Shape Combine Command in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac

There are so many shapes available in PowerPoint, and that's good because that means so many more possibilities to create your own unique shapes by using any of the Merge Shapes commands.

One of the amazing options within Merge Shapes is Combine, which retains areas where the shapes do not overlap while removing the overlapping areas. Think of Combine as an amazing cutout option! You can see examples of the Combine option in play within Figure 1, below. The three examples on the top area of the slide are separate shapes placed over each other. The shapes that you see at the bottom of the slide are the same shapes with the Combine option applied, resulting in a cutout and remnant shape.

Figure 1: Sample showing use of the Combine command

Once you finish reading this tutorial, do view the sample presentations embedded on the bottom of this page to see more samples of shapes that use the Combine command.

Follow these steps to learn how to use Shape Combine command in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac:

Select any two or more shapes as shown in Figure 2. With these shapes selected, access the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon (highlighted in blue within Figure 2).

Figure 2: Shape Format tab

Note: The Shape Format tab is a Contextual tab. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
Select the Shape Format tab and then click the Merge Shapes button (highlighted in red within Figure 2, above). This brings up the Merge Shapes drop-down gallery as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Merge Shapes drop-down gallery
Within the Merge Shapes drop-down gallery, click the Combine option, as shown in Figure 3, above so that the selected shapes are combined. You will notice that the Combine option removes any areas that overlap, and combines all selected shapes into a single shape (refer to Figure 3 again).

Figure 4: Previously selected shapes are Combined
Save your presentation often.

Do remember these guidelines for any tasks that involve the usage of this command. The Combine command:

Combines non-overlapping areas of shapes.
Removes overlapping areas of shapes.
If selected shapes do not overlap, acts like a group with no option to ungroup! Also you can then add a single fill to multiple shapes, as explained in our Create Segments with Unified Fill tutorial.
Retains formatting of first selected shape.

You will see these guidelines in use within the embedded presentations below (scroll down this page).

Activity: Do experiment with various shapes that are formatted with fills of different colors. Select one of the shapes, and then individually select other shapes and click the Combine command. You will notice that the combined shape takes the formatting of the shape selected first.

The sample presentations below show how we used different shapes placed next to and above each other, and then combined.

Click below to view this presentation on SlideShare

Click below to view this presentation on YouTube