Interface in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

Here's a quick walkthrough of the PowerPoint 2011 for Mac interface, the PowerPoint 2011 interface is quite similar to the PowerPoint 2010 for Windows interface since it includes the Ribbon, but it continues providing the menus and toolbars as well, in this walkthrough, you will explore all the interface options.

Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the PowerPoint 2011 interface, each part of the interface is explained later on this page.

Figure 1: The PowerPoint 2011 interface

A. Menu bar

The menu bar contains several menu options, when clicked, these display individual drop-down menus and sub-menus. Select the required menu option to make something happen.

B. Standard toolbar

The Standard toolbar contains several icons that provide quick access to options already available from within the menus. This toolbar is normally displayed directly under the menu bar. If this toolbar is not visible, you can turn it on by choosing the View | Toolbars | Standard menu option. Learn more about Standard toolbar here.

C. Formatting toolbar

The Formatting toolbar may not be normally displayed, to show it, choose the View | Toolbars | Formatting option from the menu bar. Located directly below the Standard toolbar (refer to Figure 1 above), this toolbar contains icons that provide shortcuts for formatting various elements on a slide. For example, the prominent B icon bolds or unbolds selected text on a slide. Learn more about Formatting toolbar here.

D. Ribbon

The Ribbon has tabs which in turn contain groups of buttons for various options, some groups also contain galleries (for example galleries for Themes and Theme Colors). Learn more about the Ribbon here.

E. Slides/Outline Pane

Normally placed on the left side of the interface, this pane contains two tabs, the Slides tab and the Outline tab. The Slides tab shows thumbnails of all the slides in the open presentation. The Outline tab shows the same slides in outline view. Learn more about the Slides/Outline Pane here.

Note: If the Slides and Outline pane is not visible, click the Normal button in the View tab of the Ribbon.

F. Slide Area

Displays the active slide. Learn more about the Slide Area here.

G. Notes Pane

Placed below the active slide, this is where you input speaker notes for the current slide. None of this content is visible on the actual slide while presenting, although it is visible in both Notes Page view and Presenter view. Learn more about the Notes Pane here.

H. View Buttons

Essentially there are three view buttons displayed on the leftmost part of the status bar.

Normal View - Clicking this enables Normal view, Shift-clicking this gets you to Slide Master view.
Slide Sorter View - Clicking this displays zoomable thumbnails of every slide in the open presentation. Shift-clicking this button gets you to Handout Master view. Learn more about Slide Sorter view here.
Slide Show from current slide - Clicking this shows the presentation as a full screen slideshow starting from the selected slide. Learn more about Slide Show here.

Other than above view there are some more views, you can learn and get links for all the views in PowerPoint 2011 for mac here.

I. Status Bar

A horizontal strip that provides information about the opened presentation like slide number, applied Theme, etc. It also includes the view and zoom options. Learn more about the Status Bar here.

There are two more interface options which are not visible initially, but can be made visible through their respective icons on the Standard toolbar.

Figure 2: The PowerPoint 2011 interface with toolbox and media browser opened

J. Toolbox

The Toolbox contains Custom Animation, Reference Tools, Scrapbook, and the Compatibility Report tabs.

K. Media Browser

The Media Browser contains tabs for Photos, Audio, Movies, Clip Art, Symbols, and Shapes.

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