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How to Add Animations in PowerPoint

Tap a step to see it in order.

  1. Select the object you want to animate

    Click a text box, image, or shape to select it before applying any animation.

  2. Open the "Animations" tab

    Click the Animations tab on the ribbon at the top of the window.

  3. Choose an effect

    Pick from Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, or Motion Path effects depending on how you want the object to behave.

  4. Set the timing

    Choose whether the animation starts on click, with the previous animation, or automatically after a delay, and adjust its duration.

  5. Preview and reorder effects

    Use the Preview button to check the result, then drag effects up or down in the Animation Pane to change the order they play in.

A little motion goes a long way

A well-placed animation can guide your audience's attention to the right point and emphasize key information at the right moment. Overusing animations, however, tends to distract rather than help, so a few purposeful effects usually beat many decorative ones.

Save your finished deck as a PDF too

Once your slides are finished, it is worth keeping a PDF copy as well, since a PDF opens identically on any device and preserves your exact layout even if the recipient does not have PowerPoint installed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do animations make the file size much bigger?

Not really. Animations are just instructions for how existing text or shapes move, so they add very little to file size. Images and videos embedded in the slide are what actually drive file size up.

Can animations look different on another computer?

Yes. If the presentation is opened in a much older or newer version of PowerPoint, some newer animation effects may render differently or be skipped entirely, so it is worth testing on the actual computer you will present from beforehand.