Which of the following should you use if you want slides in presentation to have the same look?

PowerPoint can automatically add numbers to your slides, but it can't automatically show a count (such as "slide 2 of 12"). You have to do that manually. This article describes how.

1. On the View tab, in the Master Views group, click Slide Master, and then click the slide master thumbnail.

    Slide master
   Slide layouts associated with the slide master

2. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Text Box, and then drag to draw the text box on the slide master where you want the slide number to appear all slides.

3. With the cursor still in the text box, on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Slide Number.

4. In the text box, place your cursor before the <#>, and then type Slide.

5. If you don’t know the total number of slides in your presentation, and you want an easy way to find out, do the following:

   1. On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Normal.

   2. Look at (or scroll down, if you have a longer presentation) the last slide thumbnail image on the Slides tab. The thumbnail images are numbered (just outside the upper left corner of each), so the number of the last slide thumbnail is the same as the total number of slides in your presentation.

6. Place your cursor after the <#>, and then type of x , where x equals the total number of slides in your presentation (for example, <#>of 10if you have 10 total slides in your presentation).

   Numbering slides this way doesn't automatically calculate the total number of slides in your presentation, so you’ll need to enter the total manually, in place of the x. If you add slides later, you’ll need to manually change the total on the slide master.

7. If you want to see how the numbering looks on your slides, view your presentation in Normal view. On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Normal.

   Note: Because this procedure adds slide numbers to the slide master, the slide numbers can't be deleted from or edited in individual slides and they won't appear in the Header and Footer dialog box.

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If you want PowerPoint to be able to include the total number of slides, please send us your feedback to help us prioritize new features in future updates. See How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office? for more information.

Every theme in PowerPoint includes a set of slide layouts—predefined arrangements for your slide content. "Placeholder" boxes give you places to plug your content into with little or no manual formatting and arranging. You choose a layout from a menu in PowerPoint, then insert your words and graphics. 

The predefined layouts include a Title slide to begin with, a general Title and Content layout, a side-by-side Comparison layout, and a Picture-with-Caption layout.

For more information about slide layouts, see What is a slide layout?

Arrange slide content with different slide layouts to suit your taste and preference, or to improve the clarity and readability of the content.

1. Select the slide that you want to change the layout for.

2. Select Home > Layout.

3. Select the layout that you want.

   The layouts contain placeholders for text, videos, pictures, charts, shapes, clip art, a background, and more. The layouts also contain the formatting for those objects, like theme colors, fonts, and effects.

   Note: Select Home > Reset if you made layout changes you don't like, and want to revert to the original layout. Using Reset doesn't delete any content you've added.

Change the orientation of your slides

A separate Help article describes how to switch between portrait and landscape orientations:

• For PowerPoint 2013 or newer, see Change the orientation.

• For PowerPoint 2010 or 2007, see Change the orientation.

See Also

• Add placeholders to contain text, pictures, videos, etc.

• What is a slide layout?

• What is a slide master?

• Add color and a design to your slides with a theme

Pick a standard slide layout

1. In Normal view, on the Home tab, click Layout.

2. Pick a layout that best suits the content of your slide.

Customize a slide layout

1. On the View tab, click Slide Master.

2. The slide layouts appear as thumbnails in the left pane below the slide master.

3. Do one or both of the following:

   • Click the layout you want and customize it. You can add, remove, or resize placeholders, and you can use the Home tab to make changes to fonts, colors, and other design elements.

   • Click Insert Layout to add a new slide and format it.

4. Click Close Master to stop editing layouts.

   Your revised slide layout will be available to insert as a new slide anywhere in your presentation.

Save your changes as a new theme

1. Click Design and point to any theme.

2. Click the down arrow under that appears under the themes panel.

3. Click Save Current Theme, give the theme a name, and click Save. Your new theme will contain your newly revised slide layout and will be available in Themes gallery.

Change the orientation of your slides

• What is a slide master?

• Create your own theme in PowerPoint

• Using templates in PowerPoint

Add a new slide layout to the slide master

1. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.

2. In the navigation pane, click the slide master. The slide master is the top slide in the navigation pane.

3. Click the Slide Master tab, and then under Slide Master, click New Layout.

   PowerPoint inserts a new slide layout with placeholders for a title and footers.

4. Make any additional modifications to the new slide layout.

5. When you complete the changes in slide master view, on the message bar click Close Master to return to normal view.

   Tip: Modifications to the slide master and the corresponding slide layouts are temporarily added to the theme that is applied to your presentation. If you apply a different theme, then the slide master changes are discarded. If you want to keep the changes for future use, on the Themes tab, under Themes, click Save Theme.

Duplicate a slide layout in the slide master

You can use custom layouts to create a series of layouts that have the same look but have different content. For example, you can create the first layout with your company logo in the left corner and a text placeholder, and then duplicate that custom layout and change the placeholder to a table.

1. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.

2. In the navigation pane, click the slide layout that you want to change. Slide layouts are below the slide master, which is the top slide in the navigation pane.

3. On the Insert menu, click Duplicate Layout.

4. Make any additional modifications to the new slide layout.

5. When you complete the changes in slide master view, click Close Master on the message bar to return to normal view.

   Tip: Modifications to the slide master and corresponding slide layouts are temporarily added to the theme you apply to your presentation. If you apply a different theme, then the slide master changes are discarded. If you want to keep the changes for future use, on the Themes tab, under Themes, click Save Theme.

Delete a slide layout in a slide master

You can delete any slide layouts from a slide master except the ones that are in use for the current presentation.

1. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.

2. In the navigation pane, click the slide layout you want to delete. Slide layouts are below the slide master which is the top slide in the navigation pane.

3. Click the Slide Master tab, and then under Slide Master, click Delete.

4. When you complete the changes in slide master view, on the message bar click Close Master to return to normal view.

   Tip: Modifications to the slide master and the corresponding slide layouts are temporarily added to the theme that is applied to your presentation. If you apply a different theme, then the slide master changes are discarded. If you want to keep the changes for future use, on the Themes tab, under Themes, click Save Theme.

Rename a slide layout in a slide master

You can change the name of a slide layout, which will change the name that is shown for that layout in the New Slide or Layout menu on the Home tab.

1. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.

2. In the navigation pane, click the slide layout that you want to change. Slide layouts are below the slide master, which is the top slide in the navigation pane.

3. Click the Slide Master tab, and then under Slide Master, click Rename.

4. In the Layout Name box, type the new name.

5. Click Rename.

6. When you complete the changes in slide master view, on the message bar click Close Master to return to normal view.

   Tip: Modifications to the slide master and the corresponding slide layouts are temporarily added to the theme that is applied to your presentation. If you apply a different theme, then the slide master changes are discarded. If you want to keep the changes for future use, on the Themes tab, under Themes, click Save Theme.

Change the orientation of your slides

• Add or remove placeholders from a slide layout

• Modify a slide master

• Design in PowerPoint

Pick a layout when you add a new slide:

1. On the Home tab, click New Slide.

2. Pick a layout for your new slide and then click Add Slide.

Change the layout of an existing slide:

1. On the Home tab, click Layout.

2. Pick a layout that better matches the content on your slide, and then click Change layout.

Change the orientation of your slides