How to Reduce the File Size of Your PowerPoint Presentations

We’ve all been there. Your overseas colleague sends you an email with the updated presentation. Next thing you know, your inbox is full and your computer freezes as you try to open the 100+MB attachment.

You can avoid this hassle by following our simple tips to reduce the size of your PowerPoint files.

1. Remove Unused Slides, Pictures, and Videos

Presentations that have been updated by many different people often have several outdated slides containing pictures and videos, upping the file size considerably. An easy fix is to delete all irrelevant slides and content.

2. Compress Images

PowerPoint has an integrated function for compressing images in a presentation. To do this in PowerPoint 2007 or later, open the presentation and click on the first picture. Go to Picture Tools/Format > Compress Pictures, and uncheck the box for Apply only to this picture. This will apply your compression settings to all images in the presentation. Click OK to close the window.

Check Delete cropped areas of pictures and choose 150ppi or 96 ppi. If the presentation is going to be printed, 220ppi is your best option.

3. Discard Edit Data

Here’s another way to reduce the size of a presentation. Go to File > Options. Go to Advanced and under Image Size and Quality, check the Discard editing data box. Don’t forget to save your presentation again. FYI: These changes cannot be undone.

To make sure others can open your PowerPoint file hassle-free, aim for a presentation size of 5MB or less.

4. Don’t Use PowerPoint to Edit Images

Try to avoid using PowerPoint picture tools to edit your graphics and images. PowerPoint creates two image files – one for the original, and one for the edited version – which increases file size. To keep your file size as small as possible, use a separate editing tool and insert the finished images into your presentation.

5. Check Your Slide Master

When copying a slide from one presentation to another, it’s easy to accidentally include the slide master from the source presentation.  To avoid this and keep your file size down, always right-click the slide you want to copy and paste by clicking Use Destination Theme. When you’ve finished creating your presentation, take one last look at the master view and make sure you haven’t copied an unnecessary master.

To make sure others can open your PowerPoint file hassle-free, aim for a presentation size of 5MB or less.

One last thing: There are a lot of tools you can use to reduce the size of PowerPoint and Office files. Two of the more popular tools are PowerShrink and FILEminimizer. Both these options ensure file size reduction without compromising quality. Download a free version and try them out.