How to Save a Keynote Presentation

Don’t wait to save your presentation masterpiece at the very end. Save the file on your computer right at the beginning of your work. After the first save of your Keynote file, it will start saving automatically your progress and this way you won’t lose anything.

How to Save a Standard .key File?

  1. Click on the service menu on top of your screen File > Save.
  2. Enter a name in the Save As field. Add tags if you want to.
  3. To choose where to save the presentation, click the arrow next to the Where pop-up menu, then choose a location in the dialog. For example, it can be on the desktop. The default location that Keynote chooses is the Keynote folder on your iCloud. This folder keeps your presentation across all of your iOS devices.
  4. Click save.
  5. The presentation is going to be automatically saved as a Keynote file.

Note: To save the presentation for a version of Keynote 09 and below, simply click File > Export to > Keynote 09 and follow the same steps.

Saving a Keynote Presentation as a Keynote 09

How to Save a Larger Presentation as a Package?

By default, Keynote saves your presentation as a single file. If your presentation is over 500 MB or contains large video or image files, Keynote may perform better if you save the presentation as a package. A package is a collection of files that your Mac reads as one file. By default, these versions of Keynote auto-save files to the hard drive as a single file.

You might see a message when your document is 500 MB or larger:

Saving Keynote Presentation as a Package

Choose “Keep Single File” if:

  • You plan to send your document to a non-iCloud internet service such as iTunes U, Dropbox, Gmail, or another site where you upload files through your web browser.

Choose “Use Package” if:

  • You’re saving your document to your hard drive.
  • You’re experiencing spinners or slow performance when editing your document.

Here is how to save as a package:

  1. Click on the service menu on top of your screen
  2. Choose File Option
  3. Then go to Advanced
  4. Click on Change File Type
  5. And Finally, go to Package

To return back to a single file, just do the same steps.

We hope that this article was helpful! You can also check 5 more ways to export your Keynote presentation!

Apple Keynote