How to Open PowerPoint Presentations in Google Slides

Now that you know the basics of getting around Google Slides, it’s time to show you another handy tip. It’s about sharing presentations between Google Slides and PowerPoint.

There are a few things you should know about the file compatibility between the tools. Also, how to safely import from PowerPoint to Google Slides and vice versa.

Import from PowerPoint to Google Slides

Open your Google Drive and hit the New button to upload your presentation files.

Import from PowerPoint to Google Slides

Hit the File upload option and locate the PowerPoint presentation you want to upload.

PowerPoint to Google Slides

After the PowerPoint file is uploaded in the Drive, you will be able to:

1. Select and right-click on the .pptx file
2. Select the Open with menu
3. Click on Google Slides

Google PowerPoint

Compatibility issues?

Let’s note a few important things to remember when exporting and importing your presentations between the tools.

Google Slides Compatibility with PowerPoint

You might get this notification at the top saying that some PowerPoint features cannot be displayed in Google Slides. This means they will be stripped from your presentation.

Now you need to check your PowerPoint presentation for any animations, transitions, fonts, or any resources and visual formats that Google Slides might not recognize.

Google Slides Compatibility with PowerPoint

For example, some image effects will be removed from the PowerPoint presentation we’re trying to import into Google Slides. Yeah, it’s a bummer, but what can you do.

Well, there’s one workaround you can try depending on your presentation.

How to import specific slides

Assuming you know your presentation well, you might know the specific slides that might be incompatible with Google Slides. Well, there’s an option in Google’s presentation tool that lets you import specific slides from your PowerPoint presentation.

Hit File and then select Import slides.

Import Specific PowerPoint in Google Slides

That’s the option you can use to exclude incompatible slides and try to replicate them separately in Google Slides. This way, you achieve a similar effect with the native tools of the app.

Select the presentation you want to use slides from and move to the next step.

Specific Slides from PowerPoint to Google Slides

You can select All slides from the links on the top right, so you can exclude some slides. Alternatively, you can just pick a few PowerPoint slides you want to use in your Google Slides presentation.

From PowerPoint to Google Slides

Import Google Slides Presentations into PowerPoint

You can also do the reverse and open the presentation you created in Google’s tool in PowerPoint.

This way around there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues since assets like animations and transitions from Google Slides already exist in PowerPoint.

Simply click File > Download > Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)

Export Google Slides into PowerPoint

This will download your Google Slides presentation into the required format for PowerPoint to open and run it.

Before you continue…

Always, always, always remember to double-check your presentation files, assets, and element alignment whenever you import/export between different tools.

• Fonts
• Styles
• Colors
• Borders
• Alignment
• Animations
• Transitions
• Effects

Never forget to check whether all of those assets are 100% intact. You don’t want to show a broken presentation that lacks your brand elements to your audience.

Summary

This is the way to transfer slides between the most popular presentation tools. However, it’s important to remember that it’s not a one-size-fits-all type of solution.

The more complex your presentations, the more time you will need for a complete 100% transfer of all the files. So, always double-check everything and remember to ask us here at presentation agency 356labs in case you need any help.