Hide and Unhide Slides in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

Ever created a slide that you just couldn’t delete? It’s like a “just-in-case” drawer in your presentation. You may not use it often, but you know it could come in handy. Now imagine you’re presenting and moving through your slides, and suddenly that drawer opens in front of everyone. Notes, extra data, maybe even unfinished thoughts show up on the screen. Not a great moment. So, in this tutorial, we will explore the entire gamut of hiding and unhiding slides, learn about pro tips, and look at some caveats.

Hide and unhide slides in PowerPoint

Using the Hide Slides Feature
How to Hide and Unhide Slides?

Using the Hide Slides Feature

Yes, this is a neat trick: hide the slide. Think of it as sliding that “just-in-case” drawer behind a secret panel. It’s still part of your desk, and you just know exactly how to keep it out of sight! During your presentation, the audience never even knows that drawer exists. No accidental reveals, no awkward moments. But for you? It’s always there, ready to be opened, edited, or reorganized whenever you like.

And when the timing is perfect, you can pull it back out with a quick unhide, like a pro revealing a hidden compartment at just the right moment.

How to Hide and Unhide Slides?

Follow these steps to hide and unhide your slides in PowerPoint 365 for Windows:

1. Open your presentation that contains slides you want to hide or unhide. To make the process easier, view your slides in Slide Sorter view, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: View in Slide Sorter
2. Next, you need to select slides that you want to hide or unhide:
3. - To select a single slide, click on it.
4. - To select multiple, non-contiguous slides, select the first one, and then press the Ctrl key as you click on other slides.
5. - To select contiguous slides, select your first slide, and then press the Shift key and click on the last slide you want to select. You will end up selecting all slides in between.
6. Whatever selection process you choose, you will end up with a selection of one or more slides, as shown in Figure 2, below.
7. 
   Figure 2: Select your slides
3. Now, carefully right-click on any slide that’s part of your selection. Doing so brings up a contextual menu, as shown in Figure 3, below. Choose the Hide Slide option, highlighted in green within Figure 3.
4. 
   Figure 3: Right-click to hide slides
5. You can also access the Slide Show tab of the Ribbon, and click the Hide Slide button, highlighted in red within Figure 4, below. Do note that if you need to select only one or fewer slides, you can do so within the Slides pane of Normal view as well, as shown in Figure 4.
6. 
   Figure 4: Hide slides with a click
4. Either of these options will hide your selected slides. Do note that hidden slides have diagonal strikes over the slide number, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. Compare with Figure 3, shown previously on this page. This behavior occurs in both Slide Sorter view and within the Slides pane in Normal view. The slide thumbnails also appear faded in both views, as shown in Figure 5.
5. 
   Figure 5: Faded slides indicate hidden status
5. All options used to hide slides work as toggles. You choose these options to hide slides and then choose the same options to unhide slides.

6. Shortcuts to Access Hidden Slides

   Want to show a hidden slide in Slide Show view? It’s easy if you know the slide number. For example, if the slide number of this slide is 16, you just press 1, 6, and Enter keys in rapid succession, and your slide will change to slide number 16. This trick works with all slides, including hidden slides.

6. Save your presentation often unless AutoSave is enabled.