How to Merge Files in PowerPoint 2010

Introduction

PowerPoint 2010 includes several methods to merge or combine slides and presentations from multiple files into a single presentation. Merging files allows you to consolidate work from multiple presentations, collaborate with others on presentations, and reuse slides from other files.

The main ways to merge files in PowerPoint 2010 are:

• Reuse Slides
• Copy and Paste
• PowerPoint VBA Macros

Each method has advantages and disadvantages regarding ease of use, maintaining original formatting, and automation.

Reuse Slides

The Reuse Slides feature allows you to quickly insert slides from another presentation file into your current presentation. To use Reuse Slides:

1. Open the presentation you want to add slides into
2. On the Home tab, click the New Slide drop-down and select Reuse Slides
3. In the Reuse Slides pane, click Browse and select the presentation file containing slides you want to add
4. In the Reuse Slides pane, select the slides you want to add and click the slide thumbnail or right-click and select Insert All Slides

Advantages:

• Retains original slide formatting
• Can insert individual slides or all slides
• Easy to use

Disadvantages:

• Can only insert from one additional file at a time

Copy and Paste

You can merge presentations by copying slides from one presentation and pasting them into another presentation:

1. Open both presentations
2. Select the slides you want to copy in the source presentation
3. Copy the selected slides (Ctrl+C)
4. Switch to the destination presentation
5. Select where to insert copied slides
6. Paste the copied slides (Ctrl+V)

Advantages:

• Simple copy and paste workflow
• Can copy slides from multiple presentations

Disadvantages:

• Copied slides adopt destination presentation slide formatting
• Need to copy slides one presentation at a time

PowerPoint VBA Macros

You can use VBA macros to automate merging all presentation files in a folder into a new or existing presentation.

Advantages:

• Automates merging many presentations
• Retains original formatting

Disadvantages:

• Requires coding knowledge
• Set up can be complex

Recommendations

• Use Reuse Slides for quickly reusing slides from another presentation
• Use Copy and Paste to manually select slides to merge
• Use VBA macros to automate merging many presentations

Conclusion

PowerPoint 2010 provides flexible options to merge slides and presentations from multiple files. The Reuse Slides feature provides an easy way to reuse slides while retaining formatting. Copy and paste gives manual control for selecting slides to merge. For advanced users, VBA macros can automate batch merging presentations together. Use the technique that best fits your specific file merging needs.