People may use Microsoft PowerPoint to produce compelling and eye-catching slideshows. A presentation is made up of individual slides that can be customized with text and pictures.
Landscape is the standard slide orientation. But the same presentation in Powerpoint could look noticeably better if you swap between a horizontal and vertical orientation. Users can modify the slide layout to portrait by rotating it 90 degrees. This is frequently useful for displaying portrait-oriented photographs that may be included in the slide.
However, Microsoft Powerpoint only lets you manually rotate the objects within a slide, note the entire slide itself. If you want to rotate your slides then you will need to change a setting found on the Slide Size menu.
Understanding how to flip a PowerPoint presentation can make your work stand out, as most presentations will use the default landscape orientation. We’ll go over how to rotate a PowerPoint slideshow in this article.
How to Change Your Powerpoint Presentation Slide Orientation
- Open the slideshow.
- Click the Design tab.
- Choose Slide Size.
- Click Custom Slide Size.
- Select Portrait, then click OK.
Our article continues below with additional information on rotating your Powerpoint slides, including pictures of these steps.
How to Change from Landscape to Portrait Orientation in Powerpoint for Office 365 (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed in the Microsoft Powerpoint for Office 365 version of the application, but will also work in other versions of Microsoft Powerpoint that use the ribbon like Powerpoint 2013, or Powerpoint 2016.
Step 1: Open the presentation that you want to rotate.
Step 2: Select the Design tab at the top of the window.
Step 3: Click the Slide Size button in the Customize group at the right side of the ribbon.
Step 4: Click the Custom Slide Size option at the bottom of this drop down menu.
Step 5: Check the Portrait option under the Slides section of the ribbon, then click the OK button.
When you click slide orientation options to switch between the two you will also see an option to maximize or ensure fit if your slides already contain content. I typically select “Ensure Fit” but your needs will dictate which option is best for you.
Our guide continues with more information about rotating slides.
How to Change the Slide Layout in Powerpoint
Microsoft PowerPoint instantly resizes text boxes, graphics, tables, headlines, and other elements in your presentations as you modify the layout.
To begin, go to the top of the screen and select the “Design” tab in the toolbar once you open the document, whether it is new or previously designed. When the Design selection menu displays, select the Slide Orientation button. As soon as you select Slide Orientation, a new dropdown menu appears, from which you can select Portrait.
Select Rotate PowerPoint Slide from the dropdown menu and then click OK. All your presentations will rotate 90 degrees when you select the Portrait option instead of the landscape arrangement, and your job is done easily!
How to Use Slide Master to Change the Orientation in Powerpoint
Another option for completing this work is to use PowerPoint’s Slide Master. You must first go to the View button at the top of the toolbar to access Slide Master.
You’ll find the Slide Master selection once you’ve chosen View. When Slide Master is launched, the left panel will show all your slides.
There will also be a new Slide Master tab at the top of the window with a number of options. If you click the Slide Size option on this menu you will see the Custom Slide Size option as well, which you can use to rotate your slides.
How to Rotate Content of the Slides in PowerPoint
In some cases, you may wish to rotate the full contents of a PowerPoint slide to achieve a specific goal. Changing the orientation for each piece of information, on the other hand, might be tedious.
Instead of rotating distinct pieces of content one by one, you can rotate everything at once without damaging the overall style and look.
Luckily, Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to merge all elements on a slide, giving you complete control over the entire presentation. Here are the actions you can take to accomplish this.
If you click on the border of an object in one of your slides you should see a circular arrow at the top of that object if you click and drag that arrow you will be able to rotate that object.
But what if you have a lot of objects on a slide and you want to rotate all of them at once? Luckily you can do that, too.
First, click somewhere on the slide that contains the information you wish to rotate. Next, click the Home tab. Click Select and then Select All, or use CTRL+A for faster work. Now you should see a circular arrow at the top of a slide object. If you click and hold that arrow you should be able to spin all of the selected content on the slide to rotate it to the desired orientation.
Note that there is also a Group option on the Home tab that can be useful. If you click an object on a slide, then hold down the Ctrl key and click another object you will be able to choose the Arrange option on the Home tab, then select Group. When multiple objects are grouped together you can click on one of the grouped objects to select them all, then perform the same formatting task on all of them at once.
More Information on How to Rotate a Powerpoint Slide Presentation
If you don’t have Powerpoint then you can convert from Powerpoint to Google Slides and edit that file for free.
When you open the Slide Size dialog box to rotate your slides you will see a lot of other options for adjusting the format of your presentation.
There is an option to choose what you want your slides to be sized for, plus you can set specific height and width dimensions for your slides if the default dimensions don’t work.
Additionally, you can choose where to start the numbers if you are numbering slides, and you can choose the orientation for any notes, handouts, or outlines you may have.
Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to rotate just one or two slides in a Powerpoint presentation. You will need to rotate the entire presentation. There are workarounds that involve creating multiple presentations and linking them together, however, if it is a necessity.
In older versions of Microsoft Powerpoint you could change this setting on a Page Setup dialog box that was accessible from the Design menu. However, that is no longer available in newer versions of the application.
Final Verdict
By the end of this article, you should now be able to use your handy toolbar to change the trajectory of your slideshow. Rotating PowerPoint slides is an unusual and noteworthy design choice, even if it appears to be just a little alteration to your presentations.
If you think that your slide content would look better on portrait slides then it is worthwhile to switch the page orientation between portrait layout and landscape layout and see if you prefer one over the other.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.