Deleting multiple slides in PowerPoint is easy once you know the proper techniques. Here is a step-by-step guide to deleting multiple slides at once in PowerPoint.
Why Delete Multiple Slides
Here are some common reasons you may need to delete multiple slides at once:
- Streamline your presentation by removing irrelevant or repetitive slides
- Shorten your presentation to fit time limits
- Delete alternate versions of slides you created but decided not to use
- Remove slides containing sensitive information
- Restructure and reorder content by deleting groups of slides
Deleting multiple slides one at a time would be extremely tedious. Luckily, PowerPoint provides easy ways to select and remove multiple slides at once.
Methods to Delete Multiple Slides
There are three main methods to delete multiple PowerPoint slides at the same time:
1. Use the Selection Pane
The Selection Pane provides checkboxes to select multiple slides. To use it:
- Click the Selection Pane button in the PowerPoint toolbar
- Ctrl+click to select multiple slide thumbnails
- Right click and choose Delete Slide
2. Use Slide Sorter View
Slide Sorter View displays slide thumbnails that you can multi-select. To use it:
- Go to the View tab
- Click Slide Sorter
- Ctrl+click slides to select them
- Press Delete
3. Select a Slide Range
You can select a range of consecutive slides and delete them together:
- Go to Normal view
- Click the first slide to delete, hold Shift, and click the last slide to select a range
- Right click the selection and click Delete Slide
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow along with these steps to delete multiple slides in PowerPoint:
1. Open Your Presentation
Double click your PowerPoint presentation file to open it.
2. Switch to Slide Sorter View
Go to the View tab and click Slide Sorter to change to Slide Sorter view.
Slide sorter view
You will now see thumbnails of all slides, making it easy to view the entire presentation at once.
3. Select Multiple Slides
Hold Ctrl and click to select the slides you want to delete. Selected slides will have a border around them.
Select multiple slides
4. Delete Selected Slides
With multiple slides selected, press the Delete key to remove them.
5. Confirm Deletion
A dialog box will open asking you to confirm deletion of multiple slides. Click Yes to permanently delete them.
And you’re done! This makes deleting multiple PowerPoint slides quick and easy.
Conclusion
- Deleting multiple slides in PowerPoint is simple once you use Selection Pane, Slide Sorter View, or select a slide range
- Multi-selecting slides to delete them saves time over deleting one slide at a time
- Always be sure to select the correct slides before hitting delete
Now you have the techniques to cleanly and efficiently remove multiple slides from your PowerPoint decks. Just remember to save your presentation after deleting slides.
