Steps for Creating Action Buttons in Microsoft PowerPoint

Quick Tips

Action buttons add another layer of interactivity to PowerPoint by providing a place where viewers can click to move to other parts of the presentation or play sounds, for example.
Using action buttons in PowerPoint is as easy as creating a button with a shape and then assigning it an action from a list.

What are action buttons in PowerPoint? Simple: They’re buttons that you can add — in whatever shape you like — to make your presentation more interesting or direct the viewer to more information. If you’ve been wondering, “Where can you find the action buttons in PowerPoint,” worry not — the answer is right here. Follow the step-by-step guide and learn how to add action buttons in PowerPoint for a variety of uses.

Inserting Action Buttons in PowerPoint: A Quick Guide

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and look for Insert on the top tab. Click here.

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Step 2: Next, click the dropdown arrow under the Shapes option.

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Step 3: Scroll right to the bottom of the menu and you’ll see Action Buttons. Choose which one you’d like to insert into your presentation by left-clicking on it.

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Step 4: Now click on the slide where you’d like the button to appear — this will open up the action menu.

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Step 5: Here you can choose to hyperlink the button to another slide, link to a URL or another presentation, run a program, or play a sound. Choose the option you want and click OK.

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Step 6: Adjust the button’s size and position until you’re happy with it — the initial click doesn’t always place it exactly where you want it, and the size is pre-determined by PowerPoint. You can also adjust other slide details to let users know what the button is for.

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Now simply run the slide show from the Slide Show tab, and you can test the button to make sure it works as expected ahead of your presentation.

Bonus Tips for Adding Action Buttons in PowerPoint: Enabling Macros

You’ve likely noticed that the Macros section in the action list in PowerPoint is grayed out by default. However, if you need to add macros to create actions beyond the standard options, enabling macros is straightforward.

Step 1: Click File on your PowerPoint presentation.

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Step 2: Click on Options and all the PowerPoint options will open up in a separate window.

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Step 3: Click Trust Center and then Trust Center Settings.

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Step 4: You want to look for Macro Settings — it’s about halfway down the list of options on the left. If you’re confident about the macros you want to add, simply click Enable all macros and OK.

Note: Be aware that entering code directly into an action button via a macro can cause your presentation to have problems if you’re not 100% confident about your coding capabilities.