Flip Shapes in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

The shape on your slide looks perfect. However, if you feel like your slide design is a little too same-old, one way to change it up is to flip your shapes! This simple change can give your design a whole new look while still staying on brand and within the bounds of your slide content. So next time you're looking for a quick refresh, try flipping your shapes.

Of course, you can rotate any shape. Think of it this way - when you rotate a shape, you're just turning it in another direction without changing its structure. But when you flip the shape, you're creating a mirror image in another direction, or even turning it upside-down. These changes can give you some new perspectives on your work. We will use the Teardrop shape, as shown in Figure 1, below, as a perfect example for flipping.

Figure 1: Select the shape to flip

As we explain on this page, you can flip shapes in three ways. We also look at flipping multiple shapes at the same time.

Follow these steps to flip shapes in PowerPoint 365 for Mac:

1. Select your shape so that eight white handles appear around the selection, as shown in Figure 1, above.
2. Next, choose any of these rotation options:

1. Flip Manually

3. Select any of the side handles, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, shown previously on this page. Then, drag towards the other end of the shape, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: Drag towards the other end of the shape to flip
5. Just keep dragging it beyond the shape on the other side, as shown in Figure 3, below.
6. 
   Figure 3: Continue dragging on the other side
7. Alternatively, you can hold the Ctrl key and drag any of the side handles towards the other end of the shape, as shown in Figure 4, below. This action will flip the shape from the center, as shown in Figure 4 on the right side.
8. 
   Figure 4: Hold the Ctrl key to flip the shape from the center

2. Flip with Keyboard Shortcuts

9. OK, there is no real keyboard shortcut in PowerPoint to flip shapes. However, you can flip shapes using a slightly longer keyboard sequence. To do so, press the Ctrl + F2 key combination (or Ctrl + Fn + F2, if you use a smaller keyboard on a Mac laptop). Doing so will activate the Menu Bar with the Apple Mac symbol. Now type the first letter of the Menu command that you want to select. In this case, type Ar since we want to access the Arrange menu, and then hit the Return key on your keyboard to open the drop-down menu for the selected command. Then type Ro, and then hit the Return key on your keyboard to open the Rotate sub-menu. Next use the arrow keys to highlight the Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical options and hit the Return key one last time.
10. To learn more about using such keyboard sequences, see our Keyboard Sequences for PowerPoint 365 for Mac page.


PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Do you want more keyboard shortcuts?

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

3. Flip with Commands

11. To flip, select the shape to activate the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 5, below. Click the Rotate button to access the Rotate drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 5. Choose either Flip Vertical or Flip Horizontal, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5.
12. 
    Figure 5: Flip options within Rotate drop-down gallery
13. Figure 6, below, displays the selected shape flipped horizontally. Compare with Figure 1, shown previously on this page.
14. 
    Figure 6: Teardrop shape flipped horizontally
3. You can make copies of your selected shapes, and then flip them differently to create a pattern, as shown in Figure 7, below.
4. 
   Figure 7: Use flip commands to create patterns

Flipping Multiple Shapes

There will be times when you'll need to flip multiple shapes around, either independently or in relation to each other. So, what do you do in such scenarios? Let's understand this objective better with an example. Let's say you have three shapes on your slide, as shown in Figure 8, below. Do note that all three shapes are different, and comprise a circle, a star, and a teardrop.

Figure 8: Multiple shapes selected

Let us now flip these shapes, either on their own or in relation to each other.

Flip Multiple Shapes, Independently

Rotating shapes independently in PowerPoint is easy. Just follow these steps:

1. Select all shapes, as shown in Figure 8, previously on this page.
2. Now, you can use any of the three techniques explained on this page to rotate the shapes independently of each other. You can see the result, as shown in Figure 9, below. Please note that when you are flipping multiple shapes manually, you are using the side handle of any one shape and all selected shapes get flipped at the same time.
3. 
   Figure 9: Multiple shapes flipped independent of each other

Flip Multiple Shapes, Relative to Each Other

So, you want to flip things up a bit, not just with the shapes themselves, but also the spacing, direction, and angles between the shapes. To achieve this objective, you'll need to follow these steps to flip multiple shapes relative to each other in PowerPoint:

1. First, select all shapes, as shown in Figure 8, previously on this page.
2. Now, you need all shapes to behave as if they were one object. In other words, you need to group the multiple shapes selected. To do so, press the ⌘ + Option + G keyboard shortcut. All shapes will now sport a single selection handle, as shown in Figure 10, below. Compare with Figure 8, shown previously on this page, where these shapes were not grouped.
3. 
   Figure 10: Group of shapes to be flipped
3. Now, please use one of the three techniques detailed on this page to rotate the grouped shapes in unison. You can see the result, as shown in Figure 11, below.
4. 
   Figure 11: Grouped shapes flipped
4. After you've rotated your shapes, you can either keep them grouped together or you can ungroup them and work with each shape individually, as can be seen in Figure 12, below. To do so, press the ⌘ + Shift + Option + G keyboard shortcut.
5. 
   Figure 12: Flipped shapes ungrouped
5. Save your presentation often.