PowerPoint notes are a useful feature that allows presenters to add additional information, talking points, or comments next to slides. However, you may want to remove these notes before sharing your PowerPoint presentation more widely.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process for efficiently removing notes from your PowerPoint slides, using built-in PowerPoint features. Whether you need to delete notes from a few slides or all slides at once, these simple methods will ensure your presentation is ready for sharing.

Why Remove Notes from PowerPoint?

Here are some common reasons you may want to delete notes before sharing a PowerPoint file:

Confidential information – Notes often contain details not meant to be shared publicly, like internal data, client info, or personal reminders.
Clutter – Notes can clutter up your clean slides. Removing them gives a more polished, professional look.
Shareability – You may want to publish slides online or share via email without private notes attached.

Printing – Printing slides with notes uses more ink and paper. Deleting notes creates a print-ready version.

So if you want to distribute your presentation while keeping notes private, removing them first is an important step.

Delete Notes from a Single Slide

If you only need to remove notes from one or two slides, doing it manually is quick and easy:

Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide with notes you want to delete.
Click the View tab in the ribbon.
Click the Notes button in the Show group. This will open the notes pane for that slide.

Highlight all text in the notes pane and press Delete to remove it.
Click the Notes button again to close the notes pane.

The notes for that individual slide are now gone. Repeat these steps for any other slides with notes you want to remove.

Remove All Notes at Once

For presentations with many slides and extensive notes, deleting them one by one is tedious and inefficient. Fortunately, PowerPoint provides a handy tool to strip all notes at once:

Open your presentation and click File > Info.
Click Check for Issues > Inspect Document.

Uncheck all boxes except Presentation Notes at the bottom.
Click Inspect, then click Remove All on the next screen.
Click Close, then Save your changes.

This automatically deletes every note from every slide in one fell swoop!

Alternative Methods

Here are a couple other quick ways to delete all notes at the same time:

Use the Document Inspector to remove hidden data and clear notes.

Try a VBA macro script to automate the deletion process.

The Inspect Document method is simpler for beginners, but advanced users may prefer a scripted approach.

Remember Accessibility Needs

One exception to removing notes is if you or your audience requires them for accessibility. For example, some rely on detailed notes as part of screen reader accommodations.

In these cases, it’s best to keep notes intact or use the alternative speaker notes field. Consult with disability services to ensure you meet accessibility standards whenever sharing presentations.

A Print-Ready Presentation

Deleting presentation notes before sharing your PowerPoint file is an easy way to protect private details and create a clean, print-ready version safe for wider distribution.

In just a few clicks, you can automatically strip all notes at once without tediously removing them slide-by-slide. This saves time and gives your presentation a polished, professional look.

As you prepare presentations for clients, colleagues, or the general public, removing notes is an important step to take. Follow the quick methods outlined above to effortlessly delete PowerPoint notes and ensure your slides are ready for printing or publishing.