Reuse Slides in PowerPoint 2003 for Windows

Reusing slides from an existing presentation (or several presentations) is a great way to add some common slides that you end up using in most presentations. We always suggest that you to first create and import an outline so that you have a structured presentation in place. Thereafter, use the Reuse slides option to add more slides or even replace existing ones. Finally, you can add any new slides that you need to create from scratch.

PowerPoint provides a quick Reuse Slides command that locates specific slides and enables you to add them to the active presentation. While this process works the same way in all versions of PowerPoint, there are small interface changes. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to reuse slides in PowerPoint 2003 for Windows:

1. Within PowerPoint, open your existing presentation, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: PowerPoint 2003

Where are Slides Inserted?

Copied slides will always be inserted after the selected slide in the active presentation.
2. Browse to the slide after which you want to import new slides. Then choose the Insert | Slides from Files menu option, as shown in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Slides from Files
3. Doing so opens the Slide Finder dialog box, as shown in Figure 3, below. Click on the Browse button.
4. 
   Figure 3: Slide Finder dialog box
4. Doing so brings up the Browse dialog box, as shown in Figure 4, below. Let’s you select a presentation file on your computer. Select the file you need and click the Open button.
5. 
   Figure 4: Browse dialog box
5. The selected file will be opened in the Slide Finder dialog box, displaying individual slide previews and their corresponding slide titles, as shown in Figure 5, below.
6. 
   Figure 5: Slides in Slide Finder dialog box
6. Now you can select slide(s) to insert, as shown in Figure 6, below, and click the Insert button. Alternatively, if you want to insert all the slides in the presentation, click the Insert All button.
7. 
   Figure 6: Insert slides

Keep Source Formatting

To retain the slide formatting of the original slide (as in the template), make sure to check the Keep source formatting option located at the bottom left of the Slide Finder dialog box, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 6, above. If you do not check this option, the copied slide(s) will take on the slide formatting using the design template of the new presentation, which is probably the best thing to do!
7. As shown in Figure 7, below, the selected slides are added to the new presentation.
8. 
   Figure 7: Added slides
8. Save the presentation often.