Animation Delay in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

Once you add animation to any slide object, you can set its animation speed and choose an animation event. Other than speed and event, you can also alter the delay caused before the animation actually starts. So why would you add a delay? There are several reasons and primarily a delay can be beneficial if you want to maintain a time limit between two animations -- as in having the second animation occur 10 seconds after the first one has started/concluded. Of course, that was just a simple example and animation delay can be helpful in many other scenarios. This delay is calculated in seconds -- follow the steps to learn more:

1. Select the object that has an animation applied to it. Refer to our Adding an Animation in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
2. Next, make the Animation Pane visible, by accessing the Animations tab of the Ribbon and clicking the Animation Pane button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1.
   
   
   Figure 1: Animation Pane button
3. This opens the Animation Pane within the PowerPoint interface, as shown in Figure 2. Note that within the Animation Pane, the animation bar (highlighted in red within Figure 2) starts at 0 seconds (highlighted in blue within Figure 2).
   
   
   Figure 2: Animation starting at 0 seconds delay
4. As you can see in Figure 2 above, the slide object we selected has only one animation applied. If more than one animation is applied to the slide object, you should now select the animation bar for the animation you want to apply a delay to, within the Animation Pane.
5. Within the Animations tab of the Ribbon, locate the Delay box as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3. Use the up and down arrow buttons within the Delay box (refer Figure 3) to increase or decrease the delay. You can also type in the exact delay value you want. Do note that by default, the Delay is set to 00.00 seconds.
   
   
   Figure 3: Delay box within the Animations tab
   
   
   Note: Animations in PowerPoint 2013 are timed to decimals, rather than using the typical 60 parts. So, half a second is shown as 00.50 rather than 00:00:30.
   Alternatively, right-click the animation within the Animation Pane, and from the resultant menu, choose the Timing option, as shown in Figure 4.
   
   
   Figure 4: Timing option selected for animation
   
   This brings up the dialog box with the Timing tab selected, as shown in Figure 5. Within this tab, select the Delay option that you can see highlighted in red within Figure 5. You can use the up and down arrow buttons within the Delay box (refer Figure 5) to increase or decrease the delay Or you can also type in the exact delay value you want.
   
   
   Figure 5: Delay option within your animation dialog box
6. We have entered a delay of 2 seconds within the Delay box as shown highlighted in green within Figure 6. Now, the animation bar (highlighted in red within Figure 6) changes its position to start after 2 seconds (highlighted in blue within Figure 6). Compare with the position of the animation bar within Figure 2, shown earlier on this page.
   
   
   Figure 6: 2 seconds delay is applied to the selected animation
   
   You can also use the Advanced Timeline to apply delay to any selected animation. Learn more in our Control Animation Timings within Advanced Timeline in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
7. Thereafter, click the Preview button within the Animations tab of the Ribbon, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7. You can preview the animation happening after the delay time specified.
   
   
   Figure 7: Preview button within the Animations tab
8. Save your presentation.

See Also:

Animation Delay in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Animation Delay in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows