view in the PowerPoint desktop app. Slide Sorter, Notes Page, and Master views are not available in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Slide Show |
PowerPoint Web App plays slide shows in a full-screen window. Press the spacebar to advance the slides. Slide animations play, but only Fade and Wipe transitions between slides are supported. |
| Video and audio |
Video and audio content plays in Reading view and Slide Show if you have Microsoft Silverlight installed (Flash is required for video that is linked from a website). |
| Outline View |
Outline View is available on the File tab in Reading view. |
| View slide notes |
Notes for each slide can be displayed or hidden. |
| Zoom |
Zoom is not available in PowerPoint Web App. Using your browser’s zoom enlarges text of the PowerPoint Web App user interface, but slide content is not enlarged. |
| Rulers and gridlines |
PowerPoint Web App does not display rulers and gridlines. |
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Features that differ between the browser and the desktop
When you edit a presentation, some features work differently in the browser than they do in the PowerPoint desktop app. The following tables describe how PowerPoint Web App supports features that might apply to your presentations. To use features beyond what’s available in PowerPoint Web App, click Open in PowerPoint.
Opening and saving
| This feature |
Works like this in PowerPoint Web App |
| Information Rights Management (IRM) |
PowerPoint Web App displays presentations that are protected with Information Rights Management. However, these presentations cannot be edited in the browser, and you cannot create IRM-protected presentations in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Password protection |
PowerPoint Web App can’t open presentations that are digitally signed or encrypted with a password. |
| Save |
PowerPoint Web App saves your work every time you make a change. There is no Save command. |
Editing and formatting
| This feature |
Works like this in PowerPoint Web App |
| Create, delete, reorder, hide slides |
Add, reorder, duplicate, hide, and delete slides. Choose a layout when you create a new slide. |
| Copy and Paste |
Copy and paste text. Text pasted in PowerPoint Web App keeps the formatting of where it was copied. You might need to format the text after pasting it, to match formatting of surrounding text. |
| Font formatting |
Apply bold, italics, underline, font, size, and color, including using the Format Painter. |
| Paragraph formatting |
Align paragraphs left, right, or centered; run text right-to-left or left-to-right; increase or decrease indentation; format paragraphs as a bulleted or numbered list. |
| Numbering and bullets |
Apply built-in numbering or bullet formats. |
| Find |
Find and Replace are not available in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Theme |
Choose from a gallery of built-in themes when you add a new slide to the presentation. Themes not supported by PowerPoint Web App are preserved in the presentation, but the ability to modify themes is not available in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Slide masters and slide layouts |
Slides in PowerPoint Web App are based on the slide master and layouts that were used to create the slide in the PowerPoint desktop app. For presentations created in PowerPoint Web App, slide masters and layouts are based on default settings. Choose from a gallery of slide layouts when you add a slide to a presentation, but you cannot change slide masters or modify layouts in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Animations |
Choose from a small gallery of animation effects. Animations not supported by PowerPoint Web App are preserved in the presentation and displayed in the slide show, but they cannot be modified in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Transitions |
Choose from a small gallery of transition effects. Transitions not supported by PowerPoint Web App are preserved in the presentation, but are not displayed in the slide show and cannot be modified in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Slide show |
Options for setting up and customizing the slide show, broadcasting the slide show, or setting up monitors are not available in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Co-authoring |
Multiple authors can work simultaneously in PowerPoint Web App. Co-authoring works across PowerPoint 2010 or later and PowerPoint for Mac 2011. |
Reviewing
| This feature |
Works like this in PowerPoint Web App |
| Proofing tools |
Check spelling and set the proofing language, using the built-in dictionary. PowerPoint Web App does not use a custom dictionary and does not include translation or a thesaurus. |
| Comments |
View and update comments in Reading view. |
Objects
| This feature |
Works like this in PowerPoint Web App |
| Hyperlinks |
Insert, edit, and follow hyperlinks. Bookmark links work, but cannot be edited in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Tables |
Tables are displayed but cannot be edited (other than to delete them) in PowerPoint Web App. |
| Video and audio |
Video and audio content plays in Reading view and Slide Show. Video and audio controls can be resized, moved, and deleted in PowerPoint Web App, but to insert new media, click Open in PowerPoint. |
| Pictures and clip art |
Insert pictures stored on your computer, or insert clip art available on Office.com. You can move and resize pictures, and you can apply a number of picture styles. More sophisticated features for working with pictures, such as applying effects and cropping, are not available in PowerPoint Web App. You can’t create screenshots in PowerPoint Web App, but screenshots that are in a presentation display as pictures in PowerPoint Web App.
Note In SharePoint, the ability to insert clip art is available only if it has been switched on by the SharePoint administrator.
|
| Shapes or drawings and text boxes |
Add a text box or choose from a gallery of shapes. Apply styles, which define fill, outline, and shadow effects. Move, resize, rotate, or order shapes text boxes in layers, back-to-front. Ungroup shapes to work with them individually. |
| SmartArt |
Insert SmartArt, switch to a different layout or color scheme, apply Smart Art styles, and edit text. |
| Charts, equations, ink, and WordArt |
These can’t be inserted in PowerPoint Web App, but PowerPoint Web App displays them as expected. In Editing view, edit and format text. If you want to apply text effects to WordArt, click Open in PowerPoint. |
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| Symbols |
These can’t be inserted or edited in PowerPoint Web App. If the font for displaying a symbol is not available, the symbol is displayed as a placeholder. |
| Headers and footers |
Headers and footers, including date and slide numbers, cannot be inserted, edited, or deleted in PowerPoint Web App, but PowerPoint Web App displays them as expected. |
| Macros |
You can view, edit, print, and share presentations that contain macros, but to run the macros click Open in PowerPoint. |
| ActiveX controls, embedded OLE objects |
These can’t be inserted or edited in PowerPoint Web App, but PowerPoint Web App displays them as expected. |
| Linked pictures |
These are preserved in the presentation but are hidden in Reading view and Slide Show. They are displayed as placeholders in Editing view. |
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