Adding an attractive background image or watermark can make your PowerPoint presentation look more professional. However, you may sometimes need to remove a background or watermark, whether from a template you downloaded or an old presentation created by someone else. Removing unnecessary backgrounds and watermarks allows you to customize the slideshow to suit your needs.
Fortunately, PowerPoint makes it easy to eliminate background images and watermarks. Here is a step-by-step guide.
1. Remove the Background Using the Design Tab
You can remove a background from individual slides or the entire presentation using the Design tab.
To remove the background from a single slide:
- Open the presentation and select the slide with the background you want to remove.
- Go to the Design tab and click Format Background in the Customize section.
- When the Format Background sidebar opens, go to the Fill tab.
- Click Solid Fill and choose a color like white if you want no background.
To remove the background from all slides:
- Go to the Design tab and click Format Background.
- Choose the Apply to All option to change all slide backgrounds.
- Select Solid Fill and pick a color or image for the new background.
2. Change the Slide Master Background
The slide master controls the default design and formatting of slides, including the background. Here is how to change it:
- Open your presentation and go to the View tab.
- Click Slide Master in the Master Views section.
- Select the Master Slide on the left numbered 1.
- Click the Background Styles drop-down arrow and choose a solid color.
This removes any image or graphical background applied to all slides. The new background style will apply automatically.
3. Delete a Watermark in Slide Master View
If the background you want to remove in PowerPoint is a watermark, use the slide master.
- Go to the View tab and click Slide Master.
- Select a layout thumbnail on the left that displays the watermark.
- Click the watermark placeholder and press Delete to remove it.
- Close slide master view to apply the change.
Now the watermark is gone from all slides using that layout.
4. Remove a Picture Watermark
If the watermark is inserted inside a picture:
- Double click the picture containing the watermark to select it.
- Right-click the picture and choose Save as Picture to extract it.
- Open the picture in an editing program and erase the watermark.
- Insert the cleaned-up picture into the presentation again.
This removes a watermark overlaid onto a photo or other image.
5. Use the Remove Background Tool
PowerPoint also includes a dedicated Remove Background tool to delete picture backgrounds:
- Select the picture and go to the Picture Format tab.
- Click Remove Background to automatically detect and eliminate the background.
- Use the Mark Areas tools to fine-tune the selection.
- Click Keep Changes to apply the background removal.
This works best with high-contrast images and distinct backgrounds.
6. Make the Background Transparent
If your picture has a solid color background you want to make transparent:
- Select the image and go to Picture Format.
- Click Set Transparent Color and choose the background color with the eyedropper.
Making the background transparent removes it without affecting the main image.
7. Revert Changes
If you don’t like the results after removing a background, use the undo button:
- Go to the Quick Access toolbar and click the Undo button.
- Keep clicking to undo multiple steps until the background is restored.
You can also use Ctrl+Z as a keyboard shortcut to undo actions.
Removing distracting backgrounds and watermarks in PowerPoint ensures your presentation shines. Using any of these methods, you can delete backgrounds and customize your slides. Just remember you can always undo your changes if the results don’t look right.
With a clean background free of watermarks, you can now focus the attention on your awesome presentation content!
