1. Use the Font dialogue box 

Select the character (or word) you want to format. 

Go to the PowerPoint Home tab and then – to the Font dialogue box.  

Expand it by clicking the small arrow in the righthand corner.  

Depending on your needs, tick Superscript or Subscript on the small Font tab that will appear on your screen.  

Click OK and you’re all set. 

Hint: You can open the Font dialogue box by simply pressing Ctrl + T.  

2. Use keyboard commands 

We love time-saving hacks and if you do, too, try out the keyboard shortcuts.  

Windows users: 

For text superscript press Ctrl, Shift, and the Plus sign (+) simultaneously.  

For text subscript, press Ctrl and the Equal sign (=) at the same time. 

To undo the formatting press Ctrl + Spacebar 

Mac users:
For text superscript press Control, Shift and the Plus sign (+) simultaneously.  

For text subscript, press Control and the Equal sign (=) at the same time. 

Tip: Speaking of time saving, why don’t you download our PowerPoint Shortcuts Cheat Sheet. Some of the best things in life are free, indeed. 

3. Insert a superscript or subscript symbol 

When you insert a symbol in your slides, the Symbol box allows you to directly select a subset from a drop-down list as shown below. No formatting is needed with this procedure. Just choose your character and click Insert. 

Those are the three easiest ways to make your PowerPoint text superscript or subscript. If you need to access those commands daily, we suggest you put them in your Quick access toolbar. We have created our very own custom QAT, which is super easy to import (follow the steps here) and which you can later personalise with your most popular commands.