how to record powerpoint presentation in powerpoint

• Start the presentation and see your notes in Presenter view Article
• Add speaker notes to your slides Article
• Rehearse and time the delivery of a presentation Article
• Record a slide show with narration and slide timings Article
• Print your PowerPoint slides, handouts, or notes Article
• Create a self-running presentation Article

Record a slide show with narration and slide timings

You can record your PowerPoint presentation—or a single slide—and capture voice, ink gestures, and your video presence. When completed, it’s like any other presentation. You can play it for your audience in a Slide Show or you can save the presentation as a video file. So, instead of just “handing the deck” to someone, people can see your presentation with the passion and personality intact. 

A new feature for Microsoft 365 was rolled out in early 2022. Exactly when your business has this feature is also based on when your admin distributes new features in Microsoft 365.

This article contains procedures for both the new experience and the classic experience:

New experience

Classic experience

All recording tools are in the  Record  tab in the ribbon, but you can start by selecting the  Record  button. 

You can also record by selecting one of the options in the Record section of the Record tab.

If you have notes in your presentation, they’re turned into text at the top of the screen so you can use them like a teleprompter as you record.  

Tip:  Use the auto-scroll feature in teleprompter and set it to scroll at your preferred speed.

There are several options you can use when you record a presentation. You can turn your camera and microphone on or off by selecting the icons at the top. There are several options you can use when you record a presentation. You can turn your camera and microphone on or off by selecting the icons at the top. To change your camera or microphone, choose the  Select more options  <···> icon. You can even add a customizable camera that can be resized, repositioned, and formatted to go with your slide content. Select Edit , then select Cameo . Adjust the formatting for the camera, then select Record again to return  to the recording environment. 

In the  Select the camera mode  menu, you can select Show Background  or  Blur Background .

You can also change the layout in the  Views menu to switch between  Teleprompter ,  Presenter View , or  Slide View .

When you’re ready, select  Start recording  and a countdown will begin.

Use the onscreen laser, colored pens, or highlighters in the tray below markup slides and it’ll record as well.

To record narration for a specific slide, use the previous or next arrows.

Note:  Narration won’t record during slide transitions so let those play first before you start speaking. 

Pause  the recording as needed or select  Stop  if you’re done.

To review the video, select the  Play  button. 

To quickly delete and re-record your video on current slide or on all slides, select Delete . While Clear  will delete the recorded narration, Reset to Cameo  additionally replaces the recorded narration with the camera feed for an easy retake.  

When you’re done, select  Export  >  Export Video .

After you successfully export the video, you can view the video by selecting View and share video .

At any time, you can return to your document by selecting the  Edit  button.  

Want more? 

About Record in PowerPoint

Create a self-running presentation   

Export or turn your presentation into a video

Classic experience

Turn on the Recording tab of the ribbon: On the File tab of the ribbon, click  Options . In the Options  dialog box, click the Customize Ribbon  tab on the left. Then, in the right-hand box that lists the available ribbon tabs, select the Recording  check box. Click OK .

To get ready to record, select Record on either the Recording  tab or the Slide Show  tab of the ribbon.

Clicking the upper half of the button starts you on the current slide.

Clicking the lower half of the button gives you the option to start from the beginning or from the current slide.

(The Clear  command deletes narrations or timings, so be careful when you use it. Clear  is grayed out unless you have previously recorded some slides.)

The slide show opens in the Recording window (which looks similar to Presenter view), with buttons at the top left for starting, pausing, and stopping the recording. Click the round, red button (or press R on your keyboard) when you are ready to start the recording. A three-second countdown ensues, then the recording begins.

The current slide is shown in the main pane of the Recording window.

You can stop the recording any time by pressing Alt + S on your keyboard.

Navigation arrows on either side of the current slide allow you to move to the previous and next slides.

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 automatically records the time you spend on each slide, including any Animate text or objects  steps that occur, and the use of any triggers on each slide.

You can record audio or video narration as you run through your presentation. The buttons at the lower-right corner of the window allow you to toggle on or off the microphone, camera, and camera preview:

If you use the pen, highlighter, or eraser, PowerPoint records those actions for playback also.

If you re-record your narration (including audio and ink), PowerPoint erases your previously recorded narration (including audio and ink) before you start recording again on the same slide.

You can also re-record by going to Slide Show  >  Record .

You can pick a pointer tool (pen, eraser, or highlighter) from the array of tools just below the current slide. There are also color selection boxes for changing the color of the ink. ( Eraser  is grayed out unless you have previously added ink to some slides.)

To end your recording, select the square Stop button (or press S on your keyboard).

When you finish recording your narration, a small picture appears in the lower-right corner of the recorded slides. The picture is an audio icon, or, if the web camera was on during the recording, a still image from the webcam.

The recorded slide show timing is automatically saved. (In Slide Sorter view, the timings are listed beneath each slide.)

In this process, what you record is embedded in each slide, and the recording can be played back in Slide Show. A video file is not created by this recording process. However, if you need one, you can save your presentation as a video with a few extra steps.

Preview the recorded slide show

On the Slide Show  tab, click From Beginning  or From Current Slide .

During playback, your animations, inking actions, audio and video will play in sync.

Preview the recorded sound

In the Recording window, the triangular Play  button near the top left corner lets you preview the recording of the slide that currently has the focus in that window.

In Normal view, click the sound icon or picture in the lower-right corner of the slide, and then click Play . (When you preview individual audio in this way, you won't see recorded animation or inking.)

You can pause playback while previewing the audio.

Set the slide timings manually

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 automatically records your slide timings when you add narrations, or you can manually set the slide timings to accompany your narrations.

In Normal view, click the slide that you want to set the timing for.

On the Transitions tab, in the Timing group, under Advance Slide , select the After check box, and then enter the number of seconds that you want the slide to appear on the screen. Repeat the process for each slide that you want to set the timing for.

If you want the next slide to appear either when you click the mouse or automatically after the number of seconds that you enter—whichever comes first—select both the On Mouse Click and the After check boxes.

You can use manual slide timings to the trim the end of a recorded slide segment. For example, if the end of a slide segment concludes with two seconds of unnecessary audio, simply set the timing for advancing to the next slide so that it happens before the unnecessary audio. That way you don't have to re-record the audio for that slide.

Delete timings or narration

The Clear command is for deleting timings or narration from your recording that you don't want or that you want to replace.

In the Recording window, the Clear command in the top margin of the window allows you to:

Clear recordings on the current slide

Clear recordings on all slides

In Normal view, there are four different Clear commands that allow you to:

Delete the timings on the currently selected slide

Delete the timings on all slides at once

Delete the narration on the currently selected slide

Delete the narration on all slides at once

If you do not want to delete all the timings or narration in your presentation, open a specific slide that has a timing or narration that you do want to delete.

On the Recording tab of the PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 ribbon, on the Record Slide Show button, click the down arrow, point to Clear , and then choose the appropriate Clear command for your situation.

Turn off timings or turn off narrations, and ink

After you've recorded your PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 presentation, any timings, gestures, and audio you performed are saved on the individual slides. But you can turn them all off if you want to view the slide show without them:

To turn off recorded slide timings: On the Slide Show tab, clear the Use Timings box.

To turn off recorded narrations and ink: On the Slide Show tab, clear the Play Narrations box.

Publish the recording to share it with others

Once you've edited the recording to your satisfaction, you can make it available to others by publishing to Microsoft Stream.

With the presentation open, on the Recording tab, select Publish to Stream .

Type a title and a description for the video.

Set other options, including whether you want others in your organization to have permission to see the video.

Select the Publish button.

The upload process can take several minutes, depending on the length of the video. A status bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window tracks the progress, and PowerPoint shows a message when the upload is finished:

Click the message to go directly to the video playback page on Microsoft Stream.

Create closed captions

To make your video more accessible by including closed captions, choose from these options, which are described in separate Help articles:

Manually write a closed caption file yourself

Get a closed-caption file automatically generated by Microsoft Stream

Once you have a closed-caption file, you can add it to your video file by using PowerPoint .

Record a slide show

With your presentation open, on the Slide Show tab, click Record Slide Show .

(The Clear command deletes narrations or timings, so be careful when you use it. Clear is grayed out unless you have previously recorded some slides.)

In the Record Slide Show box, check or clear the boxes for your recording, and click Start Recording .

More about these options:

Slide and animation timings : PowerPoint automatically records the time you spend on each slide, including any animation steps that occur, and the use of any triggers on each slide.

Narrations, ink, and laser pointer: Record your voice as you run through your presentation. If you use the pen, highlighter, eraser, or laser pointer, PowerPoint records those for playback as well.

Important:    Pen, highlighter, and eraser recording are available only if you have the February 16, 2015 update for PowerPoint 2013 or a later version of PowerPoint installed. In earlier versions of PowerPoint, pen and highlighter strokes are saved as ink annotation shapes.

At the top left corner of the window is the Recording toolbar, which you can use to:

If you re-record your narration (including audio, ink, and laser pointer), PowerPoint erases your previously recorded narration (including audio, ink, and laser pointer) when you start recording again on the same slide.

You can also re-record by going to Slide Show > Record Slide Show .

To use ink, eraser, or the laser pointer in your recording, right-click the slide, click Pointer options , and pick your tool:

Laser Pointer

Highlighter

Eraser (This option is grayed out unless you have previously added ink to some slides.)

To change the color of the ink, click Ink Color .

To end your recording, right-click the final slide, and click End Show .

Tip:  When you finish recording your narration, a sound icon appears in the lower-right corner of each slide that has narration.

The recorded slide show timings are automatically saved. Timings are shown in Slide Sorter view just beneath each slide.

In this process, what you record is embedded in each slide, and the recording can be played back in Slide Show. A video file is not created by this recording process. However, if you want a video file, you can save your presentation as a video with a few extra steps.

On the Slide Show tab, click From Beginning or From Current Slide.

During playback, your animations, inking actions, laser pointer, audio and video play in sync.

Preview the recorded audio

In Normal view, click the sound icon in the lower-right corner of the slide, and then click Play.

PowerPoint automatically records your slide timings when you add narrations, or you can manually set the slide timings to accompany your narrations.

On the Transitions tab, in the Timing group, under Advance Slide , select the After check box, and then enter the number of seconds indicating how long the slide should appear on the screen. Repeat the process for each slide that you want to set the timing for.

Tip:  If you want the next slide to appear either when you click the mouse or automatically after the number of seconds that you enter—whichever comes first—select both the On Mouse Click and the After check boxes.

The Clear command is for deleting timings or narration from your recording that you don't want or that you want to replace. There are four different Clear commands that allow you to:

On the Slide Show tab of the PowerPoint ribbon, on the Record Slide Show button, click the down arrow, point to Clear, and then choose the appropriate Clear command for your situation.

Turn off timings or turn off narrations, ink, and laser pointer

After you've recorded your PowerPoint presentation, any timings, gestures, and audio you performed are saved on the individual slides. But you can turn them all off if you want to view the slide show without them:

To turn off recorded narrations, ink, and the laser pointer: On the Slide Show tab, clear the Play Narrations box.

Turn your mouse into a laser pointer

Animate text or objects

Turn your presentation into a video

Create a self-running presentation

Record your presentation

Toggle video and audio options in the options  dropdowns in the recording toolbar.

Note:  Your video will be re-recorded just as you had styled. 

After you exit Recording Studio with the  Esc  key (or by clicking  End show ) you will see narration (audio/video) applied to your slide along with the proper slide timings and ink animations. 

Tip:  Audio, video, and inking elements can all be resized and moved in edit view after recording. 

Reset to Cameo 

To delete your recording and retain your camera style, do the following: 

On the Record tab, select Reset to Cameo .

Clear timings or narration 

On the Record tab, select Clear Recording

Keyboard shortcuts during the recording process

Related information.

Present with Cameo

Save a presentation as a movie file or MP4

Record audio in PowerPoint for Mac

Add or delete audio in your presentation

Prepare to record

To begin, open the presentation you want and click the Slide Show tab.

Tip:     If your presentation has a lot of slides, you might find it more convenient to work in Slide Sorter view. Click View > Slide Sorter to try it out.

Here are some things to check before you begin recording:

If you want to record only part of your slide deck, do one of the following before you begin:

Select the slides you don't want to include, and click Hide Slide .

Click Custom Show > Custom Slide Show > + (add).

Use the Rehearse button to change the timing between slides without affecting the narration or gestures you've already recorded.

Make sure your microphone is set up correctly. On the Mac, go to System Preferences > Sound .

Record your slide show

If you want to add narration or commentary to the slide show, make sure your microphone is set up and working.

To start recording:

Click the Slide Show tab, select the slide where you want the recording to begin, and then click Record Slide Show .

During recording, use Ctrl+click to access the recording commands that let you navigate through the slides, change cursors, or trigger screen blackouts or whiteouts.

Click End Show to stop recording.

A Save dialog box appears. Click Yes to save your recording, or No if you want to record it again.

Saving overwrites anything you've previously recorded. If you want to record another slide show with the same set of slides, save your presentation file with a different name.

Click Play from Start to preview your recording.

You may want to print this list of keyboard shortcuts to refer to while you're recording:

Set playback options

When you've finished recording and are ready to distribute the presentation, click Set up Slide Show and choose the options that are right for your audience.

Show type     Show full screen or windowed.

Show options     Turn off narration or animations.

Slides     Choose a subset of slides, or a Custom show if you've set one up.

Advance slides     Set up this version of the slide show so someone can page through it manually.

Add, change, or remove transitions between slides

Start the presentation and see your notes in Presenter view

We're sorry. PowerPoint for the web doesn't support recording a slide show.

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How-To Geek

How to record your screen with microsoft powerpoint.

You don't need expensive software to record your screen--do it with PowerPoint!

Quick Links

Using powerpoint’s screen recorder, customizing your recording.

If you need to record your screen to demonstrate a process as part of your PowerPoint presentation, you can use the built-in tools to do so. Here’s how to record your screen using PowerPoint.

PowerPoint comes with a built-in, no-nonsense screen recorder. There are a lot of things that PowerPoint’s screen recorder can’t do that more full-featured screen recording software can, but that’s the beauty of it—it’s great for a quick, no-fuss recording.

Related: How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

First, open PowerPoint, head to the “Insert” tab, and then click “Screen Recording.”

PowerPoint will minimize, and the screen recording dock will appear at the top of your screen. Here’s where the “simplicity” of PowerPoint’s screen recording feature comes in—you only have five options. By default, PowerPoint will record audio and your cursor. Toggle these options to disable them if you want. When you’re ready to move on, click “Select Area.”

Your pointer will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag to select the area of your screen you want to record.

Next, click the “Record” button in the screen recorder dock.

A three-second countdown will begin. Once it reaches zero, your recording will begin. When you’ve finished recording everything, move your cursor back to the top of the screen where the dock was, and the dock will reappear. Click “Stop.”

Your screen recording will now appear in your PowerPoint slide.

Now that you’ve successfully embedded the recording in your presentation, you might want to adjust a few of the settings. There are a few things you can do here, including trimming the video, setting how the video plays during the presentation, or applying a style to the video’s frame.

Trimming Your Video

There may be a few seconds of your video that you’d like to remove. You can trim these parts out directly in PowerPoint. Right-click the video and select “Trim.”

The “Trim Video” window will appear. Here, click and drag the green and red bars to adjust the start and stop time, respectively. Once you’ve set this up, click “OK.”

Your video will now be trimmed.

Setting Video Playback Rules

You can tell PowerPoint how to play your video during the presentation. To do this, right-click the video and select “Start” from the menu.

A sub-menu will appear, presenting three different playback options:

• In Click Sequence: The video will play in the appropriate order you’ve set in terms of actionable sequences (such as animations).
• Automatically: The video will automatically play when it appears.
• When Clicked On: The video will play when you click on it.

Select the one that works best for you.

Applying Frame Styles

If you want to make your video more visually appealing, you can apply a frame to it. To do so, right-click the video and select “Style” from the menu.

A sub-menu will appear, presenting a large library of frames for your video. Hovering over each one will show a live preview of how the frame will look.

Select the one you like, and it will be applied to your video.

That’s all there is to it!