Before presenting your PowerPoint, you might decide to ask someone else to look over it. The two of you might even collaborate on a presentation. If you were revising a hard copy of a report, you might add comments in the margins or compare your rough and final drafts side by side. You can also do these things in PowerPoint using the Comments and Compare features
When you are revising or collaborating on a presentation, you might want to make notes or suggestions without actually changing anything on the slide. Using comments allows you to take note of anything on a slide without altering the slide itself. Comments can be added and read by the original author or any other reviewers.
To add a comment:
Select the text or clickon the area of the slide where you want the comment to appear.
Select the Review tab, then locate the Comments group.
Click the New Comment command.
Clicking the New Comment command
The Comments pane will appear on the right side of the window. Type your comment.
Typing a comment
Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide to return to your presentation.
Added comments show up as small thumbnails rather than full-sized notes. To read a comment, click the thumbnail to open the Comments pane.
Clicking a comment to open the Comments pane
To edit a comment:
Select the comment you want to edit by clicking the comment thumbnail.
Clicking the comment thumbnail
The Comments pane will appear. Click the comment to edit it.
Clicking the comment
Make the desired changes.
Editing a comment
Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide, and the comment will update to reflect your edits.
The edited comment
To respond to a comment:
Click the thumbnail of the comment you want to edit. The Comments pane will appear.
The selected comment will be highlighted. Click Reply...
Responding to a comment
Type your comment.
Typing the response
Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide. The new comment will appear below the original comment, and a new thumbnail will appear on the slide.
The finished response
To delete a comment:
Select the comment you want to delete.
From the Review tab, click the Delete command.
The Delete Comment command
To delete multiple comments, click the Delete drop-down arrow and select Delete All Comments and Ink on This Slide or Delete All Comments and Ink in This Presentation.
Deleting all the comments in a presentation
Comparing presentations
If you are collaborating on a presentation or asking someone else to review your presentation, you might want to use the Compare feature. The Compare feature combines two versions of the same presentation. This allows you to see the differences between the two and decide which changes to include in the final version of your presentation.
To compare two presentations:
Before you start, you'll need to have one version of the presentation open. When you're ready to compare, you'll select the second version.
Select the Review tab, then locate the Compare group.
Click Compare.
The Compare command
A dialog box will appear. Browse for and select the desired file.
Browsing for the desired file
Click Open.
The Revisions pane will appear, allowing you to compare the two presentations.
Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn how to review comments and changes using the Compare feature.
edit hotspots
Review Changes in the Slides Pane
Some changes, like Inserted or Deleted slides, will show up on the Slides pane. Click the revisions icon to see the change, then click the check box if you want to accept it.
Accepting Multiple Changes
In addition to reviewing changes individually, you can accept multiple changes at once. Click the Accept drop-down arrow, then choose either Accept All Changes to This Slide or Accept All Changes to the Presentation.
Compare
To compare your presentation with another version, click the Compare command. Next, locate and select the desired file.
Heading
Next Change
Use the Next command to view the next change in the presentation. You can also click Previous to go back to the previous one.
Ending the Review
When you're satisfied with the changes you've reviewed, click End Review. Only the changes you've accepted will be applied to the final presentation.
Revisions Pane: Slides
The Slides tab actually lets you preview the revised slide, so you can see the changes in action (as opposed to the Details tab, which only lists the changes).
Revisions Pane: Details
The Details tab lists every change that has been made to the current slide, as well as any comments. Click a change to see its location on the slide.
Review Changes on the Slide
Click the revisions icon anywhere it appears on a slide to see the changes that were made in that spot. To accept a revision, click the check box beside it. To reject a revision, leave the box unchecked.
Challenge!
Open an existing PowerPoint presentation. If you want, you can use our practice presentation.