in powerpoint presentation animation can be repeated how many times

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How to Loop an Animation Effect in Microsoft PowerPoint

When you add an animation in PowerPoint presentation, you may want it to disappear when it’s over, or play repeatedly on the slide as an accessory. For the latter, how to make it happen specifically?

1. To add an animaiton, you should select specific text or shape at first.

2. Go to Animations tab, click Add Animation and choose an effect in the drop-down menu.

3. Click Animation Pane to evoke the side pane. Right-click the animation you just added and choose Timing… in the menu.

4. In the Timing tab of the popping out window, click the small down arrow beside the choice box of Repeat to expand the menu. Choose the number of times you want the animation to repeat, or you can also choose Until Next Click or Until End of Slide .

Then hit OK to confirm the setting, and you can press [F5] to preview the effect.

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How to loop a sequence of PowerPoint animations

• Written by: Jamie Garroch
• Categories: PowerPoint animation
• Comments: 16

Loops are like buses. You wait ages for one then a bunch of them arrive at the same time! In our last looping article you discovered how to create infinite Motion Paths in PowerPoint. Now you’re going to learn a simple technique to loop sequences of animations in PowerPoint.

Animation effects in presentations aren’t just decorative, they’re a great way to pace your content so you can explain your story step-by-step. We’ve got lots of articles about how to use simple animations effectively (like this beginner’s guide to Morph and this introduction to PowerPoint animation ), but today we’re going to look at something a little more sophisticated. Sometimes you might want to play a sequence of animation effects in a loop, over and over again to illustrate a particular point. PowerPoint allows you to loop a single animation effect but not a sequence of multiple effects. Our neat hack solves that limitation and, as an added bonus, gives you a warm fuzzy sensation because you know loops inside out.

How to loop one animation effect in PowerPoint

Let’s start at the very beginning as I’ve heard it’s a very good place to start! If you’re sitting there thinking, ‘Hang on a second, I have no idea how to loop a single animation!’ – fear not! Take a look at the slide below. Let’s say you wanted the computer icon in column E to blink repeatedly until you move to the next slide.

To do this you would add the Blink emphasis effect from the Animations tab ( Animations > Add Animation > More Emphasis effects… ). Then open the Animation Pane , right click on the blink animation you just added and select Effect Options . Then set up the animation as follows:

How to loop a sequence of animation effects in PowerPoint

Okay, one animation successfully looped! But what would you do if you wanted a sequence of animation affects to play in a specified order and then repeat, as in this example:

This is just one PowerPoint slide with a fairly complex animation sequence used to show the production line process. This is what the Animation Pane looks like:

You can download this file to see how the animation sequence was created: Download looping animation file . What we want to do now is to set this whole sequence to repeat until the next slide. How? With our audio bookmark hack!

Hover your mouse over the last animation effect in the sequence and make a note of the time it ends. In our example, it’s 13.5 seconds.

Record a sound file that’s a bit longer than the time you just noted down. This may seem odd but stick with it! To do this, go to the Insert tab in PowerPoint and – way over on the right-hand side of the ribbon – click Audio followed by Record Audio .

Top tip: Name your recording using the target time so you remember when to stop recording!

If you want, you can mute your microphone. Otherwise, keep completely silent and press the record button. Wait until the recording is the right length, then press the stop button.

Wait! Hold the phone. Why are we telling you to record a silent audio file?! All will become clear.

Select your new audio file then set it up in the Playback tab as follows:

• Click Add Bookmark (this will add a bookmark at 0 seconds)
• Click Volume > Mute
• Click Start > Automatically
• Click Loop until Stopped
• Click Hide During Show

Your audio file options should now look like this:

Finally, click the Trim Audio button and set the End Time to the exact time you want the animation sequence to repeat. In our example, the sequence lasts 13.5 seconds so we’ll set the audio end time to 14.00 seconds.

Open the Animation Pane (download our free quick access toolbar customisation for Windows or macOS to open the Animation Pane with just one click). Then select the first animation effect in the sequence, hold down the shift key and select the last effect in the sequence. With the whole sequence selected, go back to the Animations tab and in the Advanced Animation group, click the Trigger menu followed by On Bookmark and then Bookmark 1 .

And you’re done! You should now see two zones in the Animation Pane. The top part in the main timeline sequence just has the audio file in it, set to start automatically and repeatedly fire its single bookmark trigger event every 14 seconds. The main animation sequence has moved to what’s known as the interactive or trigger sequence. This sequence will now start every time the bookmark in the audio file is reached.

And as the audio file is set to loop until you advance the slide, the animation sequence will repeat from when you start the Slide Show until you move to the next slide or quit the show. And it doesn’t stop there. Imagine what effects you could achieve by adding different sequences to different audio files with multiple bookmarks. One audio file triggering another that triggers a sequence of effects that triggers another audio file. Welcome to mind-blowing PowerPoint that makes your brain ache and your heart sing! No? Just us then!

Got a thirst for PowerPoint loops?

If you’re now looping mad, then you might want to check out this blog post: How to create infinite Motion Paths in PowerPoint . And our free BrightSlide add-in for PowerPoint includes lots of new ways to enhance your creativity, including some very cool animation tools that’ll have your boss, colleagues and audiences jumping for joy. Download BrightSlide!

Jamie Garroch

Principal technical consultant, related articles, powerpoint memory game.

• PowerPoint design / PowerPoint animation
• Comments: 4

We love PowerPoint at BrightCarbon. It’s such a versatile application which can be used for so much more than ‘just’ designing presentations. You can create videos, printed collateral, interactive eLearning, even animated GIFs and so much more. But did you know you can even create games? We’ve built one for you, using VBA, and it’s free to download and adapt.

3 ways to create slide backgrounds in PowerPoint

• Comments: 1

If you’ve used BrightCarbon’s guides before, we have no doubt that you can make your content look incredible. But something you might not have dabbled in yet is changing up the slide background in PowerPoint. The right presentation backdrop can do a lot, from keeping everything on brand to adding…

How to create infinite Motion Paths in PowerPoint

All the best things in life do loop-the-loops. Rollercoasters, fancy planes, and… PowerPoint! Learn how to make a loop-the-loop-ing infinite Motion Path in PowerPoint for silky smooth repeating image carousels, never-ending animations, and more!

Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for sharing

Thank you very much, It’s very useful.

Very useful. Worked like a charm

Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge!

Brilliant! Thank you so much

Thank you – works like a charm. I would never have thought that I’ve have to record an audio to make a animation loop!

Great idea!

had to repeat list of animations on a slide – this works perfect! Thanks much for sharing

It doesn’t loop. It just plays once even though I have “loop until stopped selected”. I applied all the steps you suggested. What am I doing wrong?

I’m having the same problem! I’ve followed this guide a few times with no problems but this time I just can’t get it to work.

The most bizarre thing is that a previous slideshow I did still works perfectly and I’ve compared all the settings and all the checkboxes and they all match. But the new slideshows just repeat once and stop. Very annoying. I suspect there’s been an ‘improvement’ by Microsoft – that’s normally what breaks useful things in the office apps!

It seems that in current versions of Office 365 there is a strange bug. I just ran into the same problem, but I figured out its cause and a solution. Here’s how:

Apparently, PowerPoint adds a slide transition timer when you add the audio. It is set so the exact duration of the audio. So when the loop is ready to repeat the transition kicks in and switches to the next slide. To solve it just go to the Transitions tab and clear the check box next to the slide timer (usually the last item on the ribbon).

Works perfectly! I looked for this option for a while and finally learned how to do it. It is explained easily step by step.

Thank you so much.

Where in the heck is the Playback tab? I recorded the video but it’s nowhere to be seen. Clicking it in the Animation pane just brings up Animation options. Why do these articles skimp on screenshots? Be better for us dumb ones.

Found it–have to select the “recording” icon dead center in the slide. Missed it because I had assets masking it. Seriously–screenshots are signposts for your readers. Shouldn’t have to explain that for technical content.

All the options I need to do this are greyed out. How do I make them so I can actually click on them?

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Cheat Death by PowerPoint!

How to create looping animations in PowerPoint

October 2, 2018 by Laura Foley 7 Comments

PowerPoint has some incredible animation tools. Incredibly frustrating, that is. One thing that’s eluded PowerPoint animators for years has been a way to loop an animation sequence on a slide. Friends, I’m happy to announce that the wait is over. I’ve learned of a way to cheat the system!

The problem with looping animations in PPT

A looped sequence is a repeating sequence. For example, a looping animation would go through Effect #1, then Effect #2, then Effect #3, then go back to Effect #1 and keep going until you tell it to stop. It seems like it would be super-simple to set something like this up in PowerPoint. Trust me, without knowing the trick I’m about to teach you, it’s a huge pain in the tuchus.

You see, the animation timeline in PowerPoint is stupid. It only travels from left to right, ever forward. There’s no way to isolate a set of animations, group them, and cause them to loop. So to create the illusion of looping, you’d have to repeat the animation sequence however many times you want it to loop. It can be a real drag, especially if you have a number of complicated animations, exact positioning, etc.

The answer? Bookmarks.

I’m a member of the Presentation Guild . One of the many benefits I enjoy as a member is access to the forum pages, where the best presentation designers share their ideas and inspirations. One of the Alpha Nerds, Jamie Garroch , developed an ingenious method of creating looping animations within PowerPoint by using something I’d never been aware existed: bookmarks.

A bookmark can be added to a video or audio file. Like bookmarks IRL, you can use these to mark interesting parts of the media. You can also use them to…wait for it…trigger animations! And the way to do it is to use bookmarks on an audio file you create that’s the same length as your desired animation loop.

How to create looping animations

Don’t be put off by the number of steps below. As with anything, writing out instructions takes much longer than actually doing it. If you’d rather learn by watching me do it, then watch this video.

Step 1: Create your animations

Create the animations you want on your slide. Wherever you want a bookmark to trigger an animation, select Start On Click . Use animation tools like After Previous , With Previous , Duration , Delay , etc., as you normally would.

Step 2: Make the audio file

• Under Media on the Insert tab, click Audio then Record audio .
• Click on the red dot (record) and remain silent for the length of your recording. The recording length is determined by how long you want the looping animation to be. When finished, click on the square (stop).
• Click on the audio file. Under Audio Options on the Playback tab, select Volume then select Mute . Also select Hide During Show, Start Automatically , and Loop Until Stopped .

Step 3: Add bookmarks

• Click on the audio clip.
• In the audio controls below the clip, click Play .
• When you reach the point where you want to make a bookmark, click Pause .
• Under Audio Tools , on the Playback tab, in the Bookmarks group, click Add Bookmark . Note that these bookmarks cannot be changed, only deleted and remade, so choose wisely!
• Make as many bookmarks as you have Start On Click animations.

Step 4: Use bookmarks to trigger animations

• In the Animation Pane , move your audio file to the top.
• Select the first animation that starts on click, then select On play…Recorded Sound – Bookmark 1 under Triggers .
• In the Animation Pane , move all of the animations that follow up until the next Start On Click animation to be after the triggered animation.
• Repeat steps 1–3 for as many Start On Click animations you have.

Step 5: Breaking the animation cycle

To get the animation cycle to stop and advance to the next slide, follow these steps:

• Click on the Transitions tab in the Ribbon .
• In the Timing section of the Transitions tab, deselect On Mouse Click
• Select After and set the amount of time you want to stay on the slide.

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Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

Working with graphic assets can bring a degree of expectancy when delivering a presentation, such as in the case of PowerPoint animations. They can help add emphasis to slide content and reveal parts of the slide gradually to help presenters discuss topics sequentially. 

As a presenting software, PowerPoint provides all kinds of animations for emphasis, entrance, exit, and to create a set motion. Join us today to learn all about animations in PowerPoint and unleash your creative potential.

Table of Contents

How PowerPoint Animations Can Benefit Presentation Design

Understanding powerpoint animation basics, types of animations in powerpoint, how to animate text on powerpoint, animating objects for visual impact, crafting seamless slide transitions in powerpoint, mastering advanced animation techniques in powerpoint, dos and don’ts of powerpoint animations, real-world use cases of animated presentation slides, recommended animated powerpoint templates, enhanced engagement and understanding through animations.

Dynamic presentations can have many benefits. The importance of such animations is often only realized by people familiar with PowerPoint. As we’ve seen in our guide on visual communication , graphical elements can make concepts more understandable. In the case of animations, we can use the transitions between slides or elements to split concepts and make them clearer.

Audience engagement is another factor, as eye-catching slides often include surprise elements hidden behind animations. These elements attract the audience’s interest and increase retention rate. In this case, animations serve as powerful presentation aids for the speaker.

Capturing Audience Attention

PowerPoint animations are more likely to capture the audience’s attention than static slides. The moving objects on-screen are the type of visuals people are likely to find attention-grabbing instead of trying to read through static slides or looking at static images. On this behalf, storytelling techniques boost their efficacy in connecting with the audience by implementing animations and transitions rather than sticking to static slides. 

Emphasizing Relationships Between Elements

Whenever we work with contrasting values, like pros and cons slides , animations help the presenter highlight areas of interest or disclose the opposite values section by section. This, in turn, structures the speech for real-time interaction with the graphical assets rather than having the audience read the slide and lose focus on the speech. 

Interactive Presentations

As mentioned before, presenters can craft compelling stories through the careful use of animations in PPT. What is often overlooked is the link between interactive presentations and animations. For instance, a speaker can deliver different outcomes of the presentation by selecting one path whose outcome is revealed through an animation. This “wow” factor induces surprise and creatively presents case scenarios.

Another option is when introducing your team in presentations. Rather than using static slides, incorporating animations gives more rhythm to the presentation and invites the public to interact with the speaker.

Getting Started with Animation in PowerPoint

To start with animations in PowerPoint, select an object you wish to animate and go to the Animations tab to choose an animation to add to the slide element. When adding animations to multiple objects in a slide, you should consider the sequence you wish to use to animate objects.

Accessing Animation Features

When accessing animation features, you will come across various animation types. By expanding the Animations menu, you can select animations for entrance, exit, emphasis, and motion paths to create a path for your animated sequence. You can also click to instantly preview an animation for the selected object or switch to slideshow mode to see how the animation will appear.

Adding Animations to Text and Objects

Once an animation is added to a text or object, a number is assigned. This number shows the sequence in which the object will be presented. For example, the object will be the first to be animated on screen, followed by two, three, and so on.

You can adjust the sequence of animations, triggers, and other settings from the Animation Pane in PowerPoint.

Timing and Sequence in Animations

The Timing menu in the Animations pane provides options to set the duration of the animation, the time to delay the animation on the screen (if necessary), and to assess if the animation starts on click, with the previous or after the last animation. How you select these animations will help you adjust the time and sequence of the animations. For example, you can use ‘ with previous’ option to show two animated objects simultaneously.

Entrance, Exit, and Emphasis Animations

Some of the most commonly used animation types fall under three categories: entrance, exit, and emphasis animations.

Entrance Animations

The Entrance Animations are meant to start or introduce objects. You can explore all entrance-related animations by going to Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Entrance Effects . This will reveal all entrance animations you can click to preview for a selected object. These often consist of basic animations with effects like appear, fly-in, float-in, strips, wheel, circle, box, dissolve-in, split, wedge, wipe, plus, diamond, checkerboard, blinds, etc. The animations can be divided into three categories: basic, subtle, and moderate. These categories help identify the type of effects in each category according to how prominent they might be on screen.

Exit Animations

The Exit Animations are meant to help exit a slide or animated sequence to close a topic or subtopic, or to conclude the on-screen animations for a slide. These animations are similar to the Entrance Animations with the same effects. You can use these animation types for an exit sequence using effects like blinds, circles, checkerboard, box, plus, split, wedge, wipe, diamond, dissolve out, contract, swivel, fade, zoom, basic zoom, collapse, float up, etc.

Like the Entrance Animations, you can go to  Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Exit Effects to preview the animations and to see the three categories for basic, subtle, or moderate animations.

Emphasis Animations

Other than basic, subtle, and moderate, the Emphasis Animations come with an additional category, ‘exciting.’ Emphasis animations in PowerPoint provide visual aids for emphasizing content within slides. The effects for these animation types in PowerPoint are also quite different from the entrance and exit-themed effects. Effects like fill color, grow/shrink, transparency, line color, teeter, color pulse, object color, desaturate, darken, lighten, blink, wave, and others can help emphasize an object within a slide to make it pop out before the audience.

Exploring Motion Path Animations

If primary effects aren’t what you want, it’s time to switch to Motion Paths . These are animated effects in PowerPoint that showcase objects across a specific path. In other words, these are elaborate animations that drag objects on the screen based on a particular shape or path, such as a 4,5, 6, or 8-point star, crescent moon, circle, diamond, football, heart, octagon, pentagon, square, trapezoid, teardrop, right triangle, arc (down, right, left, up), curvy right, bounce right, etc.

Motion Paths are divided into four categories. The basic effects consist of shapes, whereas, Line Curves provide lines and curves to animated objects. Similarly, the special category contains more elaborate effects such as inverted square, loop de loop, peanut, bean, curved square, etc.

Choosing Appropriate Animation Styles

When choosing animation styles, picking a style that best resonates with your presentation slides is important. The animations’ names and categories can help you identify what might work for you. Furthermore, after adding an animation, you can go to Effect Options to view the various directions and options used to refine the animation to build your sequence further. Depending on the animation type, you can pick variations of the animation, directions, colors, transparency, points to edit or lock, or other options for selected effects. The image below shows the variations for the Wheel animation in PowerPoint via Effect Options .

Similarly, if you select Transparency from Emphasis Effects, you can choose how transparent the object will appear on the screen. Likewise, many color-themed effects enable picking a custom color to animate an object.

Since Motion Paths are unique, you will get options to edit points, lock paths, reverse the direction of the default animated sequence, etc.

Now that you know how to animate in PowerPoint, it’s time to explore making written content more interesting using animations.

Start by opening a blank PPT file and adding a placeholder text. The idea is to learn how text interacts with animation effects without working with complex graphic layouts.

Select the text and switch to the Animations tab. In there, pick an animation effect of your preference. You will get a preview of the effect applied – which will show the number of the animation order once completed.

Animations for text, like any other animation, can be controlled in terms of behavior by accessing the panel at the right-most section of the Ribbon.

Additionally, we can expand the animations panel to select from the different effects offered by PowerPoint.

Animating Text Elements on PPT Templates

Animating text elements to highlight key aspects of your slides can be a great way to create engaging presentations. The Animated 3D 4 Steps & Core PowerPoint Template shown below are among the Animated PowerPoint templates at SlideModel that animate objects and text elements for emphasis while retaining a clear layout.

As visible from the animated sequence from the Animation Pane in the image below, the slide deck uses animated text boxes with a mix of other slide elements to create a sequence where a four-step diagram is highlighted with supported text to help elaborate each part of the diagram in an animated sequence. We can add, remove, or modify the included effects via the Animation Pane.

Balancing Text Animations for Impact

By balancing text animations, you can have maximum impact when highlighting content for your slides. The animations can be triggered to start simultaneously to reveal all the text after a sequence of objects, before objects appear, or one by one to reveal the diagram contents gradually.

Animating Images, Shapes, and Charts

When animating shapes and images, you can use a variety of animation types for entrance, exit, and emphasis, and to make the content pop out. However, charts require subtle animations, and it’s best to use basic effects to reveal charts, such as Appear and Disappear .

The Animated Network Diagram PowerPoint Template is an example of how to animate shapes.

The template’s title slide reveals shapes and icons in the form of a diagram in an animated sequence.

You can also include images in such a template to customize the given diagram and animate it to reveal the image simultaneously or after a set of objects has already been revealed.

If you are including a chart in your slide that is to be animated, make sure the animation corresponds to other elements that might also be animated. For example, you can trigger the chart to be revealed after the slide title with a simple Appear effect. In such a case, the chart can be displayed altogether or gradually, in animated form.

Applying Object Animations Strategically

When placing slide objects, you must apply the animations strategically to avoid revealing information out of sequence. Furthermore, it is also worth considering how your effects appear. For example, in the image of the diagram below, would you prefer the diagram to appear floating upward or downward? Such considerations and other vital elements, such as your branding needs, are important to ponder when setting your animated sequence.

Enhancing Presentation Flow with Transitions

While Animations for PowerPoint are one way of making your slides engaging, PowerPoint Transitions is another. You can access them via the Transitions tab in PowerPoint and apply transitions between slides.

While many legacy transitions provide basic effects when switching between slides, some of the more recent additions to this menu, such as Morph Transition , enable the creation of elaborate animations by using Transitions to animate your slides. The below example shows a slide with the Morph transition, giving an animated effect to the diagram.

Maintaining Coherence Between Slides

When applying Transitions, it is essential to maintain coherence between slides by ensuring they don’t overlap with any added Animations. To do this, you should preview your slide deck to see how it might appear once all the animated effects have been included in your slides. Like PowerPoint Animations, you can also use Effect Options for Transitions to set a sequence or direction that best suits your needs.

Layering for Complex Animation Effects

Using layers of multiple objects and slides can easily create advanced animation effects. This can be done using not only PowerPoint animations but also transitions. The Animated Pendulum Swing PowerPoint Templates from the SlideModel archive of animated templates use Transitions like Morph to create animated sequences. The below example shows a swinging pendulum created using Morph.

Combining and Triggering Animations

Depending on the number of elements within a slide and the animations used, you can use triggers to customize and set sequences for slide elements to animate. The example below shows the selected pendulum’s various linking options for the on-click trigger. By placing your slide objects to be connected and triggered with different parts of your slide, you can create and customize animated sequences that can be pretty attention-grabbing. 

PowerPoint Animation Painter

If you thought you had to start from scratch to animate each slide of your presentation, you are sorely mistaken. Much like the Format Painter option in PowerPoint, we can find Animation Painter , which is accessible via the Ribbon under the Advanced Animation control options.

This tool helps us duplicate animations between elements of the same slide or copy animation effects from one slide to another. As a format copying tool, it requires at least one animation effect to be placed otherwise the option is grayed out.

Creative Experimentation

Experimenting with Animations in PowerPoint can be pretty helpful to avoid making monotonous presentations. Experimentation does not necessarily require making slides from scratch, but you can also use ready-made templates such as the 3D animation PowerPoint Templates at SlideModel. Alternatively, some slide deck templates offer a considerable range of animation effects intended for maximum audience engagement, which users can quickly customize by editing placeholder areas for text, images, and logos.

Below is a list of do’s and don’ts of PowerPoint Animations for making presentations that best use animated effects.

Maintain Animation Moderation

It is essential to maintain moderation when using animations, as the use of too many animations on a single slide or presentation can make the content confusing.

Use of Appropriate Animations

Try to use appropriate animations for slide objects. The animation should suitably show if the object is to enter, exit, be emphasized, or be highlighted using a motion path.

Avoid Animation Overload

Avoid flashy animated sequences unless your presentation is meant for an audience that might find engaging, such as children in a classroom session.

Subtle can be Just as Engaging

Sometimes, subtle animations can be just as engaging as an animation with an elaborate effect. This can, in fact, be a better option than using animations that might be visually overpowering or difficult to follow due to elaborate effects.

Ensure Visual Consistency

As discussed earlier, it is vital to maintain consistency in using animated effects. Be it Animations or Transitions, using flashy effects or too many diverse effects can hurt how the audience perceives your content, as it might become confusing, visually overpowering, or unprofessional. In such a case, the audience might quickly lose interest in the presentation, leading to Death by PowerPoint.

Less is More

The design language of visual designs over the past decade or more has been intended to use fewer effects and graphical elements with ample space to make the interface look clean. Be it Modern UI or Material design apps, this design language has been evident across desktop and mobile UIs. Using the same concept, you can design your slides with fewer animations and graphical elements to make your content more visually appealing.

Turning PowerPoints into Millions

Courtney Allen, a professional PowerPoint designer who came out of a BFA in graphic design from Boise State University, had all but PowerPoint as a part of her portfolio. She started her freelancing career via Upwork, making over a thousand PowerPoints for clients, bringing in as many as $2 million. She suggests using simple designs and animations to make the most out of PowerPoint presentations. 

Guy Kawasaki Pitch Deck

Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee, whose famous 10-slide pitch deck has inspired a variety of PowerPoint templates. This rule was designed for startups and business presentations, focusing on pitching a concept to investors. While this isn’t directly related to using animations in presentations, it is an example of making the best use of minimalist content in a few slides. You can learn more about the Guy Kawasaki pitch deck from our article about the 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoint presentations .

How not to use an Animated PowerPoint Presentation in Court! 

Presentations with animations aren’t always a great idea. In 2014, a court in the United States criticized a PowerPoint presentation by the prosecutor, which led to the court throwing the case out. The presentation was made with sound effects and animations, with flashy elements like the bullseye. Some of the significant mistakes made by the prosecutor included ‘visual advocacy,’ where the defendant was marked with the word ‘guilt’ in the slide deck. Not to mention, the animated presentation seemed to be aimed at influencing the court using visual aids. Something that did not sit well with the court.

Use of PowerPoint by the US Military

The US Military has often been accused of Death by PowerPoint for preparing what some call the worst PowerPoint slides ever created. The issue became so profound that in 2011, it was revealed that an executive communications manager at Microsoft, Dave Karle, was tasked with ensuring that the US military could finally start using the software properly. After discussions with top military officials, an updated military presentation method was created, consisting of a number of presentation templates, tips, and graphics and more than 6000 map symbols. 

In this section, you can check some ready-made templates that can be easily customized for your presentation’s purposes. All these templates feature professionally made animation effects with native PowerPoint tools.

1. Multi-Purpose Animated PowerPoint Slide Deck

Those looking for how to animate in PowerPoint now have a ready-made solution to create mind-blowing presentations in a couple of minutes. This slide deck contains 26 slides in a broad selection of topics. We can present facts, introduce our team, our company, display charts with animated effects, and so much more. Check it out now!

Use This Template

2. Animated 8-Step Social Media Carousel PowerPoint Template

Bring dynamism to your social media posts by implementing this vivid social media carousel template. With eye-catching animated effects, this template emulates the typical carousel posts we can find on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.

3. Problem Solving Animated PowerPoint Template

Bring professional graphics to troubleshooting sessions with your team. This template, filled with PowerPoint animations, offers a user-friendly approach to conventional problem-solving situations in which the team has to observe the Issue Matrix, suggest possible solutions, and prepare an implementation plan and its corresponding process flow diagram. Thanks to its high-quality animation effects, the speaker can introduce the facts individually, without diverting attention from the speech.

4. Animated Company Profile Presentation Template for PowerPoint

We’ve seen this template as one of the examples of animations for PowerPoint. It is a 21-slide solution offering all the tools required for a corporate-styled company profile presentation, specifically tailored for service businesses.

5. Corporate Company Profile Animated PowerPoint Template

An alternative option for company profile presentations, featuring a minimalistic graphic layout with a broad variety of animation effects. Check these 12 slides and customize them with information relevant to your organization – we bring complex animation effects in a ready-made format. Colors and placeholder images can also be replaced.

6. Animated Roadmap PowerPoint Template

Bring more action to any planning meeting using this animated PowerPoint roadmap template. After a clear path overview, each milestone slide contains animation effects to introduce relevant information to the topic. It is a new take on traditional roadmap presentations that allows the speaker to pace themselves regarding how to disclose the information about the strategy to embark on.

7. Animated Pros & Cons Comparison Slide Template for PowerPoint

We mentioned the advantages of using PowerPoint animations to discuss contrasting values of a situation. Well, this animated Pros & Cons slide is the ideal tool for that purpose, offering a generalist view, then two accompanying slides for Pros & Cons, respectively, with animated effects to introduce additional information per point.

Using animations to make visually appealing and engaging presentations requires ensuring that your content corresponds with your added animated effects. It is always best to use animations in moderation and to keep your slides minimalist while unleashing your creativity as a presenter. Using ready-made PowerPoint templates can also help give you a good starting point to begin experimenting with animations and effects. This can also be useful for people new to PowerPoint Animations to explore what is doable with an animated slide deck, using animated sequences tailored for customization. 

Whether you’re using an animated template or making one from scratch, a preview in slideshow mode can save you a lot of trouble with potential issues tied to animated effects. Last but not least, using animations in PowerPoint isn’t always necessary, and you can even go for a simple slide deck with a handful of slides. What matters is that you should be aware of the information being presented, and the visual aids should be just to aid your slides and not meant to be the whole package on their own.

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Ultimate Guide to PowerPoint Animations: Tutorials, Templates, Tips & Tricks

Animations in powerpoint.

We have put together a massive collection of resources for PowerPoint Animations. This includes free & premium tips, tricks, tutorials and templates that you can access online to polish your slides and engage your audience.

We will cover both Custom Animations and Transitions feature in PowerPoint. This includes the new Morph Transition introduced in PowerPoint for Office 365

About PowerPoint Custom Animations

Custom Animation is a useful feature in PowerPoint. You can use it to add interaction to your slides and make the presentation more engaging for your audience. Almost any element in your slide - text, photos, graphs, shapes, audio and video can be animated.  

You can add PowerPoint animations to any of these elements in just three steps: (1) Select the object to animate (2) apply an animation, and (3) customize the effects.

Let us see how to apply animation to different parts of a presentation.

Custom animation, when used correctly can enhance the effectiveness of your message in your business presentations. #PowerPoint #Tips

4 Types of Animations 

PowerPoint offers 4 types of Animations:

• Entrance animation: Animations to make elements enter the slide.
• Exit Animation : Animations to make elements exit the slide.
• Emphasis Animation :   Animations to highlight elements on the slide and direct attention
• Motion Path Animation : Animations that make elements on the slide move from one place to another along predefined paths. 

You can add more than one animation to the same object. With this feature, it is possible to create a variety of custom animations to suit your specific requirement.

Animation can help make a PowerPoint presentation more dynamic, and the information more memorable. The most common types of animation effects include entrances and exits. 

Learn how to set up basic animations with these tutorials on Microsoft website. 

[Basic] Add Animations in PowerPoint 2016

In this easy to follow video, learn how to add animation in PowerPoint 2016. This video shows how to get started and is a primer.

Customizing Animation Effects

Once you add an animation to an object, PowerPoint offers further options to customize the animation. Each Animation effect can be controlled using the following additional settings:

Option 1: Preview Animations

Animations in PowerPoint can be normally viewed only in Slideshow mode. So if you want to preview the animations you added on a slide, PowerPoint allows you to view them using the Preview option.

Option 2: Effect Options

Some effects in PowerPoint like Fly In have additional options available. For example, Fly In animation can be set to Flyin from Left, Right, Top or Bottom of the slide. 

In addition to this, text animation can be further set to: As One Object, All at One or By Paragraph.

Option 3: Advanced Animation Effects

These options help you fine tune your animation further. You can: 

Add Animation: Add more animation effects to an object

Animation Pane: View Animation Pane to view list of animations applied on the slide and modify them.

Trigger:   Start animation on a trigger like on click of a button/text etc. to make your slide more interactive.

Animation Painter: This lesser known tool can be used to copy all the animations applied to one object and "paint" or replicate the animation to another object. This is a very useful tool to reduce the time taken to create animation effects.

Option 4: Animation Timing

The Animation timing tools allow you to control when and how the animations play. 

Start: Animations can start On Click, With Previous and After Previous

Duration: Controls how long the animation should play for. 

Delay: This feature controls how long after the previous animation the current animation should be played.

Reorder Animation: When the Animation Pane is open, you can reorder the animations and move them up or down with these tools.

5. About Animation Pane

The Animation Pane provides the list of all the animations applied to a slide in once place. You can do the following actions in the Pane:

• Change the Start option
• Edit the Effect options
• Change the Timings
• Remove the animations 
• Preview the animations

You can find out more about Animation Panes in this post from Tutsplus .

How To Preview Animations

When you put together a slide with multiple animation effects, you need to preview the animation periodically. Going to Slideshow mode every time takes a lot of time. In this video, you will find some quick ways to preview animations. All the options shared in this video allow you to preview the animation in the slide itself.

Text Animation Effects

PowerPoint animations are useful for text or bullet lists. You can make each point in your list appear one at a time as you present it.  In this section we'll explore some basic and advanced ways to present text.

Animations to Bullet Lists

When you present a list of bullet points, you can add animations to make each point exit the slide, after you finish covering it.  This post from Techrepublic shows how to add an exit strategy to bullet points in a slide. 

[Easy] Useful Animation Tricks for Bullet Points

Learn 3 useful PowerPoint Text animation tricks in the video below. The tricks you will learn are: 1. How to animate a bullet point list one by one 2. How to dim a bullet point after it is animated 3. How to make a bullet point disappear after the animation PLUS How to animate bullet points in reverse order These PowerPoint animation effects should help you make your next presentation more effective.

[Advanced] Animation Effect for Text 

Learn how to create a realistic looking effect of a hand writing text in PowerPoint. The animation looks like it was created by whiteboard animation software like Videoscribe. This popular video by Presentation Process has over 1200 Likes and 134K views. 

Find these videos useful? Please subscribe to Presentation Process YouTube channel for more:

Most people use animation only to make the bullet points appear one after another. Some advanced users make the points dim after animation. There is so much more to animation than this basic feature. In the following sections we'll see some advanced and creative uses of Animations in PowerPoint.

Picture Animation Effects

In this section you will find some creative ways to animate slides with photos. This includes photos in jpeg or png format as well as vector images in EMF, WMF or SVG format.

You can find video tutorials on how to animate Pictures and Shapes on Microsoft website.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Zoom Animation

Sometimes when you present large pictures in your business presentation, you may be required to zoom in to your pictures to show the details. In such a situation this PowerPoint zoom effect comes in handy. You can use the animation effect to zoom into a certain step in a large multi step process, or you can use this custom animation trick to zoom in on an individual in a large group photo or zoom in on a country in a large world map etc.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Animation to Create Videoscribe Effect

Learn to create an interesting Videoscribe effect with PowerPoint Animation within a few seconds. The effect you will learn is to have a base image and to animate it so that it looks like someone is completing a drawing on the slide. This is a great way to add engagement to your training slides.

If you would like to follow this tutorial, you can download a similar image here .

This kind of animation can be done with any wmf or emf file and can be used to explain business concepts like planning and execution or explanation of a step by step process.

Shapes & SmartArt  Animations

Autoshapes in PowerPoint can be used to create visuals for your presentation. In this section, we will see how to animate Autoshapes as well as SmartArt.

[Easy]  PowerPoint Timeline Animation

Learn to create a beautiful Animated PowerPoint Timeline Infographic with this step by step tutorial. Grab your audience attention with this easy to design slide with custom animation effect.

[Easy]  PowerPoint Animation for SmartArt Objects

When you add animation to a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint , initially the entire graphic gets animated. But PowerPoint does provide some control over animating SmartArt shapes. To learn how to animate a SmartArt graphic with more control read this post on Indezine .

You can also see the process of animating a SmartArt diagram with the tutorial video below. The diagram we will be using is a core diagram with a circle relationship from the inbuilt PowerPoint SmartArt

The type of diagrams you can create and the animations you can apply, are only limited by your imagination. 

Watch the video above to know more

Creative Slide Design & Animation

Design 25 beautiful Slides to impress your boss & clients – using PowerPoint Tips & Tricks. Save time and improve your workflow efficiency. Suited for Beginner and Intermediate PowerPoint users.

Chart  Animations

Most business presentations have charts included in them. Many times PowerPoint charts can be overwhelming for the audience.  The reason for their overwhelm is - too much information hitting them too soon. If you learn to sequence the way you present your numbers, you make it easy for your business audience to understand your PowerPoint presentation.

This video in Microsoft support site  shows how to add animations to Charts and SmartArt. 

[Easy]  Guide to PowerPoint Chart Animation

Learn to animate your charts like a pro. In this short video tutorial, you will find how to apply custom animation to your PowerPoint charts and present information at your own pace.

[Easy]  Animate Excel in PowerPoint

Many presenters have the habit of creating charts in Excel first and then again in PowerPoint. This video shows how you can simply copy an existing chart from Excel and animate it to present your information clearly and in sequence.

Adding Interactivity 

PowerPoint animations has a trigger feature which can be used to add interactivity to your slides. These are specially useful for training and e-learning presentations.

Hyperlinks and Triggers

Triggers are like an internal hyperlink on your slide. The person viewing the presentation can control what happens next. This is useful for building multiple choice quizzes. This post from Brightcarbon provides an overview of setting up triggers & hyperlinks.

Creating Simple & Interactive PowerPoint Animated Slide

Engage your audience in training and information presentation with this beautiful slide. The slide has 4 images. On clicking on an image, the description or details relevant to that image appears next to it.

Creating Interactive Buzzers with Sound in PowerPoint

Make your training more engaging and interesting with this creative PowerPoint idea. Follow this step by step tutorial video to create an interactive PowerPoint buzzer with sound effects. You can use this buzzer to run a quiz in your classroom.

45 PowerPoint Quiz Templates Pack

Create excitement & make learning fun with games in your classroom! Gamify your classroom & generate excitement with Ready To Use PowerPoint Quiz Templates.  

Quiz templates for any type of training: Corporate Training, Universities, Schools or Freelance Training. Includes complete instructions for customizing & playing each game

Video Animation Effects

You can insert and play videos in PowerPoint. You can insert these videos from YouTube, from your PC or Storage location like OneDrive.   This tutorial in Microsoft website covers how to insert video and audio in PowerPoint.

[Easy]  Insert YouTube Video in PowerPoint

Learn how to embed an online video into your next presentation. It is a fairly straightforward option in PowerPoint 2016.

[Advanced]  PowerPoint Movie Magic with Videos, Text and Animations 

Create PowerPoint Movie Magic by using the combo of videos, text and animations. Use this technique to create slides that engage your audience. The presentation shows a car moving along a road. The windshield wiper moves across the screen. Text appears and fades away in sync with the movement of the windshield wiper. We will use the Video Bookmark option, Text Entrance and Exit Animations, and Trigger animations options to create this effect.

Using Transitions Effectively

Slide transitions are the visual movements where one slide changes into another during a presentation. They add to the professional appearance of the slideshow in general and can draw attention to specific important slides. To know how to apply and remove transitions,  read this post on Lifewire.

[Easy]  5 Tricks to Use Transition Effects in PowerPoint

Learn how to use PowerPoint slide transition effects in an interesting way to make your presentations creative.

[Advanced]  The Power of Dynamic Pan Transition Effect

Sometimes the information you want to present spreads beyond one slide. For example, an excel spreadsheet you stuck on the slide has too many columns to fit into one slide.  A map you placed on the slide is too big to be shown on one slide. If you force yourself to show the image in one page (by shrinking the size of the map), the details get too small to be clearly visible to the audience in the last row.

Learn an easy trick to overcome this situation with the video below:

Using Morph Transition 

PowerPoint Morph is a revolutionary feature available for Office 365 users. It eliminates the need for complex animation. Technically speaking, PowerPoint Morph is a transition, but in reality it can be widely used a substitute/enhancement for complex animation. Read this post from Efficiency365 for a quick overview  of this feature.

[Easy]  Animated Roadmap with Morph Transition

Learn to create an interesting animated roadmap that looks like a video. We use the PowerPoint 2016 ( Office 365 ) Morph Transition feature to create this effect. You can use this type of roadmap or timeline in almost any kind of presentation. Engage your audience by explaining and revealing the steps one by one. Link for Roadmap Image

[Advanced]  How Morph Transition Can Replace   Animation

In this video you will find how to use PowerPoint Morph Transition to replace Custom Animations. See how this can be done with this example of a slide with multiple pictures with text. You'll find how to mimic PowerPoint animation with Morph Transition and create the slides very quickly.

If you would like to learn about Morph Transition, PowerPoint Designer and other such features available in PowerPoint for Office 365, checkout the course below...

Complete PowerPoint Foundation Course

Master Fundamentals of PowerPoint from scratch. From Basics to Advanced. Includes special section on features of PowerPoint 365:

• 13.5 hours on-demand video
• For beginner & advanced users
• Online Access: Full lifetime access
• Practice Activities: Assignments & Quizzes

Animated PowerPoint Templates

Animations take time to visualize and create. You can save time by using ready to use PowerPoint Templates. In this section you will find resources and links for Animated PowerPoint Templates.

PowerPoint comes with some animated 3D templates. This includes sparkling picture frames, lively photograph albums, 3-D rotating photos, and elegant transitions between images. 

This page on Microsoft support site provides the link and details.

You can find more free animated PowerPoint Templates including for physics presentations at Presentation Magazine website. 

While these free templates are a good resource for student and non-critical presentations, business & training presentations require professional and creative animation effects. 

Ready-to-Use Professional Animation Templates

The 750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack is specifically created for use in training and business presentations. It includes advanced animations for text, lists, pictures, concepts and metaphors. You can preview some of the templates from this pack below:

Animations for Bullet Points, Agenda, Terms & Definitions

Animations for Timelines, Roadmaps & Process Flows

Source:  750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack

Animations for Pictures and Lists

Animations for Concepts, Metaphors, Business Ideas

And More Professionally Animated Templates to Engage Your Audience...

Make Your Presentations More Engaging without Spending Hours struggling with PowerPoint Animations...

Download 750+ Advanced PowerPoint Animation Templates Pack. Tell your story with 750+ Ready to Use & Easy to Customize Powerful Animations in PowerPoint. 

Pramod Naik

Ceo, tianjin tianshi india pvt ltd.

These ready to use animated slides are very classy and ready to use , these are very thoughtfully done .

When I have to put a point across to the team or to a larger audience , these slides greatly benefit me to make my slides sharper and to the point … one just has to visualize as to what is that you need to share to the audience and how , if you can visualize , you are bound to find that slide in this pack , if not similar , better . Secondly when you scan through the slides , the way they are made you also get ideas as to what to share to the team and audience .

Tips for Professional Animation

Here are some quick tips when using PowerPoint Animations. These will help you save time and create your animations more professionally. 

[Tip]  How to remove Custom Animations from All Slides in 1 click

When you don't want any custom animation at all in your presentation - how do you go about it? Usually you will have to go to every single slide and remove the animations. However if you wish to have on-click control on whether animations are present or now - then use this trick and get complete control over your slides!

5 Irritating Ways to Use Custom Animation

Some presenters have the habit of applying animations the wrong way. Such animations have no purpose and end up irritating the audience. Watch the video below to learn the common mistake presenters make when using custom animations feature. 

Time-Saving Tip: Using Animation Painter

Animations take a lot of time to create. Learn how to easily reuse animations applied to an object using Animation Painter tool. This video is part of the bonus tutorial videos provided with purchase of Advanced Animations Pack. 

Good PowerPoint animation makes your audience focus on the message not the animation.

Turn Presentations Into Videos

When you make a recording of a presentation, all its elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) are saved in the presentation itself. In essence, the presentation becomes a video that your audience can watch in PowerPoint.  Learn the step by step process in this Microsoft support article .

[Easy]  Convert PowerPoint to Video

In this tutorial, you will find how to use save your PowerPoint file as a video. When you save the file as a video, all the animations and transitions you have used will get saved along with the file.  You would use this option of saving your presentation as videos to: - Showcase photos in a video format online/ offline - Summary or review of keys points in a presentation or training - Create a booth or kiosk presentation etc.

Free Ultimate Guide to PowerPoint Animations for tutorials, tips & more. #PowerPoint #Presentations

More Ideas for PowerPoint Animation

How to create sparkling text effect for pictures.

Learn to create a Sparkling Text Effect in PowerPoint with this step by step tutorial. You can use this effect for title animation or to highlight an important quote in a presentation.

How to create Clock Needle Animation effect

Learn how to Create Clock Needle Animation Effect in PowerPoint 2013 This is a useful animation effect to show a list, agenda items, steps in a process and more. 

Create Motion Graphics with Animation

Learn how to convert Static Pictures into Animated images in PowerPoint. Tell your story with creatively animated PowerPoint slides. The effect looks like motion graphics created in an advanced software. However, this effect uses simple custom animation effects that you can follow in any version of PowerPoint. 

Related Posts

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PowerPoint Animation Tutorial (2022) – Step-by-Step

July 27, 2022

Introduction

Animation in your slide deck is a great way to add visual interest. And when done well it can WOW your audience. This in-depth, step-by-step tutorial covers how to animate in PowerPoint showing the fundamentals of adding and modifying animations and then demonstrates advanced strategies like customizing timings, adding triggers, using morph, and creating animations with 3D objects.

Types of Animation Effects

Before you begin applying animation in PowerPoint, it helps to know how they are categorized and how these categories affect the function of the animation. These categories or types are also referred to as effects.

The first effect category is Enter. With this animation objects are not visible initially and appear based on a specific action by the presenter like a click of a mouse.

The second effect category is Emphasis. Here an object is visible on the slide and will animate to draw attention to it such as pulse.

The third effect category is Exit. Here an object is visible on the slide and then will exit from view based on an action like a mouse click.

Adding an animation

To apply an animation on a slide you need at least one object on the slide. An object is any type of content that can be added to a slide such as a shape, text, icon, picture, etc. In this example, I’ll use a shape on blank slide. The location of the object will be where the animation either ends or begins. You want to select the object. Click the Animations tab and click the animation you want to apply. You can scroll through the gallery or click the small drop-down arrow to display more options all at once. When you select an animation, the object will show what the animation looks like. You can also use the Preview button on the Animations tab to see what the animation looks like. You will notice that the object now has a small box with a number next to it. That is a visual indicator noting an animation has been applied to the object. The number indicates the order the animations occur if you have more than one object animating on the slide. In Windows if you select a new animation from the gallery, it will override the previous selection. For instance, if I apply an Emphasis animation the Enter fly-in is replaced. The same with applying an Exit Fly-out the Emphasis effect is replaced. To remove an animation, just choose None in the Gallery.

Some animations like the Fly In are pre-set to animate from a specific direction. To change the direction, click the Effects Option button after applying the animation. From the drop-down options choose the direction you want. If the Effects Option isn’t active, then that effect you selected can’t be changed in any way.

Motion Path animation

The next effect I want to touch on is the Motion Path option. You can choose a basic effect like moving in a straight line. Or something highly custom like drawing your own path. With the Motion Path, the small green dot is the starting point, and the red dot is the ending location. To extend the path, you can drag and drop the red dot to a new spot on the slide. With motion path the animation possibilities are quite extensive, especially if you use it with other effects.

Applying an animation to similar objects

If you have several objects that you want to add animation to, here are some strategies I use to save time. If you want to animation multiples of the same object in the same way first add the shape then add the animation to that shape and then press Control D to duplicate that shape.

Rearrange as needed and you will notice that all of the objects have a number indicator next to them. The different numbers indicate the order the objects will animate. Let's click the Preview button to see what it looks like.

Copying the shape and pasting is another option Either on the same slide or another slide. To copy either use Control C, Right-click and copy, or click the Copy button on the Home tab. Then paste either using Control V, Right-click and paste, or click the Paste button on the Home tab. Just like with Duplicate, there is an indication number.

If you want the same object to animation on a different slide, you can duplicate the slide Select the slide in the Thumbnail Pressing Control D or Right-click and choose Duplicate

Looking at the second slide, you can see the object has an animation indicator I will change the object's color so you can see what it looks like. I'll go into Presentation Mode and here is what the animation looks like.

If you have several different objects and you want them all to have the same animation, you have a couple of options. You can select them all. And click the animation type in the Animations tab. You will see they all have the same animation indicator next to them. As the Preview shows, this option sets the animation for all objects to start at the same time.

You can also use the Animation Painter. Once you’ve added an animation to an object, select it. Click the Animation Painter button. Then click on the object you want to apply the animation to.

With this option, it sets the animations to start one after the other. If you double click the Painter option, you can apply the animation to multiple objects without having to click the Painter button for each object.

Adjusting Start, Duration, and Delay

Once you’ve added an animation to an object, often the next step is modifying the timing of the animation. To the far right on the animation tab, there are three timing settings: Start, Duration, and Delay.

Modifying Start

The Start timing determines how the animation will start. The default is On Click. So when you click your mouse the animation begins.

The next option is With Previous. The object with this setting will animate at the same time as the previous animation. In this example the Triangle animates with the circle.

The third start setting is After Previous. Here an object animates after the previous animation is complete. In this example the triangle animates once the circle animation is done.

Changing Duration

The next timing is the Duration or speed of the animation. The default setting is typically Very Fast at half a second (0.5). You can use the up and down arrows to speed up or slow down the animation by quarter intervals. Or you can type in the duration.

In this example, you can see the Triangle fly in is much slower than the previous examples. As a side note, the duration can’t be changed for some animations.

Adding Delay

The last timing is Delay. This a slightly more advanced setting and this setting delays the start of an animation. The default setting is zero. Meaning there is no delay. In the example, the Triangle is set to start after previous with a one second delay.

Applying Multiple Animations

Now that you know how to modify a single animation, we can move on to apply multiple animations to one object. As I mentioned in Video 1 of this 3-part series, clicking a different animation in the gallery replaces the previous animation.

In this example, I will set the object to fly-in, pulse, and then fly-out. Do do this, I select the object. I choose the Fly in animation. Then I click the Add Animation button. Choose Pulse as an emphasis. I'll add the third animation, clicking the Add animation button and then choosing Fly-out. And the Preview shows what that will look like.

In Video 1 of this series, I demonstrated the Animation Painter, when you have multiple animations, this option comes in handy.

Using the Animation Pane

Once you start adding multiple animations to objects, using the Animation Pane can help you keep track. To display the pane either click the Animations Pane button or click one of the animation indicators by an object.

From the animation pane, you can see the order of the animations. They are listed from beginning to end. A mouse means it is an On Click start animation. No icon means that it is set to With Previous. And a clock indicates that the Start is After Previous.

The color of the star indicates the type of effect: green for enter, yellow for emphasis, and red for exit. If you can’t see color very well, the lines Indicate whether it is an Enter, an Emphasis, or an Exit.

If you want to change the order of the animations, you can use the up and down arrows. Or just drag and drop. You can select more than one by holding down the Shift key and then moving them all at the same time.

Deleting animations from the Animation Pane is quite easy. Select the animation and press the Delete key.

The animation pane also shows the timeline of the animations. The placement of the bar on the timeline indicates when the animation begins and end. You can drag and drop the bar to change the delay. You can resize the bar to change the duration of the animation.

Effects and Timing Dialog Box

When you mouse over or select an animation, To the far right of each animation is a small down arrow. Clicking the arrow provides options to show more settings for the effects and timings. Let’s take a look.

You will notice there are three tabs Effect, Timing, and Text Animation The added options in the Effects tab, is that you can add a Dim after animation setting. I usually apply this to content that I have as part of a list. So, when I am done discussing one bullet point, I dim that option and then display the next option.

If you don’t want to apply an exit animation, you can also make content disappear right after the animation or hide on the next mouse click.

The Timing tab, provides the same options as on the Animation tab for Start, Duration, and Delay.

You can also add a repeat loop. You can set specific times or until the next animation or until the end of the slide show. The speed of the animation will determine how the effect looks such as a rapid pulse or slow flash.

The trigger setting lets you set an On Click to a specific object. When you click the object with your mouse, it activates the animation for a different object. This differs from a typical On Click animation because the object itself must be clicked for the animation to work.

To do this, apply each animation to the specific object Then select the animation in animation pane Click the trigger button in the Animations tab and choose the object from the menu options Repeat this process for each object.

Renaming objects in the Selection Pane helps if you have several objects to trigger. One reason I like this option, is because it allows me to animate in any order.

Text Animation Strategies

With all of the examples so far, I’ve worked with shapes and other objects. Text can be animated just like any other object on the slide. But here are some things to keep in mind.

Selecting the text box will animate each line separately Selecting all of the text in the text box will animate all of the text at once. To change the setting, highlight the line or lines and change the Start to On Click. Selecting each paragraph or line in a bullet and then choosing your effect, will animate each line separately.

Morph Transition

A more advanced animation people like to use is called morphing. Within PowerPoint, morphing is a transition and not an animation. That means you apply the effect to the entire slide and not an individual object. Morphing as its name implies is an object that is changed into something different. This can be a simple effect like moving and changing in color.

For this effect, I will duplicate the slide with the circle. On the second slide I’ll move the circle to the right side and changed the color fill. With the second slide selected in the thumbnail pane, I click the Transitions tab and select Morph.

The Preview shows you what it'll look like. As you can see, unlike a fly in type of animation, the object appears to be changing with a slight fade.

Advanced Morph Transition

An advanced morph transition can be used to make an object change into a different object. Like this example of a circle morphing into a star. To apply an advanced morph, create the two slides with the different objects.

Before applying the transition to the second slide, open the Selection Pane. Select the object on the first slide, then click the Selection Pane button either on the Home tab or in the Shape Format tab.

Within the Selection Pane, you can rename objects to help keep track of multiple objects. For this animation to work, the objects on each slide need to have the same name starting with 2 exclamation points. I will rename this object to !!morph1. And copy the name. And then press Enter to set the new name of the object.

Now I need to select the second slide. In the Selection Pane, double click in the name of the star object. And paste in the name of the first object. Then I will press Enter to set the new name.

Now with the second slide selected, I can apply the Morph transition. And it will show what the morph will looks like. This is one of my favorite tricks to add some pizazz to a slide deck.

Animating 3D objects

The last animation I want to show you is animating a 3D object, like this example. Many people aren’t aware that they have access to 3D objects within their 365 subscription.

To add a 3D object, click the Insert tab. Then click the 3D object button and choose from Stock 3D Models. Or if you have a model on your device, choose that option. Search and select the object you want. In this example, I will insert a Monarch Butterfly.

To view the different sides of the model, click the center button with the multiple arrows. And then just drag your mouse to view the object. With the model selected, click the Animations Tab. And you'll notice that the Gallery now has 3D animations added.

These will be cubes with arrows around them. For this example, I will use the turntable effect. With the Effects option button, I can make some adjustments like the direction and amount of spine as well as the spin axis.

Using the Morph transition with a 3D object can add an extra visual element. Using the butterfly again, I will duplicate the slide. For the first slide, I will delete the turntable animation and change it to top view.

On the second slide I will keep the side view and the turntable animation. Then I will apply the Morph transition to the second slide. The preview shows the butterfly smoothly transitions from the top view to the side view. and then the turntable animation begins.

About the Author

Jennifer Sharkey is known as the Virtual Presentation Specialist. Being passionate about seeing people shine and be heard, she leans into her 20+ years of public speaking experience and uses what she has learned from presenting, both in-person and virtually, to small groups all the way up to 5000 people. Jennifer draws from her experience as an associate professor, academic librarian, and coach to help holistic coaches master virtual presentations to grow their business. Her unique immersive program provides practical strategies and methods to build confidence, engage audiences, and generate authenticity and authority.

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Advanced animation in PowerPoint. Read some techniques and tips.

The trick with advanced animation in PowerPoint presentations is to get the balance right. Too little or too samey and the slides become boring and repetitive. Too much can slow down your delivery and dilute your message. Correctly used advanced animation techniques in PowerPoint can give your deck real zing and make it really entertaining and engaging.

PRO TIP: if you have a lot of objects then before adding advanced animation, open the Selection Pane to name your objects. This will help you to keep everything in order:

Which advanced animation techniques should you use, and how do you apply them?

It’s all sequential.

Adding a sequence of different animations, from simple entry to more complex motion paths, can create some amazing effects without the need to click through. Open up the Animation Pane and use a judicial mix of On Click, With Previous or After Previous. The Delay function is also worth exploring.

Lather, rinse, repeat

Repeating an animation is a simple way to highlight a key piece of information. You might add a motion path to an arrow to repeatedly point to certain graphical elements, numbers etc. You can have objects moving in the background of a design to bring the design to life for the duration of the slide. To set any animation to repeat, go to the Animation Pane and apply an animation. Then you will need to right click on the animation and go into the options for Timing. There you can set how many times you want it to repeat or to set it to repeat continuously until the slide ends.

Gotta bounce

A hidden gem in the animation world is the “bounce”. It is a nifty effect that can be applied at the end of a motion path – instead of slowing to a halt, the animated object bounces a little. It may sound like nothing, and it is subtle but it can look very slick, especially when combined with Auto Reverse, which simply moves the object back to its starting point.

Feeling triggered

We love triggers here at Presented. But what is a trigger animation? To put it simply, you add an animation to one object and then add a trigger to a second object which activates the animation on the first. For example, you might have a number of textboxes you want to open and close in a particular order whilst staying on one slide, or you might create an interactive map and want to be able to highlight sectors separately. You need to create buttons and add triggers which open and close the textboxes or bring in the required data. Make sense? Perhaps a short video of interactive features in PowerPoint will help here:

Let’s talk about Morph

The Morph transition allows you to move from slide to slide with smooth animation, creating the illusion of movement. Try it! Add some objects to a slide, and put some off the artboard too. Duplicate the slide, add the Morph transition and drag the objects around, on and off the artboard. Now, go back to the first slide and play the Slide Show to see how the objects animate. Cool bananas? It looks like you’ve used advanced animation techniques, but you’ve simply selected a clever transition. There are lots of videos on YouTube about Morph, here is a good example .

More about advanced animation techniques in PowerPoint

For more examples of advanced animation techniques we have used in PowerPoint why not browse our more of our interactive portfolio .

Frequently Asked Questions:

What are advanced animation techniques, and why are they important in PowerPoint presentations? Advanced animation techniques refer to using features like motion paths, triggers, and repeats to add dynamic and engaging elements to PowerPoint presentations. They are crucial because they help avoid monotony, making presentations more entertaining and memorable.

How can I effectively apply advanced animation techniques in PowerPoint presentations? To effectively apply advanced animation techniques, start by using a combination of animations. Utilise the Animation Pane to sequence animations and adjust timing. Remember to maintain a balance between animation and content clarity.

What is a trigger animation, and how can it enhance my PowerPoint presentation? A trigger animation allows you to activate an animation on one object by interacting with another object. For example, you can use triggers to open and close text boxes in a specific order. By adding interactivity, trigger animations make presentations more engaging and interactive.

How can the Morph transition feature elevate my PowerPoint presentation? The Morph transition feature in PowerPoint allows for smooth animations between slides, creating the illusion of movement. By simply rearranging objects between slides and applying the Morph transition, you can achieve sophisticated animations without extensive manual work. This feature adds a polished and professional touch to your presentation, enhancing its visual appeal and impact.

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Apply multiple animation effects to one object

In PowerPoint, you can apply multiple animation effects to a single string of text or an object, such as a picture, shape, or SmartArt graphic.

Tip:  When working with multiple animation effects, it helps to work in the Animation Pane , where you can see a list of all the animation effects for the current slide.

Add another animation effect to an object

Select the object on the slide that you want to animate.

On the Animations tab, select  Animation Pane .

Select  Add Animation , and pick an animation effect.

To apply additional animation effects to the same object, select it, click Add Animation and pick another animation effect.

Important:  After applying the first animation effect, if you try to add more animation effects any other way other than clicking Add Animation , you won’t apply an additional effect. Instead, you’ll replace the existing effect with a the one you’re adding.

Set the start time and length of an animation effect

When you want to control the timing of your animation effects, do the following for each animation effect:

In the Animation Pane , select the down arrow next to the animation effect, and then select  Timing .

On the Timing tab, select the Start down arrow, and choose from the following start times:

To have the effect play when the mouse is clicked, select  On Click .

To have the effect play at the same time as the previous animation effect, select  With Previous .

To have the effect play after the previous animation effect plays, select  After Previous .

Tip:  The previous animation effect is the one listed in the playing order in the Animation Pane (usually located just above the animation you are setting the timing for).

To delay the animation effect from starting, click the Delay up arrow to the number of seconds you want.

To change the speed of the animation effect, set the Duration to the level you want.

To watch how the animation effects work together, click Preview on the Animation tab.

Play multiple animation effects at the same time

You can have two or more animation effects occur at the same time for one object. For example, a picture could fade in and float in. To accomplish this layering of two (or more) effects at once, do as follows:

Use Add Animation to add the second effect.

For the timing of the second effect, set Start to With Previous .

Tip for working with multiple animation effects

When you work with multiple objects on a slide, it can be difficult to differentiate one object and its applied animation effects from another.

In the picture, below, the default object names don’t provide much of a description so it’s hard to tell which object has what animation effect applied to it.

In the Selection Pane , you can give each object a distinct name to make it easier to work with them when you are applying animations to each. See below:

To change the name of an object, on the Home tab, choose  Select >  Selection Pane .

In the Selection pane, double-click the default object name to open the box, then type a new name for the object.

More about working with animation effects

Change the order of your animation effects

Trigger an animation effect to play

Add a motion path animation

On the Animations tab, click Animation Pane .

Click Add Animation , and pick an animation effect.

In the Animation Pane , select the effect you want to edit.

Select  Timing .

Under  Timing , select the list next to  Start , and choose from the following options:

On the Animations tab, select   Animation Pane .

Select the object you want to add an effect to.

At the top of the Animation pane, select Add . 

The new effect is added to the end of the list of effects. It is named for the object. PowerPoint automatically assigns it a default effect, such as Fade .

Select the new effect to open it. Then select the animation effect you want to assign to it, and adjust the Start , Duration , and Delay , as needed.

In the Animation pane, select the object whose timing you want to set.

Select the list next to Start , then choose the option you want:

To delay the animation effect from starting, select Delay and enter the number of seconds you want the delay to be (in increments of .25 seconds).

To change the speed of the animation effect, set the  Duration  to the length of time (in seconds) you want.

In the Animation pane, use  Add to add the second effect, as described above under "Add another animation effect to an object."

For the  timing  of the second effect, set  Start  to  With Previous .

Animate text or objects

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Start multiple animation sequences simultaneously in PowerPoint

I'm using PowerPoint 2010 and trying to create an animation. In one of my slides, I've different objects with different paths. I'm trying to run all of them at once (not one after another). I know that this can be done by Effect Options -> Sequence -> All At Once .

However, when I click on Effect Options I don't see Sequence.

Does anyone know how to add it?

• microsoft-powerpoint

2 Answers 2

All at Once doesn't mean what you think it does. It's meant for SmartArt graphics, as this page notes:

The difference between All at Once and As One Object is most notable in animations where the shapes rotate or grow. With All at Once , each shape rotates or grows individually. With As One Object , the entire SmartArt graphic rotates or grows.

It's easier to understand if you see each option in action:

If you want multiple objects to be animated simultaneously, select all of them (either in the slide or Animation Pane ), then select Animations tab / Timing / With Previous :

• Yeah, but how to start two sequences of animations at the same time, not only one effect. –  Pedro77 Aug 4, 2020 at 3:38

With Previous means that a given step will start simultaneously with the 'previous' one. Increase the timings of two consecutive animations in the animation pane to convince yourself, like two grow/shrink animations; you'll see them grow together, not one after another.

It's After Previous that implies sequential animations.

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Let’s Talk About Advanced Animations in PowerPoint

by getmygraphics | PowerPoint Graphics , PowerPoint Tips | 1 comment

There are two distinct classes of presentation makers who create animations in PowerPoint: basic, and advanced. You can choose to add a simple transition to a slide and a mediocre pulse animation on an object, or you can spice up your presentations with advanced animation techniques. I will show you 4 advanced techniques that should always be taken into account while animating objects in PowerPoint.

1. Repeating Animations:

Repeating animations is a clever and subtle way to drive home ideas and bring attention to important ideas. Setting objects to repeat can also be an aesthetic decision. You can easily design a circle to move on a motion path and set to repeat, giving life to a background or theme that ends when the slide is advanced. To set an animation to repeat (whether it be a motion path or not), apply an animation and then open the Animation Pane. Next, you will need to right click on the specific animation and go to Timing. From there you can decide how many times for it to repeat or to continue repeating until the end of the slide.

2. Bounce Effect/Auto Reverse:

The bounce effect is one that isn’t used very often because a lot of people don’t know what it does or even notice that it is happening. The bounce effect is an effect that can be applied to the end of a motion path. Meaning that instead of just slowing down and stopping towards the end of the path, the object will fluctuate a little before finishing its path. This may not seem like an advanced feature or function of an animation, but the look and feel of any animation can easily be tweaked by applying this simple end-animation. To apply this ending animation, simply go to the object with the motion path you wish to apply it to. Then, right click on the animation in the Animation Pane and move the scroll bar associated with the Bounce End text. The more time that you apply here, the more prominent and lengthy the fluctuation will be.

The Auto Reverse option works very well with the Bounce Effect. The Auto Reverse feature will return the object to which it is applied back to its point of origin. In short, the object will move backwards on its motion path to where it started. When applied with the Bounce Effect, the transition between a forward motion and a reverse motion is literally seamless. To apply this option, go back to the Animation Pane and check the box right below the Bounce End scroll bar which says Auto-Reverse.

3. Animation Sequencing:

Animation sequencing is simply the stringing together of multiple animations (whether it be simple, advanced, motion paths, and/or something in between). You can create awesome animations that work by themselves without the need for a user to constantly click the mouse or spacebar. The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to the amount of different animations you can tie together. Sequencing is a great way to give variety to your presentations (this is a lifesaver for all those who present for a living). When creating sequences of animation, the Animation Pane will be your best friend. Make sure that the first animation in the sequence is activated by a click and the animations following are activated when the previous animation finishes. When you want to create a complex motion path that contains multiple path animations, make sure that in the Effect Options you set the Origin to be Unlocked. This will allow you to move the path without moving the object. Which means you can have multiple paths hooked to the same object. If the Origin is Locked, every time you move the path the object will follow. This means that you can not apply multiple paths to a singular object (because the object will want to follow every path applied to it, a common problem when sequencing).

4. Start Animations with a Trigger:

When we think of PowerPoint, we usually don’t associate it with being able to work with triggers similar to popular eLearning authoring tools like Storyline or Adobe Captivate. But PowerPoint does allow for simple trigger actions to start an animation when an object (or button for a more universal term) is clicked. This option gives you countless possibilities when it comes to presenting information in a spectacular and different manner. To use an object as a button, you need to have an object with an animation applied to it and another object on the canvas that you can select as your trigger. In the Animation Pane, right click on the animated object and then select Timing. From there, find the button that says Start Effect On Click Of. Once you select that, you can choose any object from the list you want to act as the button. The object needs to be on the current canvas, it cannot be located anywhere else in the project. The triggers are simple in PowerPoint, but they allow you to do some really cool things nonetheless.

Here is the source file that is connected with the GIFs in the blog . You can check out how I got everything to run the way I did. And hopefully it gives you some cool ideas on how to incorporate these advanced techniques into your next project. And if it doesn’t, here is an infographic template from the GetMyGraphics library that I animated using some of the techniques I mentioned in this blog. Anything is possible! Now get creating!

Thank you for sharing this – especially the GIF file – it really helped me to understand how to do it. It always amazes me how little of the potential of PowerPoint we are actually aware of – the possibilities are endless!

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How to Loop a PowerPoint Slide Show to Repeat Automatically

Set up a PowerPoint Presentation That Loops or Repeats Continuously

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated November 12, 2021

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

You can set up a PowerPoint slide show to loop or repeat automatically. A looping presentation can be used at events, trade shows or even in a reception area in an office. The easiest way to set up a slide show to loop or replay continuously is to apply automatic transitions and then configure Slide Show settings.

Recommended article: 5 PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts to Run a Slide Show

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

Screenshots in this article are from PowerPoint 365 but are similar in older versions of PowerPoint.

Step 1: Apply transitions to automatically advance slides during a slide show

Transitions occur between slides when you run a slide show.

To apply transitions to automatically advance slides during a slide show:

• In Normal View or Slide Sorter View, display or select a slide.
• Click the Transitions tab in the Ribbon.
• Select a transition in the Transitions gallery (such as Fade).
• Click Effect Options and choose the desired option. Effect Options change depending on the transition you selected.
• In the Timing group, click the arrows beside Duration to set the timing you want (in seconds) for the transition. You may also type a duration.
• In the Timing group, under Advance Slides, deselect or uncheck On mouse click and beside After, select or click the up and down arrows to set the timing to transition to the next slide. You may also type a duration.
• In the Timing group, click Apply to All.

In the Transitions tab in PowerPoint, you can select the type of transition (such as Fade) as well as timing options:

Step 2: Set up a presentation to loop during a slide show

To set up a PowerPoint presentation to loop during a slide show:

• Click the Slide Show tab in the Ribbon and then click Set Up Slide Show. A dialog box appears.
• Under Show type, if you select Presented by a speaker (full screen), the speaker or those watching the slide show will have control over when they advance slides. This is the default setting for slide shows. If you select Browsed by an individual (window), those watching the slide show do NOT have control over when slides advance. If you select Browsed at kiosk (full screen), those watching the slide show do NOT have control over when slides advance and the presentation automatically loops until those watching press Escape (Esc).
• Under Show options, select Loop continuously until 'Esc'. You will be able to select this option if you selected one of the first two options under Show type.

Below is the Set Up Show dialog box with Presented by speaker selected and looping enabled:

If you want to set specific timings for slides to advance or to add narration, check out the article How to Run a PowerPoint Slide Show Automatically (Set Up a Self-Running Presentation) . If you have audio or video in the presentation, you'll need to set the media to play automatically (on the Playback tab in the Ribbon) and animations will also need to be set to run automatically.

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How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

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How to Insert Video in PowerPoint (from a File on Your PC or a Shared Drive)

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts to Play and Control Video During a Slide Show

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How to make animations in PowerPoint

Published on February 6, 2023

Animations are one of PowerPoint’s most effective features. They aren’t just to make photos fly around (although that can be fun). Everything from personnel procedures to industrial processes to molecular interactions can be explained more easily and effectively using animation. They can be tricky to implement, mostly because you are given so much control over what happens and when. You can, for example, apply multiple animations to the same element (like a text box or an image) and have them happen together or one after the other. You can string dozens of animations together, and you can even control the speed and direction of each individual animation.

Here we will go through the basics of adding an animation to your PowerPoint presentations. These procedures can be repeated many times in the same PowerPoint, making a static slideshow into a dynamic virtual demonstration. Read on.

QUICK ANSWER

To add an animation in PowerPoint, click on the element you want to animate. Click on the Animations menu and select Animation Pane. Then click on Add Animation. Choose the specific animation you want to add and click on it. The animation will appear on the Animation Pane. Click on the animation and then the drop-down arrow to control animation parameters such as start time, duration, sound accompaniment, and so on.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

How to add animations in PowerPoint

How to add multiple animations to one object in powerpoint, how to change the animation order and trigger in powerpoint.

We will assume you have made or started a PowerPoint presentation. Click on the slide you want to animate and then click on the Animations menu.

Click on the slide element you want to animate (in this case an image). Then click on the Animation Pane and then on the Add Animation button.

The menu of available animations will drop down. Select the animations you want to use by clicking on it.

The animation will appear in the Animation Pane on the right. You can now fine-tune the animation. You can control:

• What triggers the animation to start.
• How long the animation takes to complete.
• Whether there is a delay before the animation starts, and how long it is.
• What happens after the animation.
• What sound plays with the animation, if any.

We’ll keep working with the presentation we already have open to demonstrate multiple animations. We’ve added a Zoom effect to this image, but we would like to emphasize it even more. An important part of using multiple animations is choosing animations that work well together to achieve the desired look. Some animations clash with each other, so it’s important to test your ideas before committing to them. A Spin will work well with a Zoom effect if we have them start together.

The first thing we notice is that after we add the first animation, the element we are animating (the image) has been deselected, and the Add Animation button is grayed out. So first select the image again.

Now you can use Add Animation again. This time, select Spin from the Emphasis category.

The new Spin animation will run once by itself, and then both animations will show in the Animation Pane. Now we have to get into the nuts and bolts to make sure the two animations work in a coordinated way. The first step is to click on the Zoom animation and set it to start with the previous animation (the Zoom effect). It would be clunky and not at all impactful to have one of these animations run, and then the other. Both effects happening at the same time is the look we are going for, so set the Spin animation to Start With Previous.

Click on Effect Options to bring up the dialogue box where you control the Spin animation.

Here you can see the options you can manipulate. The total amount of spin that happens over the course of the animation can be dialed in exactly. You can set the spin clockwise or counterclockwise; affect its behavior at the beginning and at the end of the animation; and add a sound effect if you want one. And at the top of the box is another tab called Timing. When you have your effect options set, click on it.

The Timing tab lets you set the duration of the Spin animation. In many (but not all) cases with two animations on the same element, it is best to have them take the same amount of time for the smoothest look. You should set both of the animations to the same duration (two seconds here).

When you are done with all the animations on a slide or an element therein, you should test the results. You can do this in two ways: You can click on Preview in the upper left of the screen, or you can go into the Animation Pane, deselect all the animations, and click on Play All.

You can repeat these instructions to add as many animations as you want to your PowerPoint slides.

Changing the order of multiple animations on a PowerPoint slide element is a simple drag-and-drop procedure. In the presentation we are working with, we would go into the Animation Pane, and click and hold on the animation we want to move. If we want it to occur earlier than other animations, move it up in the list. To make it happen after the other animations, move it down on the list. Then check the trigger on the animation to make sure it starts when you want it to.

To change the trigger of an animation, click on it in the Animation Pane. Select the drop-down menu, and then Effect Options.

In the Timing tab, you will see the Trigger button that will bring up the trigger options for the animation. You can have the animation start when a sound or video file begins to play; when a viewer clicks on a particular slide element; or, if you are presenting to an audience, you can keep the start of the animation under your control with the Animate as part of click sequence choice. Keep in mind that if other animations are set to trigger off the one you are changing, the results might not be what you want unless you go through the other animations and adjust their triggering as well.

There is no limit to how many animations you can apply to a single PowerPoint slide element except your computer’s memory.

Yes, you can. In the Effect Options menu, under Sound, scroll down to Other Sound and select the file from your computer.

Yes, your animations will play in the video, at the point you specified. Even an embedded video will play.

Yes, you can load the video onto the same slide as the triggering animation. In the Animation Pane, position the video directly after the triggering animation, and set the video to Start After Previous.

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The PowerPoint Blog

How long can an animation be.

So how long of an animation can be added to something in PowerPoint? Not what is practical, but what is possible.

The answer is 59 minutes, 59 seconds and 99 thousands of a second . But how you set this up depends on the version of PowerPoint you are using.

PPT 2003 and 2007: 1. Add any animation (Entrance, Exit, Emphasis, Motion Path) to element.

2. Open the animation settings dialog and input 59.

3. “59” defaults to 59 seconds.

4. Open the animation settings dialog and input 59:00.

5. Now the animation will occur over the next 59 minutes.

PPT 2010: With PPT 2010 there were many tweaks to the animation UI, not all for the better…

1. Add any animation (Entrance, Exit, Emphasis, Motion Path) to element.

4. Open the animation settings dialog and input 59:00. Click “Okay” and the time is highlighted waiting for a valid value to be entered (no hint that 59:00 is not valid or what is valid, you just get no action when you click the Okay button).

5. Open the animation pane and select the same element. It is a bit tedious, but click and drag the timeline as long as you want the animation to occur. Note: You can drag the timeline as far past 1 hour as desired.

6. Even though you extended the timeline to 1 hour, 1 minute or 5 hours, it will snap back to its maximum 59:59:99.

– Troy @ TLC

In a PowerPoint presentation animation can be repeated how many times...

In a PowerPoint presentation animation can be repeated how many times?

Answer: Option D

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How-To Geek

6 ways to create more interactive powerpoint presentations.

Engage your audience with cool, actionable features.

Quick Links

• Add a QR code
• Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
• Embed a Live Web Page
• Add Links and Menus
• Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
• Add a Countdown Timer

We've all been to a presentation where the speaker bores you to death with a mundane PowerPoint presentation. Actually, the speaker could have kept you much more engaged by adding some interactive features to their slideshow. Let's look into some of these options.

1. Add a QR code

Adding a QR code can be particularly useful if you want to direct your audience to an online form, website, or video.

Some websites have in-built ways to create a QR code. For example, on Microsoft Forms , when you click "Collect Responses," you'll see the QR code option via the icon highlighted in the screenshot below. You can either right-click the QR code to copy and paste it into your presentation, or click "Download" to add it to your device gallery to insert the QR code as a picture.

In fact, you can easily add a QR code to take your viewer to any website. On Microsoft Edge, right-click anywhere on a web page where there isn't already a link, and left-click "Create QR Code For This Page."

You can also create QR codes in other browsers, such as Chrome.

You can then copy or download the QR code to use wherever you like in your presentation.

2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)

If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you might want to embed a quiz, questionnaire, pole, or feedback survey in your presentation.

In PowerPoint, open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, and in the Forms group, click "Forms". If you cannot see this option, you can add new buttons to the ribbon .

As at April 2024, this feature is only available for those using their work or school account. We're using a Microsoft 365 Personal account in the screenshot below, which is why the Forms icon is grayed out.

Then, a sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, where you can either choose a form you have already created or opt to craft a new form.

Now, you can share your PPT presentation with others , who can click the fields and submit their responses when they view the presentation.

3. Embed a Live Web Page

You could always screenshot a web page and paste that into your PPT, but that's not a very interactive addition to your presentation. Instead, you can embed a live web page into your PPT so that people with access to your presentation can interact actively with its contents.

To do this, we will need to add an add-in to our PPT account .

Add-ins are not always reliable or secure. Before installing an add-in to your Microsoft account, check that the author is a reputable company, and type the add-in's name into a search engine to read reviews and other users' experiences.

To embed a web page, add the Web Viewer add-in ( this is an add-in created by Microsoft ).

Go to the relevant slide and open the Web Viewer add-in. Then, copy and paste the secure URL into the field box, and remove https:// from the start of the address. In our example, we will add a selector wheel to our slide. Click "Preview" to see a sample of the web page's appearance in your presentation.

This is how ours will look.

When you or someone with access to your presentation views the slideshow, this web page will be live and interactive.

4. Add Links and Menus

As well as moving from one slide to the next through a keyboard action or mouse click, you can create links within your presentation to direct the audience to specific locations.

To create a link, right-click the outline of the clickable object, and click "Link."

In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click "Place In This Document," choose the landing destination, and click "OK."

What's more, to make it clear that an object is clickable, you can use action buttons. Open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, click "Shape," and then choose an appropriate action button. Usefully, PPT will automatically prompt you to add a link to these shapes.

You might also want a menu that displays on every slide. Once you have created the menu, add the links using the method outlined above. Then, select all the items, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then use Ctrl+V to paste them in your other slides.

5. Add Clickable Images to Give More Info

Through PowerPoint's animations, you can give your viewer the power to choose what they see and when they see it. This works nicely whether you're planning to send your presentation to others to run through independently or whether you're presenting in front of a group and want your audience to decide which action they want to take.

Start by creating the objects that will be clickable (trigger) and the items that will appear (pop-up).

Then, select all the pop-ups together. When you click "Animations" on the ribbon and choose an appropriate animation for the effect you want to achieve, this will be applied to all objects you have selected.

The next step is to rename the triggers in your presentation. To do this, open the "Home" tab, and in the Editing group, click "Select", and then "Selection Pane."

With the Selection Pane open, select each trigger on your slide individually, and rename them in the Selection Pane, so that they can be easily linked to in the next step.

Finally, go back to the first pop-up. Open the "Animations" tab, and in the Advanced Animation group, click the "Trigger" drop-down arrow. Then, you can set the item to appear when a trigger is clicked in your presentation.

If you want your item to disappear when the trigger is clicked again, select the pop-up, click "Add Animation" in the Advanced Animation group, choose an Exit animation, and follow the same step to link that animation to the trigger button.

6. Add a Countdown Timer

A great way to get your audience to engage with your PPT presentation is to keep them on edge by adding a countdown timer. Whether you're leading a presentation and want to let your audience stop to discuss a topic, or running an online quiz with time-limit questions, having a countdown timer means your audience will keep their eye on your slide throughout.

To do this, you need to animate text boxes or shapes containing your countdown numbers. Choose and format a shape and type the highest number that your countdown clock will need. In our case, we're creating a 10-second timer.

Now, with your shape selected, open the "Animations" tab on the ribbon and click the animation drop-down arrow. Then, in the Exit menu, click "Disappear."

Open the Animation Pane, and click the drop-down arrow next to the animation you've just added. From there, choose "Timing."

Make sure "On Click" is selected in the Start menu, and change the Delay option to "1 second," before clicking "OK."

Then, with this shape still selected, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then Ctrl+V (paste). In the second box, type 9 . With the Animation Pane still open and this second shape selected, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Timing" again. Change the Start option to "After Previous," and make sure the Delay option is 1 second. Then, click "OK."

We can now use this second shape as our template, as when we copy and paste it again, the animations will also duplicate. With this second shape selected, press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, type 8 into the box, and continue to do the same until you get to 0 .

Next, remove the animations from the "0" box, as you don't want this to disappear. To do this, click the shape, and in the Animation Pane drop-down, click "Remove."

You now need to layer them in order. Right-click the box containing number 1, and click "Bring To Front." You will now see that box on the top. Do the same with the other numbers in ascending order.

Finally, you need to align the objects together. Click anywhere on your slide and press Ctrl+A. Then, in the Home tab on the ribbon, click "Arrange." First click "Align Center," and then bring the menu up again, so that you can click "Align Middle."

Press Ctrl+A again to select your timer, and you can then move your timer or copy and paste it elsewhere.

Press F5 to see the presentation in action, and when you get to the slide containing the timer, click anywhere on the slide to see your countdown timer in action!

Now that your PPT presentation is more interactive, make sure you've avoided these eight common presentational mistakes before you present your slides.

Contribute to the Microsoft 365 and Office forum! Click  here  to learn more  💡

April 9, 2024

Contribute to the Microsoft 365 and Office forum!

Click  here  to learn more  💡

PowerPoint Forum Top Contributors: Steve Rindsberg  -  John Korchok  -  Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz   ✅

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Steve Rindsberg  -  John Korchok  -  Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz   ✅

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Have a delay of over 60 seconds for powerpoint animations

hello. I need to have a delay of more than 60 second in a powerpoint animation.

But even if I set it, it reverts back to 60.

I can do workarounds like splitting audios or videos, but it is really a pain.

I saw that this has been a recurring problem for ages.

I found many questions online about this, but never an answer.

What can I do?

Report abuse

Reported content has been submitted​

You can set the delay to greater than 60 secs by dragging in the animation timeline. You can check the delay in the timing tab BUT DO NOT CLICK OK as it will then revert to 60.

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Top 7 Fixes for Animations Not Working in PowerPoint on Windows

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he's a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

The artful integration of animations can help you transform a mundane slideshow into a captivating visual treat. Microsoft PowerPoint offers a variety of animations that you can apply to text, images, and other objects to make your presentation dynamic . But what if these animations stop working in PowerPoint for Windows?

Whether animations are playing incorrectly or refuse to play at all, this guide can help. It includes a few useful tips to get PowerPoint animations working again on your Windows 10 or 11 PC.

1. Check Animation Order and Triggers

Before you try anything else, it’s a good idea to check the set animation effects and triggers in your PowerPoint presentation . Here’s how you can go about it.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation, switch to the Animations tab at the top, and select the Animation Pane option from the Advanced Animation group.

Step 2: From the Animation Pane settings, you’ll see a list of all animations on the right side. Make sure all the animations are listed in the desired order. If not, use the up and down arrows to reorder them.

Step 3: Right-click on animations to change their trigger. Then, click the Play button to check your animations.

Repeat the above steps to check the animation effects and triggers for all your slides. If the animations don’t play even after that, continue with the fixes below.

2. Check Slideshow Settings

Microsoft PowerPoint may not play any animations during slide shows if you have accidentally enabled the ‘Show without animations’ option. Here’s how to turn it off.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation, switch to the Slide Show tab, and click the Set Up Slide Show button.

Step 2: Under Show options, clear the ‘Show without animation’ checkbox. Then, click OK.

After that, press F5 to start the slideshow and check if your animations work.

3. Click the Record Button

Is PowerPoint not playing animations when you try to record your presentation ? That could happen if you scroll through your slides and haven’t clicked the Record button. Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Open your presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. Switch to the Record tab and click the From Beginning or From Current Slide button.

Step 2: Click the Record button at the top. After that, PowerPoint will play and record your presentation with animations.

4. Toggle Off Hardware Acceleration

Such issues with animations can also occur if the hardware graphics acceleration feature malfunctions in PowerPoint. You can try turning this feature off momentarily to see if that fixes problems with PowerPoint animations.

Step 1: Open PowerPoint on your PC and click the File menu at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Select Options from the left sidebar.

Step 3: Select the Advanced tab. In the right pane, scroll down to the Display section and clear the checkbox that reads ‘Disable Slide Show hardware graphics acceleration.’ Then, click OK.

After completing the above steps, check if the issue is still there.

5. Open PowerPoint in Safe Mode

At times, third-party add-ins can conflict with Microsoft PowerPoint, causing the animation pane to not show up. If you suspect that to be the case, you can open PowerPoint in safe mode. For that, press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog box. Type powerpnt /safe in the Open field and press Enter.

After opening PowerPoint in safe mode, check if your animations work. If they do, it’s likely that one of your add-ins is causing the problem. To identify it, you will need to disable all add-ins and then re-enable them one by one.

Step 1: Open PowerPoint and click the File menu at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Select Options from the left pane.

Step 3: In the PowerPoint Options window, switch to the Add-ins tab. Click the drop-down menu next to Manage and select COM Add-ins. Then, click the Go button next to it.

Step 4: Uncheck all the boxes to disable your add-ins and click OK.

Restart Microsoft PowerPoint and enable your add-ins one at a time. You will need to check the animations after enabling each add-in. When you find the problematic add-in, consider removing it for good.

6. Repair Your Presentation

If animations are not working only on a specific PowerPoint presentation, you can try repairing it. To do so, use these steps:

Step 1: Open Microsoft PowerPoint and click the File menu at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Select Open from the left sidebar and click the Browse option.

Step 3: Browse and select your file. Click the downward arrow next to Open to select Open and Repair.

Wait for PowerPoint to repair your presentation and open it. After that, check if the issue still occurs.

7. Run the Office Repair Tool

If nothing works, there may be an issue with some of the core files associated with Microsoft PowerPoint . In that case, your best option is to run the Office repair tool, which can automatically find and fix issues with Office apps like PowerPoint.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog box. Type appwiz.cpl in the box and press Enter.

Step 2: Select the Microsoft Office suite and click the Change button.

Step 3: Select the Online Repair option and click Repair.

Animate Brilliance

Adding animations to your PowerPoint presentations is an effective way to keep your audience engaged. Such issues with PowerPoint shouldn’t force you to settle for a boring presentation or seek an alternative. Going through the above tips should solve the underlying issue and restore normalcy.

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Last updated on 05 December, 2023

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

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Pankil Shah

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Computer Skill : Computer Awareness Questions & Answers

Question : in a powerpoint presentation animation can be repeated how many times.

Answer / Explanation

Correct Answer is : Option C.

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