Microsoft has given PowerPoint’s placeholders a stylish revamp, making them not only more visually appealing but also smarter in guiding you on what content to insert.
Placeholders in PowerPoint are the little icons on new slide with buttons to insert various content.
What’s New?
- Modern Look: Placeholders now sport a sleeker, contemporary design, ensuring your slides look polished even before you add content.
- Enhanced Guidance: Each placeholder provides clearer prompts, making it easier to know what type of content fits best.
- Diverse Image Sources: Image placeholders let you choose from various sources in a pull-down list.
How to use the new Placeholders
The new placeholders look much the same, but they can do a little more.
- Open your presentation in PowerPoint for Windows or Mac.
- To add an image:
- Go to Insert | New Slide and select a layout with an image placeholder.
- Click the Insert Picture button and choose your image source from the dropdown menu.
- To add SmartArt:
- Go to Insert | New Slide and pick a layout suitable for SmartArt.
- Click the Insert SmartArt button and select your preferred SmartArt graphic.
There are also placeholder buttons to insert Cameo, Video, Table or Chart.
💡⚠️ Known Limitation
Currently, these updated placeholders aren’t available in PowerPoint for the web. So, if you’re switching between desktop and web versions, you might notice some differences in how placeholders appear.
📅 Availability
The new placeholders are rolling out to users with the following versions:
- Windows: v2503 Build 18623.20178 or later
- Mac: v16.96 Build 25040711 or later
PowerPoint Placeholders: Smarter, Sleeker, Simpler
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