Large files take up a considerable amount of disk space, and they push the limits of the data you are allowed to send via email. Even if you put your file in cloud storage, the file can be slow to respond when the recipient uses it. To get the best performance from a PowerPoint file, you need to keep the document size under control. There are many different ways you can keep the extra, and mostly unnecessary, information from blowing up the size of your presentation.

Edit Images in an Image Editor

Although PowerPoint gives you the option of editing the images in your presentation within the program, it adds extra bites of information. For example, if you change the color of an image to black and white, the file still contains the color image. If you edit many images in PowerPoint, you can add quite a bit of extra data. Instead, use an external image editor to make the changes to the image before inserting it into the presentation. There are image editors available online to make these edits. If you add all the pictures before you make any changes, you can tell PowerPoint to discard all the extra data created during the edits.

  1. Click on File -> Info.
  2. Click “Check for issues.”
  3. Select “Inspect Document.”
  4. In the Inspect Document window, check at the following boxes at the very minimum:

Comments, Revisions, Versions, and AnnotationsDocument Properties and Personal InformationInvisible ContentHidden Text

  1. Click Inspect.
  2. After the inspection finishes, click “Remove all” to remove the extra information added through editing the images.

Compress Images

Because the images take up a large amount of space in a PowerPoint presentation, you want to make sure they are as small (in data) as possible. To do this, either compress all the images or only the largest ones.

  1. Click on the File tab and select “Save As.”
  2. Click on “More options” under the File type drop-down box.
  3. In the Save as window that appears, click the word Tools next to the Save button.
  4. Select “Compress Pictures.”
  5. In the Compress Pictures box, choose the resolution you prefer. (150 ppi is best for presenting.) Make sure the box for “Delete cropped areas of pictures” is checked (unless there is a chance you may want to recover the cropped portions from your images..
  6. Click OK. To compress only specific images in the presentation:
  7. Click on the image you want to compress.
  8. On the menu ribbon click the “Picture Tools -> Format” tab. Click “Compress pictures.”
  9. In the window that appears, select your preferred resolution from the low end of the options.
  10. Make sure “Delete cropped areas of pictures” is checked.
  11. Click OK.

Insert Images

If you copy and paste images into your slide show by using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V or by dragging and dropping them, PowerPoint may change the format of those pictures to either a PNG or a BMP. These formats are larger than a JPG of the same image. Tip: Learn more PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflows. Insert your images using the Insert image option on the PowerPoint menu. The image will remain in its original format, possibly saving you some extra data.

Don’t Embed Fonts

Embedding fonts includes special fonts in the presentation as part of the document. Unless the font is of particular importance to the theme of the presentation, consider using standard fonts and turn off the option to embed them.

  1. Click on the File tab and click Options at the bottom.
  2. In the options box click on the Save tab. Untick the box that says “Embed fonts in the file.”
  3. Click OK.

If you are not sending the presentation to someone else, you can save a large amount of data by linking to videos instead of embedding them. Click on the Insert tab and on the Video button to see your options.

Compress media

Lastly, to reduce the size of the presentation as much as possible, compress the media files using the file menu.

  1. Click on “File -> Info.”
  2. Click on Media Size and Performance.
  3. Select the quality you want from the choices. Internet Quality is usually enough for most presentations.
  4. Once you select the quality you want, the compression begins. The next time you need to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with others, take some or all of these steps to ensure a smaller file size. It will run more smoothly and be easier to send electronically.