Hiding slides in PowerPoint presentations allows you to temporarily remove slides from view without deleting them. This can be useful for creating multiple versions of a presentation for different audiences or situations. However, you may need to unhide a slide at some point. Here’s a step-by-step guide to unhiding slides in PowerPoint 2013.
When to Unhide Slides
There are several reasons you may need to unhide a slide:
- You hid the wrong slide by accident
- You need to add back a slide you previously hid
- You are presenting to a different audience and need the full presentation
- You hid a slide while editing but now need it again
The ability to unhide slides gives you flexibility to tailor and re-use presentations.
How to Unhide Slides in PowerPoint 2013
Unhiding a slide in PowerPoint only takes a few clicks. Here are the steps:
1. Open the PowerPoint Presentation
Double click to open the PowerPoint presentation that contains hidden slides you want to unhide.
2. Locate the Hidden Slide(s)
Hidden slides are marked with a diagonal line through the slide thumbnail and slide number in the thumbnail pane on the left.
Locate hidden slides
3. Right-click the Hidden Slide
Right-click directly on the hidden slide thumbnail you want to unhide.
4. Select Unhide Slide
A dropdown menu appears. Click Unhide Slide to remove the hidden status.
Unhide slide
5. Repeat for Multiple Slides
If you need to unhide multiple slides, repeat steps 2-4 for each hidden slide.
That’s all there is to it! The selected slides will now appear normally in the presentation.
Unhiding All Slides at Once
If you need to unhide ALL hidden slides at the same time:
- Right-click any thumbnail
- Select Unhide All Slides
All hidden slides will now be visible again.
Keyboard Shortcuts
You can use these keyboard shortcuts to unhide slides:
- Alt + S: Access the Slide Show tab
- H: Select the Hide Slide button to unhide currently selected slide
So:
- Select hidden slide
- Alt + S
- H
Fixing Issues with Unhiding Slides
Sometimes issues arise when trying to unhide slides. Here are some troubleshooting tips:
Can’t unhide – If the Unhide Slide option is greyed out or unavailable, try closing and reopening the presentation file.
Slide doesn’t appear – After unhiding, if a slide still doesn’t show up, delete the hidden slide and insert a new slide in its place.
Slide appears but can’t edit – Try unhiding the slide, closing PowerPoint fully, and reopening the file. This will reset permissions.
Slide shows during presentation – Double check there are no custom slide show settings causing hidden slides to appear.
Prevent Accidental Hiding
To avoid accidentally hiding slides, use these best practices:
- Name slides properly so they are easy to identify
- Use sections to organize related slides
- Be careful when right-clicking slides
- Review slide show multiple times before presenting
Taking a little extra care when organizing your presentation helps avoid issues!
Conclusion
The ability to hide and unhide slides gives you significant flexibility when creating PowerPoint presentations. By following the steps outlined, you can easily unhide slides in PowerPoint 2013.
Just remember:
- Locate hidden slides in the thumbnail pane
- Right-click and select Unhide Slide
- Fix any issues following the troubleshooting tips
With this knowledge, you can confidently tailor presentations for any situation by hiding and unhiding slides as needed.
