Open and Close Tabs of Backstage View in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

When you click the File menu and access Backstage view in PowerPoint, several options appear as tabs, as shown in Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Open and Close options

In this tutorial, we explore options within two of these tabs, as shown in Figure 1, above:

Open
Close

Open

Follow these steps to open an existing file on your computer in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows:

1. Access the File menu, and click the Open option. Doing so opens various options to open a PowerPoint file, as shown in Figure 2, below. You can also find a list of PowerPoint files previously opened within the Recent Presentations section, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
2. 
   Figure 2: Recent Presentations section in Backstage view
2. To open a presentation that is not listed within the Recent Presentations section, select the Computer option and click the Browse button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3, below.
3. 
   Figure 3: Browse button
4. Doing so brings up the Open dialog box, as shown in Figure 4, below. Navigate to wherever your presentation files are saved, and you can open any of them. You'll find that PowerPoint can open files of various formats (types).
5. 
   Figure 4: Open dialog box
3. Select the presentation or file you want to open, and then click the Open button. Remember that the Open button has a down-arrow next to it. Clicking this down-arrow provides more Open options, as shown in Figure 5, below. Choose any of them; an explanation of these options follows.
4. 
   Figure 5: Open options
5. Here's a brief explanation of these options:

   1. Open

   Open, the default option is the same as clicking the Open button.

   2. Open Read-Only

   Open Read-Only lets you open a read-only copy of the presentation. This is great if you don't want to make changes and overwrite the original presentation.

   3. Open as Copy

   Open as Copy lets you open a copy of the presentation, almost like creating a new presentation while leaving the original unaltered.

   4. Open in Browser

   Open in Browser works only with certain file formats, such as MHT. See file formats PowerPoint can open.

   5. Open in Protected View

   Open in Protected View lets you open a presentation with restrictions to protect your computer from damage. You can open potentially dangerous files, such as those downloaded from an unknown source on the Internet, in the Protected View.

   6. Open and Repair

   Open and Repair allows PowerPoint to attempt repair of a file that is possibly corrupt.

4. Additionally, you can open files from other Places. If you sign into Microsoft Office using your Microsoft Account, then a Place for your OneDrive account will already be added to the Open tab of Backstage view.
5. You can also add more Places, including other OneDrive accounts and Office 365 SharePoint locations by clicking the Add a Place option, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 3, previously on this page.

Back

Close

The Close option, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 6, below, is used to close the active presentation. PowerPoint prompts you to save any unsaved changes.

Figure 6: The Close option