Move over PowerPoint. There is a new slide master in town.
Google Slides is free, built for online collaboration, and available anywhere via the cloud. Many people are starting to consider whether it is time to make the switch to the newer model.
If you are wondering how to convert your PPT to Google Slides, then take a look at our handy guide. It will take you through the two best methods to convert your presentations to Google slides.
Why Convert a PowerPoint to Google Slides?
While Microsoft Powerpoint remains the most popular presentation software on the market, Google Slides is closing the gap.
One great advantage of Google Slides is that it is entirely free. It lacks the more technical functionality that MS PowerPoint provides, but they are on par in terms of basic features.
MS PowerPoint requires an annual license subscription to Office 365, and then you can install and use the software on your PC. There is also a cloud version available for subscribers to the Office Live service.
Google Slides, on the other hand, is entirely based in the cloud. This means there is no software to install. It offers unlimited automatic saves and history revision which is great if you want to go back to old versions of a file.
Many users are making the jump from MS PowerPoint to Google Slides. However, in doing so, they are finding that they want to convert their PPT files as well.
A straight conversion of PPT to Google slides is not going to be perfect. There will be issues with conversion as some of the PowerPoint functionality is not available in Google Slides. Especially in terms of animations and transitions.
That said, there are a couple of ways you can do it, and they are both quite easy to do.
Uploading a PowerPoint to Google Slides
The first method is to upload your whole PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides. There are a few ways to do this, but this method is the easiest in terms of finding your file after upload.
Let’s talk it through step by step.
First of all, you need to open your Google Drive folder. This is the central storage space where you keep all of your Google Documents, including Slides, Sheets, and Forms.
Within Google Drive, navigate to the folder where you want to export your PPT to Google Slides. It is best to start in the folder where you want to do the conversion. This also avoids clogging up your root drive.
Right-click within your Google drive folder to bring up a context menu. Select Upload Files and navigate to your PPT file on your hard drive. Select this file and click Open.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop it directly into the folder from your file storage on your hard drive. This will also add the file to the directory.
The file is now in Google Drive but not converted from PPT to Google Slides. Notice that the file format is still PPTX or PPT for older PowerPoint files. The file icon will also be different from other Google Slide files.
Again, with the right-click, select the file and choose Open With from the context menu that appears. There should be an option to open the file in Google Slides.
Once the file is open, you will notice the file type icon at the top of the screen. It sits just after the document title and is a yellow PPTX symbol. This indicates that the file has not yet been changed from PPT to Google Slides.
There will also be a warning box across the top of the screen letting you know if there are any compatibility issues. Clicking on this will let you know what will be lost in the conversion.
The final step is to save the file as a Google Slides file. Open the File menu and choose Save as Google Slides. This will create a Google Slides version of the file.
The PPTX icon will now have disappeared. You should find two copies of the file in the folder, the original PPT and the Google Slides version.
You might want to delete the original PPT file as not to mix them up or, alternatively, store the original PPT in a separate folder. You can move it easily by right-clicking on the file in the folder and choosing Move To.
Your export from PPT to Google Slides is complete. You can now continue working on the Google Slides file within the application.
Importing a PowerPoint into Google Slides
As well as uploading the entire presentation to Google Slides, you can also import slides directly into a presentation. You can do this with either an existing presentation or a blank new one.
Open a new Google Slides file (or an existing one) from inside your Google Drive. From the File drop-down menu, you will want to choose Import Slides.
This will open a file selection window where you can select a file from your device. Click the button (or drag it from File Explorer) and select the PPT presentation your wish to convert.
The upload will take a few moments, depending on the size and complexity of the chosen file.
Next, you will be asked which slides you wish to convert from PPT to Google Slides. You can select All or just individual slides. Make sure you check the Keep Original Theme checkbox to keep the formatting settings.
The theme converter will try and mimic your PowerPoint slides theme as much as it is able. Some styles may be lost due to the differences in functionality between the two applications.
Once you click Import Slides, your slides will be added to the new Google Slides doc. If it is a new document, you will be left with a blank slide at the top of the slides selector. You need to delete this.
And that is it. Your PowerPoint slides have been converted to Google Slides. You can now continue editing in Google Slides as before.
Change PPT to Google Slides
As the Google option is free, changing from PPT to Google Slides may seem like the smart choice. Much of the standard functionality is available in the online software, and there are a wealth of templates available.
Convert your PPT files today and see how easy it is to work online with Google Slides.
If you found this article useful and would like to know more about other useful file conversion tricks, please check out our blog.