How to Make Slides Vertical in Google Slides

Google Slides presentations typically have a horizontal or landscape orientation by default. However, there are situations where you may want to create slides with a vertical or portrait layout instead.

Vertical slides can be great for:

  • Presentations designed specifically for mobile devices
  • Showcasing tall images, infographics or diagrams
  • Emphasizing a progression or timeline
  • Adding visual interest and variety

The good news is that changing the slide orientation in Google Slides to vertical is quick and easy to do. Here is a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Open Your Presentation

First, open the Google Slides presentation you want to edit in your browser. You can use an existing presentation or start a new blank one.

Step 2: Go to Page Setup

Next, click on the File menu at the top and select Page Setup at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

File menu in Google Slides

This will open the Slide Settings sidebar panel.

Step 3: Choose Custom Orientation

In the Page Setup sidebar, you will see options for Standard 4:3, Widescreen 16:9, Widescreen 16:10 and Custom slide orientations.

Click on the Custom option to manually change the slide dimensions.

Custom slide orientation in Google Slides

Step 4: Adjust Dimensions

With the Custom orientation selected, you can now manually specify the exact slide width and height you want.

To make the slides vertical, simply swap the width and height values:

  • Enter the current slide height value into the width field
  • Enter the current slide width value into the height field

This will flip the slides to a vertical portrait layout while keeping the same total slide area.

Swapping width and height

Some common vertical slide dimensions are:

  • 8.5 x 11 inches (US Letter)
  • 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio for mobile)

But you can input any values needed for your specific presentation requirements.

Step 5: Apply Changes

Once you have entered your desired vertical slide width and height, click the blue Apply button at the bottom to save the changes.

All slides in your presentation will now change to the vertical custom orientation.

Applying custom slide size

Step 6: Add Vertical Content

With the slide orientation now set to vertical, you can add title text, bullet points, images and other content suited to a portrait layout.

Some tips:

  • Position important elements at the top
  • Use tall, narrow images and graphics
  • Break information into sections with plenty of white space
  • Test the presentation on mobile devices

The vertical slides will enable you to showcase content in a fresh, engaging way optimized for smaller screens.

Switching Back to Landscape

If you want to return the Google Slides orientation back to the default horizontal landscape, simply repeat the steps above but choose one of the standard widescreen layout presets instead of a custom size.

The Standard 4:3 option will change to slides to the original dimensions.

And that’s it! With just a few clicks, you can easily change Google Slide’s orientation from landscape to portrait or vice versa. Experiment with vertical slides for a mobile-friendly, visually impactful presentation.