Adding a PDF file into your PowerPoint presentation can be useful for providing additional information to your audience. However, the process of inserting a PDF can seem complicated to some. This step-by-step guide will teach you three easy methods to insert a PDF file into PowerPoint, so you can seamlessly integrate supplemental content into your presentation.

Why Insert a PDF into PowerPoint?

Before jumping into the step-by-step instructions, you may be wondering why you’d want to insert a PDF file into a PowerPoint presentation in the first place. Here are some of the top reasons:

Share additional information – By inserting a PDF file into your presentation, you can share reports, research papers, spec sheets, manuals, or other reference documents with your audience. This allows them to dive deeper into the topic if interested.

Save time – Rather than having to open and navigate through multiple files during your presentation, inserting PDFs allows you to easily access supplemental documents without minimizing PowerPoint.
Retain formatting – PDFs maintain all original formatting, fonts, images, and layouts no matter what device you view them on. Inserting them into PowerPoint retains this high-quality appearance.
Maintain confidentiality – If the PDF contains sensitive information, inserting it directly into the presentation allows you to easily control access rather than having a separate file that could be distributed.

Method 1: Insert PDF as an Object

The first method for inserting a PDF into PowerPoint is to add it as an object. Here is a step-by-step walkthrough:

Open the PowerPoint presentation and select the slide you want to add the PDF file to.
Navigate to the Insert tab and click on Object in the Text group.

In the Insert Object box, select Create from File.
Click Browse to locate and select the PDF file from your computer or network.
Select OK to insert the PDF as an object into the PowerPoint slide.

Once inserted, you can double click on the PDF object to open the file directly within PowerPoint. If you want it to open automatically during the slideshow, you can set that action as well (covered later in this article).

Method 2: Insert PDF Printout as Image

If you want to insert a PDF page as an image you can edit within PowerPoint, follow these instructions:

Open both the PDF and PowerPoint files. Make sure the PDF file is the active window.

Select the Print Screen button on your keyboard to copy a screenshot of the currently visible PDF page.
Switch to the PowerPoint window and paste the screenshot on the slide by pressing Ctrl+V.
The pasted image can now be resized, annotated, or edited like any other image in PowerPoint.

Repeat steps 2-4 to insert additional PDF pages.

While this method takes a few more clicks, it gives you the most flexibility for editing PDF pages within PowerPoint slides.

Method 3: Hyperlink to PDF File

The third approach is to simply insert a hyperlink that opens the PDF file. Here’s how:

In PowerPoint, select the text or image you want to be clickable.
Navigate to the Insert tab and click on Hyperlink.
In the Insert Hyperlink box, select Existing File or Web Page under Link To.

Click Browse to select the PDF file and then select OK.
The selected item now functions as a clickable hyperlink to open the PDF.

Hyperlinking to the file avoids embedding large documents that can bloat file size. It also retains original PDF formatting and accessibility.

Set PDF to Open in Slideshow

If you want your inserted PDF to automatically open when presenting the PowerPoint slideshow, there’s a simple setting for that.

After inserting the PDF using any of the methods above:

Select the inserted PDF object/image/text and go to the Insert tab.

Click on Action in the Links group.
In the Action Settings box, select either Mouse Click or Mouse Over based on whether you want a click or hover to trigger it.
Under Run Program, select Open to launch the PDF.

Select OK to save the setting.

Now when presenting the slideshow, mousing over or clicking the PDF will automatically open the inserted file!

Conclusion

Adding PDFs into your PowerPoint presentation is easy with these step-by-step guides. Now you can supplement your slides with reports, spec sheets, research papers, manuals, or any other reference document without fumbling between files.

You also learned how to directly insert pages as editable images and make PDFs launch with a simple click right within the slideshow.

So next time you need to share a PDF alongside your presentation, use one of these seamless methods to integrate it into PowerPoint. Your audience will appreciate the smooth access to additional information!