Guide Options in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Think of PowerPoint as a toolbox that's been quietly restocked over the years, most of us just keep reaching for the same old hammer without noticing the new tools sitting right beside it. Guides are a perfect example. Everyone knows the basics, but few users have opened the drawer wide enough to see everything guides can actually do.

Here's what's waiting inside:

1. Right-click to add. No need to hunt through the Ribbon each time. A simple right-click on the slide brings up the option to add a new guide directly, the PowerPoint equivalent of a shortcut through the back door instead of the main entrance.
2. Add guides offset to existing ones. New guides can be spawned at a precise offset from existing ones, letting you build out a whole grid system in a fraction of the time it would take to position each one individually. Think of it as ripples spreading outward from a single stone dropped in water, evenly spaced, no extra effort required.
3. Guides in color. Grey was never a rule, only a default. PowerPoint actually offers 10 colors for guides, so a project with multiple guide sets, one for margins, another for content blocks, can be color-coded for instant clarity, much like a subway map uses color to separate lines that would otherwise blur together.
4. A proper Delete option. Dragging a guide off the slide still works, but it's no longer the only way out. A dedicated Delete option now lives in the right-click menu, a fun fact many long-time PowerPoint users, used to the old drag-and-release method, are often surprised to discover. However, you cannot select and guide and press the Delete button on your keyboard.
5. A guide hierarchy. Guides aren't limited to individual slides. They also exist within Slide Masters and Slide Layouts, each operating independently, much like separate floors of a building with their own layout, unaffected by renovations happening one floor above or below.

When guides are made visible, two guides appear by default, as shown in Figure 1, below. Additional guides can then be added as needed, either by dragging existing guides to spawn new ones, or through options available in the right-click contextual menu.

Figure 1: Guides on the PowerPoint slide

To access guide options through the right-click contextual menu in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows, follow these steps:

1. Open PowerPoint and ensure that guides are visible. Figure 2, below, shows an empty slide with the default guides displayed.
2. 
   Figure 2: PowerPoint slide with default guides
2. Right-click on an empty area of the slide to open a contextual menu, as shown in Figure 3, below.
3. 
   Figure 3: Right-click on an empty area of your slide to bring up this menu
4. Alternatively, place your cursor precisely over an existing guide and right-click it. This brings up the contextual menu, shown in Figure 4, below.
5. 
   Figure 4: Right-click on an existing guide to bring up this menu
6. The options available in these two contextual menus are explained below, as marked in Figures 3 and 4:

   A. Add Vertical Guide

   It goes without saying that guides need to be visible on your slide before you try any of these options. The Add Vertical Guide option adds a new guide on the vertical plane of the slide. Where your new guide shows up depends upon where you summoned the right-click menu:

   Right-click on an empty area of the slide, as shown in Figure 5, below.

   
   Figure 5: Right-click on any area

   Doing so spawns a new vertical guide that is offset towards the right of an existing vertical guide, as shown in Figure 6, below. It doesn’t matter how far away from the existing guide you click, or whether you clicked leftwards or rightwards of an existing guide. Yes, this approach does not give you much control over where your new guide is added. You may have to drag the guide later and move it to a new position.

   
   Figure 6: Resultant vertical guide

   What if you started with no Guide?

   What if your slide had no Vertical Guide to begin with? In that case, where will the new guide be added?

   In that case, PowerPoint will add a new Vertical Guide right at the center of the slide, almost like restoring the default Guide.

   Right-clicking on a selected, existing vertical guide, as shown in Figure 4, previously on this page, adds a new vertical guide that is offset towards the right of the selected, existing vertical guide. This approach works best if you want to add a new guide right next to an existing guide.

   Right-clicking on a selected, existing horizontal guide, as shown in Figure 4, previously on this page. This adds a new vertical guide that is perpendicular to the horizontal guide you selected. This approach works best if you want to add a new guide at an exact position.

   B. Add Horizontal Guide

   Adds a new guide on the horizontal plane of the slide. The three ways you add a horizontal guide work exactly like the three ways in which you add a vertical guide (explained in the preceding section).

   C. Color

   This option is available only when you right-click an existing guide, as shown in Figure 4, previously on this page. You can choose from 10 different colors in the flyout menu, as shown in Figure 5, below. Also, notice that you need not bring up the flyout menu to access the last selected color. That's available within the main right-click menu, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5.

   
   Figure 5: Recolor your Guides

   D. Delete

   Right-click the guide you want to remove, and then click the Delete option within the right-click menu.

   Undo May Not Work

   You cannot undo any guide operations, so be careful before you delete a guide!

3. In Figure 6, below, you can see new guides have been added both horizontally and vertically. Also, the color of some guides has been changed.
4. 
   Figure 6: More guides added and recolored
4. Make sure to save your presentation often.