Change One Shape to Another in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Many shapes look like each other. And that’s why you may work with one shape and then realize that you used the wrong one. For example, you may create a 5-pointed star when you needed a star with 4 or 8 points. Let's explore another scenario: you worked on a shape and applied effects, animations, and fills to this shape. Later you realize that you used the wrong shape, or perhaps the client wants you to change the shape but retain all the effects, animations, and fills. You may want to delete the existing shape and start over again, and that is a long-drawn process. Luckily, there is an easier option.

Follow these steps to change any existing shape to another, in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows:

1. Select the shape which you want to change, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: 10-Point Star Shape selected
2. This activates the Drawing Tools Format contextual tab of the Ribbon, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below. Within this tab click the Edit Shape button, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Edit Shape button

Contextual Tabs

The Drawing Tools and Format tabs are contextual tabs. 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.
3. Doing so brings up a drop-down menu that, as shown in Figure 3, below. From this menu, choose the Change Shape option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3, to bring up a variant of the Shapes gallery. In this gallery, choose the shape you want to change your selected shape to.
4. 
   Figure 3: Choose a Shape to change to
4. Once you click on another shape within the Shapes gallery, the selected shape on your slide changes into a new shape, as shown in Figure 4, below. Note that the new shape has the same fill, animation, outline, effect, and hyperlink attributes as the earlier shape. If the original selected shape did not have any animation or hyperlink applied, then of course the new changed shape also won't have any animation or hyperlink attributes.
5. 
   Figure 4: 10-Point Star shape changed to 5-Point Star
5. Save your presentation often.