Open and Close Tabs of Backstage View in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

When launched, PowerPoint typically opens with Backstage view, that has several tabs to be used for various functions. If you want to create a new presentation, you can do so using the New tab. If you want to work on any of the already created presentations, you can open them by using the various options in the Open tab. Unlike in Windows versions of PowerPoint, PowerPoint 365 for Mac has no Close tab.

In this tutorial, we explore the Open tab, as shown in Figure 1, below:

Figure 1: Open tab of Backstage view in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

Follow these steps to open an existing file on your computer in PowerPoint 365 for Mac:

1. Launch PowerPoint and click the Home icon, which is placed towards the extreme left of the Quick Access Toolbar, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.
2. 
   Figure 2: Home icon in QAT
2. This action opens Backstage view. Select the Open tab, as shown in Figure 3, below.
3. 
   Figure 3: Open tab selected within Backstage view
4. Options within the Open tab are explained below, as marked in Figure 3, above:

   A. Recent

   In this section, you'll find the Recent Folders list, that contains previously accessed folders, as shown in Figure 4, below. If any of these folders contain the presentations that you want to open, click to access the presentation, as shown in Figure 4.

   
   Figure 4: Recent Folders and Presentations

   Atop this, you'll also find the Search bar, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4, above. Type in a file name or even part of a file name. The results will look through your recent files and folders.

   B. OneDrive - Personal

   Within this tab, you'll find a list of online files stored on your OneDrive personal account. To view and open these files, you need to sign in to your OneDrive personal account from within PowerPoint or any other Microsoft Office 365 program. As you can see in Figure 5, below, we can navigate our OneDrive like a local folder.

   
   Figure 5: OneDrive - Personal

   C. OneDrive for Business

   Within this tab, you'll find a list of online files stored on your OneDrive for Business account. To view and open these files, you need to sign in to your OneDrive account from within PowerPoint or any other Microsoft Office 365 program. Figure 6, below, shows the Sign In window.

   
   Figure 6: OneDrive for Business

   D. On My Mac

   To open a presentation in an old-fashioned way, click the Browse option. Doing so brings up the Open dialog box, as shown in Figure 7, 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).

   
   Figure 7: On My Mac

   E. Add a Place

   You can also choose the Add a Place option which opens the Add a Place dialog box, as shown in Figure 8, below. You can choose to add multiple OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint accounts. These added accounts will show up in multiple places within the Open tab of Backstage view. Learn more in our Add a Place tutorial.

   
   Figure 8: Add a Place