Resizing Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac

Once you insert shapes on a slide, you may realize that it's not the perfect size. Did you want it larger, or a wee bit smaller? However you want your shapes resized, it's easy to make the size change in a jiffy, right inside PowerPoint.

Follow these steps to resize shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac.

Like most Microsoft Office programs, PowerPoint follows the concept of selection, then action. So, the first thing you may need to do to a shape that you want to be resized is to select it! Any shape that is selected shows several handles, as shown in all shapes, as shown in Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Shapes have several handles

Look closely at Figure 1, above, and you'll find that any selected shape has several handles.

• Four white square handles on the corners.
• Four white square handles on the sides.
• One white rotation handle over the top-middle handle. To learn more, see our Rotate Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac tutorial.
• One or more yellow square handle. Do note that square handles do not appear on all shapes. If you look at Figure 1 above, you will notice that the first shape on the left has no yellow handle but the other two shapes have it. To learn more, see our Manipulating Shapes by Dragging Yellow Handles in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac tutorial.

Resize by Dragging

When you drag any of the eight white handles, you can resize the shape in various ways, depending upon certain factors, as explained below:

• When you drag any of the handles inwards, you scale down the size of the shape.
• When you drag any of the handles outwards, you enlarge the size of the shape.
• To maintain the width:height proportions of the shape, hold the Shift key while you drag one of the four corner handles, as shown in Figure 2, below.
• 
  Figure 2: Shift drag to maintain the width:height proportion while resizing a shape
• To resize from the center of the shape rather than from a corner or side, hold the Ctrl key while you drag one of the four corner or side handles, as shown in Figure 3, below.
• 
  Figure 3: Ctrl dragging resizes from the center of a shape rather than from a corner or side
• To resize from the center and still maintain proportions, hold both the Shift and Ctrl keys while you drag one of the four corner handles, as shown in Figure 4, below.
• 
  Figure 4: Combine both Ctrl and Shift dragging options to get the best of both worlds
• To resize only one side, drag the corresponding side handle, as shown in Figure 5, below.
• 
  Figure 5: Resize only one side
• To resize opposite sides equally, hold the Ctrl key while you drag a side handle, as shown in Figure 6, below.
• 
  Figure 6: Resize two sides at the same time equally

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Do you want more keyboard shortcuts?

Explore our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences Ebook that is updated for all PowerPoint versions.

Resize using the Keyboard

You can also resize the selected shape by pressing the Shift key and then pressing any of the four arrow keys on your keyboard. This option takes the center of the shape as an anchor point to resize from. Use any of the following command combinations to resize the shape.

• Shift + Up Arrow increases the height of the shape
• Shift + Down Arrow decrease the height of the shape
• Shift + Left Arrow decrease the width of the shape
• Shift + Right Arrow increases the width of the shape

As you resize the shape, you can see the height and the width change dynamically within the Size group of Format tab of the Ribbon. Also, you can select the Lock Aspect Ratio check box, as shown highlighted in red in Figure 7 and Figure 9, and then use the Shift key in combination with any of the arrow keys to proportionately resize the selected shape.

The options shown above allow you to resize based on what you see rather than resizing them to exact numerical values. To resize any shape to an exact size, you first select it. This activates the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon. In this tab, within the Size group, as shown in Figure 7, below, just change the Height and the Width values to resize the shape. You can press Return key after typing in a value, or use the increase or decrease buttons provided next to the numbers.

Figure 7: The Drawing Tools Format tab includes the Size group

To view even more resize options, right-click (or Ctrl + click) the selected shape and from the resultant menu, chose the Format Shape option, as shown in Figure 8, below.

Figure 8: Format Shape option selected

Doing so brings up the Format Shape Task Pane, as shown in Figure 9, below.

Figure 9: Format Shape Task Pane

Make sure you select the Size & Preperties tab, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 9, above. Within this tab, you'll find the following options related to resizing shapes:

Height

Type in a value or use the increase/decrease buttons to change the height of a shape.

Width

Type in a value or use the increase/decrease buttons to change the width of a shape.

Rotation

Type in a value or use the increase/decrease buttons to rotate the shape.

Scale Height

Change the height based on percentage values.

Scale Width

Change the width based on percentage values.

Lock aspect ratio

Select this check-box, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 9, so any change in height reflects a proportionate change in the width, and vice versa.

The other options shown in Figure 9, are not relevant to resizing shapes.