Info Tab of Backstage View in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

In PowerPoint 365 for the Mac, there is no Info tab of Backstage view like you see in PowerPoint 365 for Windows. Yes, it would have been nice to have this Info tab where you can see and access multiple settings and properties for file options, protecting presentations, media options, inspecting presentations, and management—but most of these settings are available within PowerPoint 365 for Mac in various other locations. In this tutorial, we will help you discover these locations.

All options can be broadly placed within these categories:

A. File Options

Most of these options can be found within the File | Share submenu, which you can see in Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Share submenu for a file opened from OneDrive

The Share submenu you saw in Figure 1 was for a file opened from OneDrive. The same menu is less featured if you are working on a local file, as can be seen in Figure 2, below.

Figure 2: Share submenu for a local file

These submenu options are explained below:

1. Invite People: This option brings up a window, as shown in Figure 3, below. You begin by typing names or email addresses of people with whom you want to share the presentation. You can also type in an optional message. Select the Can Edit check-box (as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3) if you want to allow the recipient to edit the shared presentation.
2. 
   Figure 3: Invite People window
2. Copy View-only Link: This option copies a link for a view-only version of your presentation to the clipboard. This option only works for files already uploaded to a OneDrive location.
3. Copy View and Edit Link: This option copies a link that allows both viewing and editing of the presentation file to the clipboard. This option only works for files already uploaded to a OneDrive location.
4. Share: This option is only available for local files, and not for those already existing on a OneDrive location. Choosing this option brings up the Move or copy this presentation to the cloud to share window, as shown in Figure 4, below.
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   Figure 4: Move or copy this presentation to the cloud to share
6. Once you upload files to OneDrive, you will see the first three options explained above (Invite People, Copy View-only Link, and Copy View and Edit Link), as shown in Figure 1, previously on this page.
5. Send Presentation: Choosing this option brings up your default mail application. The presentation is sent as an attachment, as can be seen in Figure 5, below.
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   Figure 5: Send a presentation as an email attachment
6. Send PDF: This option works exactly in the same way as the Send Presentation option, but sends a PDF of the presentation as an attachment rather than the original PowerPoint file.

B. Protect Presentation

Options to protect presentations can be found within the File menu, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 6, below.

Figure 6: Options to protect presentations

There are three options:

1. Always Open as Read-only: Opens your presentation as a read-only file as the default, so that accidental changes are prevented.
2. Restrict Permission: Select this option so that users access the presentation with restrictive privileges to edit, copy, or print. WRM is a larger topic and is best addressed by your sysadmin or help desk staff.
3. Passwords: Learn more in our Encrypt with Password and Remove and Change Passwords tutorials.

C. Media Options

No media compression options for video clips is available in PowerPoint 365 for Mac, unlike in the Windows versions.

D. Inspect Presentation

PowerPoint 365 for Mac has the Check Accessibility option, that you can find within the Tools menu, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7, below.

Figure 7: Check Accessibility option

Selecting this option brings up the Accessibility Task Pane, shown in Figure 8, below. Learn more on our Check Accessibility page.

Figure 8: Accessibility Task Pane

E. Version History

Again, version history works if your file is saved on a OneDrive location. Assuming your file is indeed on OneDrive, you access the File menu, and choose the Browse Version History option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 9, below.

Figure 9: Browse Version History

Doing so brings up the Version History Task Pane, which you can see highlighted in red within Figure 10 below.

Figure 10: Version History Task Pane

You'll see the history of any versions available to restore. You can click on any of the Open version links to bring up an older version of the opened file.

F. Manage Presentation

No option to manage presentations, such as recovering unsaved presentations is available in PowerPoint 365 for Mac, unlike in the Windows versions.

G. Properties

To view properties of the open file, you choose the File | Properties option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 11, below.

Figure 11: Properties option

Doing so brings up the multi-tabbed Properties dialog box that you can see in Figure 12, below. The various tabs provide information about the presentation, statistics, content such as fonts used and theme name, and more.

Figure 12: Properties dialog box