Opening a Presentation

You can open an existing presentation in several different ways:

  • Select the Open an existing presentation option when you first start PowerPoint.

Tip

You can also directly open one of the last four PowerPoint files you used by selecting it in the text box at the bottom of the dialog box. From within PowerPoint, the bottom of the File menu lists previously opened presentations.


  • Click the Open button on the standard toolbar if PowerPoint is already open.

  • Press Ctrl+O from within PowerPoint.

  • Double-click a PowerPoint presentation from the Windows Explorer.

  • Choose File, Open from the menu within PowerPoint.

The Open dialog box appears, shown in Figure 2.22.

Figure 2.22. The Open dialog box includes many additional features, including file management and search capabilities.


Select the folder and then the file that you want to open and click Open. PowerPoint opens the selected presentation.

Tip

You can use wildcard such as an asterisk (*) to locate multiple characters or the question mark (?) to locate specific characters in the File Name field.


The down arrow to the right of the Open button provides several other options. You can also

  • Open Read-Only Opens the file as read-only. To make changes and save this file, choose File, Save As from the menu and save with another name.

  • Open as Copy Opens the presentation as a copy of the original.

  • Open in Browser Opens a presentation saved in a Web page format (.HTM, .HTML, .HTX, or .ASP) in your default browser.

If you want to save a presentation as a Web page, seeSaving a Presentation as a Web Page.

Exploring the Open Dialog Box

The top portion of the Open dialog box includes several buttons that assist with both opening files as well as with file management. These include

  • Back This button returns you to previous folders or drives you have viewed. It lists the name of the folder as the button name.

  • Up One Level Moves up one level in the directory structure.

  • Search the Web Opens the Pick a Search Engine page on the Microsoft Web site.

  • Delete Deletes the selected file.

  • Create New Folder Opens the New Folder dialog box in which you can enter a Name for a new folder.

  • Views Includes several options for displaying your files as well as the ability to arrange icons by name, type, size, and date.

  • Tools Displays a menu that enables you to find, rename, delete, or print files as well as add them to your favorites folder, map to a network drive to find a file, or display file properties .

Setting View Options

You can view files in four different ways in the Open dialog box. Click the down arrow next to the Views button and choose the view option you prefer:

  • List Lists all files without any detail

  • Details Lists file size, type, and date last modified

  • Properties Displays a property sheet for the selected file

  • Preview Displays a preview of the actual presentation for the selected file

Searching for a File

Sometimes you won't be able to immediately find a presentation you want to open. You may have so many saved presentations that it's difficult to find files whose names you've forgotten. Or you may have saved the file you're looking for in another folder and can't locate it. Using the Find dialog box you can conduct sophisticated searches based on presentation properties to help you find the exact file you need.

These properties align to the information you see in the Properties dialog box. To access this dialog box, choose File, Properties. Figure 2.23 illustrates the Summary tab of the Presentation Properties dialog box.

→ If you want to know the exact definition of each file property, seeSetting Presentation Properties.

Figure 2.23. You can search on the properties that display in this dialog box.


Table 2.3 lists all the properties you can search in the Find dialog box as well as the conditions available for each, which fall into three main categories: text, numbers, and dates .

Table 2.3. Find Dialog Box Properties and Conditions
PropertiesAvailable Conditions
Application NameIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
AuthorIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
CategoryIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
CommentsIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
CompanyIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
ContentsIncludes words, Includes phrase, Includes near each other
Creation dateYesterday, Today, Last week, This week, Last month, This month, Any time, Anytime between, On, On or after, On or before, In the last
File NameIncludes, Begins with, Ends with
File of typeAll files, All PowerPoint presentations, Presentations and shows, Web pages, Design templates, Freelance Windows, All outlines, PowerPoint add-ins
FormatIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
Hyperlink baseIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
KeywordsIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
Last modifiedYesterday, Today, Last week, This week, Last month, This month, Any time, Anytime between, On, On or after, On or before, In the last
Last printedYesterday, Today, Last week, This week, Last month, This month, Any time, Anytime between, On, On or after, On or before, In the last
Last saved byIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
ManagerIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
Number of charactersEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of charactersEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, and spaces
Number of hidden slidesEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of linesEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of multimedia clipsEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of notesEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of pagesEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of paragraphsEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of slidesEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
Number of wordsEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
RevisionIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
SizeEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than
SubjectIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
TemplateIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
Text or propertyIncludes words, Includes phrase, Includes near each other
TitleIncludes words, Includes phrase, Begins with phrase, Ends with phrase, Includes near each other, Is (exactly), Is not
Total editing timeEquals, Does not equal, Any number between, At most, At least, More than, Less than

Depending on your selection in the Condition field, the Value field may activate. If you search the Last Printed property and choose Yesterday as your condition, no further value is required. However, if you choose to search the Title property and select Includes words as the condition, you have to enter a Value to indicate the exact words to include .

For example, let's say you want to find a specific presentation whose file name you've forgotten. You do remember, however, that you created the presentation sometime last week. To find this file, you could search the Creation Date property for the Last Week condition. Based on this information, you can locate all presentations created within the past week, which should narrow your search considerably.

As another example, let's say you entered a keyword in the Keywords field in the Properties dialog box. You can now search for this word to help you locate an elusive presentation. In this case, you would select Keywords as your property, use the condition Is, and enter the exact Value, such as Budget or Orientation.

There are several things to keep in mind as you set criteria. You can

  • Use wildcards with text conditions such as Is or Includes. A question mark (?) matches a single character and an asterisk (*) matches multiple characters. For example, pr* would mach both presentation and present. Pr? would match pro, but not presentation or present, because it only looks for single characters.

  • Specify the Any Number Between condition by using the following format in the Value field: 1 and 2, 10 and 20, and so forth. Be sure to use the word AND to separate the two conditions.

  • Use the operators AND and OR to indicate whether to search for files that meet all criteria or only one of the selected criteria.

  • Specify the Any Time Between condition by using the following format in the Value field: 11/1/98 AND 11/30/98, 1/1/99 AND 12/31/99, and so forth.

To use the Find dialog box, follow these steps from the Open dialog box:

  1. Select Tools, Find to display the Find dialog box (see Figure 2.24).

    Figure 2.24. You can search for a presentation in the Find dialog box.

  2. By default, Files of Typeis All PowerPoint Presentations is listed as a criterion in the top portion of the dialog box. You can leave this criterion in the list, or select it and click the Delete button to remove it.

  3. You can add your own criteria in the Define More Criteria group box by selecting a Property and Condition.

  4. If required, enter a Value that matches the criterion for which you're searching.

  5. Choose either the And or Or option button to specify whether the search should look for this criterion and other specified criteria or whether it should look for this criterion or other specified criteria.

  6. Click the Add to List button to add this search criterion to the list above.

  7. Continue adding search criteria in the Define More Criteria group box as needed.

  8. In the Look In field, select the folder you want to search from the drop-down list.

  9. Click the Search Subfolders check box if you want to search all subfolders of the folder you selected in the previous step.

  10. Click Find Now to begin the search .

Tip

Click the New Search button to delete the criteria you've added and start again.


PowerPoint finds matching presentations and includes them in the Open dialog box.

Tip

To locate all PowerPoint presentations on your computer don't enter anything in the Value field, select C: in the Look in field, and click Find Now.


If you want to save these search criteria for a future search, click the Save Search button. Figure 2.25illustrates the Save Search dialog box which opens.

Figure 2.. Save a search so you don't have to enter it again.


Enter a Name for this Search and click OK.

To open this search later on without having to enter all the search criteria again, click the Open Search button in the Open dialog box. Figure 2.26illustrates the Open Search dialog box, which appears.

Figure 2.26. You can open and reuse a saved search.


Select the search you want and click Open. The saved search criteria appear in the Open dialog box.

Tip

You can also Rename and Delete saved searches in the Open Search dialog box.


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