Working with slides in Google Slides is easy when you need to make changes to one slide at a time. But when you need to apply formatting, copy, move, or delete several slides at once, it’s useful to know how to multi-select slides. Choosing more than one slide allows you to work more efficiently by letting you edit whole groups of slides simultaneously.
In this article, we’ll cover several methods for selecting multiple slides in Google Slides, including:
- Using the Shift key
- Using the Ctrl/Command key
- Selecting a slide range
- Selecting non-adjacent slides
We’ll also provide tips on selecting all slides to apply changes to your entire presentation. Let’s get started.
Using the Shift Key to Select a Range of Slides
The quickest way to multi-select a range of consecutive slides is by using the Shift key. Here are the steps:
- Navigate to the slide you want to start your selection at.
- Click on the slide to select it. This will be the first slide in your selected range.
- Scroll to the last slide you want included in the selection.
- Hold the Shift key and click on the final slide.
- All slides between the first and last slide will become selected, highlighted with a light blue background.
Now you can perform multi-slide edits like moving, deleting, formatting, copying, or applying transitions across the selected slides.
Using Ctrl/Command to Select Non-Adjacent Slides
To select non-consecutive slides scattered throughout your presentation:
- Navigate to the first slide want included in your multi-selection.
- Click the slide while holding down the Ctrl key on Windows or the Command key on Mac. This will select only that individual slide.
- Scroll to the next slide you want selected.
- Click on it while continuing to hold Ctrl/Command.
- Repeat for all slides you want chosen. Selected slides will show the light blue highlight.
This method lets you pick and choose any slides, skipping over ones you don’t need. It’s great for selecting slides to move into a new section or for special formatting.
Selecting a Range of Slides by Their Slide Numbers
If you know the exact slide numbers you want selected, you can choose them quickly:
- Click on the slide number in the sidebar to open the slide range selector.
- Enter the number of the first and last slides you want selected, separated by a hyphen. For example:
5-12
. - Press Enter. Slides 5 through 12 will be selected.
This lets you precisely define a slide range without scrolling through your deck.
Choosing All Slides in Your Presentation
To select every slide in your presentation in one step:
- On Windows, press Ctrl+A
- On Mac, press Command+A
- Or go to Edit > Select All in the menu.
All slides will be highlighted. You can now make batch changes across your entire Google Slides deck.
Tips for Multi-Selecting Slides
Here are some handy tips for working with multiple selected slides:
- Pay attention to the order of your selection if copying or moving slides. The paste order will match your chosen sequence.
- Look for the light blue highlight to confirm which slides are actively selected before making changes.
- Avoid last-minute formatting changes across your whole deck, which can break carefully designed individual slides.
- When possible, maintain slide masters for reusable templates rather than whole-deck formatting.
- Remember to deselect slides when you’re done editing by simply clicking on any non-highlighted slide.
Learning to efficiently select multiple slides will take your Google Slides skills to the next level. You’ll be able to adapt and update presentations faster for your team, clients, or students.