Create a PowerPoint presentation from an outline

Create an outline in Word

1. Open Word.

2. Select View > Outline. This automatically generates an outline and opens the Outlining tools:

   • If your document has headings (any heading levels from H1-H9), you’ll see those headings organized by level.

   • If your document doesn’t have headings and subheadings yet, the outline will appear as a bulleted list with a separate bullet for each paragraph or body text. To assign or edit headings, heading levels, and set up your document structure:

     • Select a bulleted item. Or press the Ctrl key to select several lines. 

     • In the Outline Level box, select a heading Level 1 for slide titles, Level 2 for bullet points on that slide.

     • When finished or to edit your document, select Close Outline View.

If you need help creating an outline, see Create an outline in Word.

Save an outline in Word

• To save your document, select Save, name your file, and then select Save once more. Select Close to close your document.

  : Your Word document must be closed to insert it into a PowerPoint presentation.

Import a Word outline into PowerPoint

1. Open PowerPoint and select New Slide > Slides from Outline.

2. In the Insert Outline dialog box, find and select your Word outline and select Insert.

   : If your Word document contains no Heading 1 or Heading 2 styles, PowerPoint will create a slide for each paragraph in your content.

Guidelines for importing an outline

PowerPoint can import an outline in .docx, .rtf, or .txt format.

• If your outline is a Word document    Apply a heading format to any text you want to include in a slide. For example, if you apply the Normal style to a block of text, Word won't send that text to PowerPoint.

• If your outline is a .txt file    Use indentation to indicate heading levels. Any unindented lines of text will become titles of new slides.