How to Draw and Manipulate Arrows in Microsoft PowerPoint

Arrows are extremely useful design elements in PowerPoint presentations. They can point to important parts of an image or chart, show movement or direction, or demonstrate a process flow.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to:

  • Draw basic arrow shapes
  • Create straight or curved connector arrows
  • Customize and format arrows
  • Animate arrows for extra impact

Follow these steps to become an expert at using arrows to enhance your PowerPoint slides.

Drawing a Basic Arrow

Drawing a basic arrow in PowerPoint is very easy:

  1. On the “Insert” tab, click the “Shapes” button
  2. In the “Lines” section, select the “Line Arrow” option
  3. Position your mouse where you want the base of the arrow to start
  4. Click and drag to draw the arrow shaft
  5. Release the mouse button to complete the arrow

You can create arrows pointing up, down, left or right simply by dragging in different directions when drawing the arrow.

Basic arrow in PowerPoint

Drawing a basic arrow in PowerPoint

Creating a Connector Arrow

Connector arrows are great for visually connecting shapes and objects in a flowchart or diagram.

To create one:

  1. On the “Insert” tab, click “Shapes”
  2. In the “Lines” section, select a connector arrow option
  3. Click and drag between two objects to connect them

Connector arrows can have one or two arrowheads depending on which option you select.

Connector arrow in PowerPoint

Creating a connector arrow between two shapes

Drawing a Curved Arrow

For more dynamic arrows, PowerPoint has several curved arrow shapes to choose from:

  1. On the “Insert” tab, click “Shapes”
  2. Under “Lines”, select a curved arrow
  3. Click and drag to draw the arrow
  4. Adjust the curvature by dragging the yellow handle

Experiment with different curved arrow styles to find one that suits your needs.

Curved arrow in PowerPoint

Creating a curved arrow

Customizing and Formatting Arrows

The real power comes once you start customizing and formatting arrows to match your presentation design:

Resize arrows
Click and drag the yellow resizing handles

Recolor arrows

  • Right-click arrow
  • Select “Format Shape”
  • Choose new fill and outline colors

Add arrow text

  • Right-click arrow
  • Select “Add Text”
  • Type text

Rotate arrows
Click and drag the white rotation handle

Don’t be afraid to explore all the formatting options available on the “Format” tab!

Animating Arrows

Animated arrows grab attention and demonstrate processes more clearly:

  1. Select the arrow and click “Animations” tab
  2. Choose an animation like “Fly In”
  3. Customize animation path, speed, duration etc
  4. Click to preview the animation

See this video for a great tutorial on animated arrows.

Animated arrow in PowerPoint

Creating an animated arrow

So whether you just need a simple pointer arrow or want to illustrate complex processes, PowerPoint arrows have you covered. Spend some time practicing the steps in this guide to fully leverage their versatility for better presentations.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other arrow tips or tricks in PowerPoint!