Turn your presentation into a video

When you make a recording of a presentation, all its elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) are saved in the presentation itself. In essence, the presentation becomes a video that your audience can watch in PowerPoint.

So you have two options for turning your presentation into a video that's ready to view:

Save as a video file

After you've created your slides and recorded any timing and narrations and laser pointer gestures that you want to include, you're ready to create a video file.

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  1. On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).
  2. Select File >Export >Create a Video. (Or, on the Recording tab of the ribbon, select Export to Video.)
  3. In the first drop-down box under the Create a Video heading, select the video quality you want, which pertains to the resolution of the finished video. The higher the video quality, the larger the file size. (You may want to test them to determine which one meets your needs.)
Option Resolution For displaying on
Ultra HD (4K)* 3840 x 2160, largest file size Large monitors
Full HD (1080p) 1920 x 1080, large file size Computer and HD screens
HD (720p) 1280 x 720, medium file size Internet and DVD
Standard (480p) 852 x 480, smallest file size Portable devices

Save as a PowerPoint Show

When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

The list of file types in PowerPoint includes

  1. On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).
  2. On the File menu, select Save As.
  3. Choose the folder location where you want to store your PowerPoint Show file.
  4. In the Save as type box, choose PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx).

Why turn your presentation into a video?

When you want to give a high-fidelity version of your presentation to colleagues or customers (either as an e-mail attachment, published to the web, on a CD or DVD), save it and let it play as a video.

You can save your presentation as either an MPEG-4 video file (.mp4) or a .wmv file. Both formats are widely supported and can be streamed over the internet.

Some tips to remember when recording your presentation as a video:

What parts of a presentation won't be included in a video?

The following items won't be included in a video that you create using PowerPoint:

What to do with your video after creating it

After you create a video, you can share it with others by using the following methods:

Save to the Microsoft video-sharing site

After you've created the video file, you can upload it to a video-sharing site. Microsoft Stream is an enterprise video service where people in an organization can upload, view, and share videos. Microsoft 365 business or education subscribers have access to this service from within PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.

The button for publishing a video to Microsoft Stream

    Select File >Export, and then select Publish to Microsoft Stream.

Options for publishing a video to Microsoft Stream

  • Type a title and a description for the video.
  • Set other options, including whether you want others in your organization to have permission to see the video:

    PowerPoint notifies you when the upload is finished

    Select the Publish button. The upload process can take several minutes, depending on the length of the video. A status bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window tracks the progress, and PowerPoint shows a message when the upload is finished:

    For more information about this service, begin reading with What is Microsoft Stream? It includes information about Office 365 Video vs. Microsoft Stream.

    Save as a video file

    After you've created your slides and recorded any timing and narrations and laser pointer gestures that you want to include, you're ready to create a video file.

    Your browser does <a href=not support video. Install Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash Player, or Internet Explorer 9." />

    1. On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).
    2. Select File >Export >Create a Video. (Or, on the Recording tab of the ribbon, select Export to Video.)
    3. In the first drop-down box under the Create a Video heading, select the video quality you want, which pertains to the resolution of the finished video. The higher the video quality, the larger the file size. (You may want to test them to determine which one meets your needs.)
    Option Resolution For displaying on
    Ultra HD (4K) 1 2 3840 x 2160, largest file size Large monitors
    Full HD (1080p) 1920 x 1080, large file size Computer and HD screens
    HD (720p) 1280 x 720, medium file size Internet and DVD
    Standard (480p) 852 x 480, smallest file size Portable devices

    Save as a PowerPoint Show

    When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

    The list of file types in PowerPoint includes

    1. On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).
    2. On the File menu, select Save As.
    3. Choose the folder location where you want to store your PowerPoint Show file.
    4. In the Save as type box, choose PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx).

    Why turn your presentation into a video?

    When you want to give a high-fidelity version of your presentation to colleagues or customers (either as an e-mail attachment, published to the web, on a CD or DVD), save it and let it play as a video.

    You can save your presentation as either an MPEG-4 video file (.mp4) or a .wmv file. Both formats are widely supported and can be streamed over the internet.

    Some tips to remember when recording your presentation as a video:

    What parts of a presentation won't be included in a video?

    The following items won't be included in a video that you create using PowerPoint:

    What to do with your video after creating it

    After you create a video, you can share it with others by using the following methods: