Convert SmartArt Graphic into Shapes in PowerPoint 2013

SmartArt is a great new feature that Microsoft added in PowerPoint -- yet many users want to convert their SmartArt graphic to bulleted text, or even to individually editable shapes to manipulate further. Yes, you can convert SmartArt to individual shapes, but do remember that this is a one-way process, and you lose any editability for the SmartArt graphic from that point of time. However, converting to shapes does mean that you have complete control over moving, resizing, deleting, or formatting individual shapes. Follow these steps to convert a SmartArt graphic into shapes in PowerPoint 2013:

1. Select your existing SmartArt graphic, as you can see in Figure 1. The SmartArt graphic variant that we are using (and have selected) is the Horizontal Picture List.
   
   
   Figure 1: Horizontal Picture List SmartArt with text
   
   
   Note: It's a good idea to create a backup of the slide that contains the SmartArt graphic that you want to convert to shapes. A quick way to create this backup is to select the slide within the Slides Pane, or in Slide Sorter view. Then press the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut to make a copy of your slide. Want more keyboard shortcuts? Get a copy of our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts Ebook.
2. When the SmartArt graphic is selected, you'll find two contextual tabs activated on the Ribbon: the SmartArt Tools Design and the SmartArt Tools Format tabs (highlighted in red within Figure 2). Activate the SmartArt Tools Design tab by clicking on it.
   
   
   Figure 2: SmartArt Tools Design tab selected
3. Within the SmartArt Tools Design tab, click the Convert button to bring up a drop-down list (see Figure 3). Within the list, select the Convert to Shapes option (highlighted in red within Figure 3).
   
   
   Figure 3: Convert SmartArt to Shapes
   
   Alternatively, you can right-click the SmartArt graphic to get the resultant context menu, and choose the Convert to Shapes option (highlighted in red within Figure4).
   
   
   Figure 4: Convert to Shapes option
4. This will convert the SmartArt graphic into a group of shapes, as shown in Figure 5.
   
   
   Figure 5: SmartArt graphic converted into a group of shapes
5. Now, right-click the converted SmartArt to bring up a contextual menu – from this contextual menu, choose the Group | Ungroup option (see Figure 6).
   
   
   Figure 6: Ungroup converted shapes
6. This ungroups all the converted SmartArt graphic into individual shapes, as shown in Figure 7.
   
   
   Figure 7: Converted SmartArt graphic ungrouped into individual shapes

See Also:

Convert SmartArt into Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Convert SmartArt Graphic into Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows