Explanation
Do you sometimes need to access other applications while you are presenting? Here are some scenarios:
- You are doing a webinar and need to access the webinar interface.
- You want to show a web page or application at some point in your presentation.
- You want to show another presentation, spreadsheet, or document in response to an unexpected question.
Video Tutorial
Solutions
There are two ways to achieve this with PowerPoint:
Reading View
If you have PowerPoint 2010 or later, you can get this result using Reading view. To use Reading View, select the Reading View icon at the lower-right corner of the screen, which looks like an open book.
You can re-size the PowerPoint window to any size you want, but you will still have access to your task bar, which will make it easier to get to other programs or show multiple programs simultaneously. Ideally, you should be able to configure the toolbar so that it does not appear unless you move your cursor to where the task bar would be.
Display the Presentation in a Window
- In the "Slide Show" tab, select Set Up Slide Show.
- In the "Set Up Show" dialog box, choose Browsed by an Individual (window) and select OK.
- When you go into Slide Show view, PowerPoint opens in a window instead of full-screen, just like in Reading View.
- One of the problems with this setting is that it is easy to forget, and if you want to switch from a window to full-screen, you have to go back into the dialog box, which takes a few clicks. For these reasons, we recommend using the Reading View instead.