After you’ve created a presentation, you need to save it if you want to use it again. You can also choose to save a copy of an existing presentation under a new name, to a different location, or using a different file type. You will also want to save periodically when you’re creating and editing a presentation to prevent any loss of work.
If you've saved a presentation to your OneDrive or SharePoint, you'll be able to use AutoSave. Notice that up in the Quick Access Toolbar, the AutoSave feature is automatically turned on, but you can toggle it off if you don't want changes to be automatically saved.
Click the AutoSave toggle button to turn the feature on or off.
If you’re not able to use AutoSave, or you're just choosing not to use it, you’ll want to manually save any changes you want to keep. This way, you won’t lose progress if you experience an unexpected crash.
Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.
Press Ctrl + S to save the changes in the same location with the same file name.
Sometimes, you may want to make a copy of an existing presentation and save it to a new location and/or save it with a new name.
Click the File tab.
Click Save As.
Select a location.
Enter a new file name.
Click Save.
The presentation is saved in the new location with the new name. The original file is automatically closed, and you can start working on the new one right away.
PowerPoint files are normally saved as PowerPoint Presentations, but you can save the information to other file formats as well. For example, you may want to save your file as a PDF so that someone who doesn't have PowerPoint can view the presentation.
Click the File tab.
Click Save As.
Choose where you want to save your file.
(Optional) Enter a new File name.
Click the Save as type list arrow.
You can choose to save your presentation as any of the file types in the drop-down list.
Select a file format.
Click Save.
Common PowerPoint File Formats
PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)
This is the default format for PowerPoint presentations.
PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation (.potm)
This is a version of the default PowerPoint file type that supports macros, which allow for small tasks to be automated.
PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation (.ppt)
Presentations in this format can be read by all previous versions of PowerPoint but lack some advanced features. They are also larger than .pptx files and more prone to corruption.
PDF (.pdf)
A PDF preserves a presentation as it would appear when printed. PDFs, when shared electronically, can be viewed on many kinds of devices. The PowerPoint software is not needed to view a PDF presentation.
PowerPoint Show (.ppsx)
This is a read-only presentation file. When you double-click a .ppsx file, the presentation is automatically launched. You don’t need to first open PowerPoint.
Video Formats (.mp4 or .wmv)
These formats save a presentation as a video that can be viewed without having PowerPoint installed. MP4 is an international format that’s broadly supported; WMV files can only be viewed in Windows.