Resize Text Boxes on a Slide in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

You may need to move text boxes to different areas on your PowerPoint slide. Sometimes you may also want to resize them to fit in the new position. While you may think that selecting and resizing is all that is to be done, there's so much more you can do even with mere resizing. If only you know that there are some tricks and shortcut keys that can make your task far more intuitive and easier! In a previous tutorial, you learned how to move text boxes on a slide. As suggested in that tutorial, you should only resize text boxes, and not text placeholders on the slide since the size of the latter in the text placeholder is normally controlled by the Slide Master.

After making you aware of why you should not resize the text placeholders, let us tell you that all techniques explained on this page apply to both text placeholders and text boxes. Actually they also apply to any shape that contains text. Learn more about how you can resize your text boxes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac, by following these steps:

1. Open any slide which has a text box. Our sample slide shown in Figure 1 includes three text containers (as marked in Figure 1):
2. A. Slide Title (Text Placeholder)
3. B. Bulleted List (Text Placeholder)
4. C. Text Box (Not a Text Placeholder)
5. 
   Figure 1: All text containers selected on the slide
6. Note that among the three text containers in Figure 1 above, only one is a text box. And, that's placed on the bottom-right corner of the slide (which includes blue colored text).
2. Click on the edge of the text box. It shows a solid line along with 8 selection handles on its perimeter, as shown highlighted in red and green within Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Text box with selection handles
4. These handles are explained below:
• Four blueish white handles on the corners (highlighted in red within Figure 2). These are round shaped and are on the corners of the text box.
• Four blueish white handles on the sides (highlighted in green within Figure 2). These are square shaped and placed at the midpoint of each border line on the text box.
5. Note that if you have selected the Resize shape to fit text option as explained in our Text Box Autofit Options in PowerPoint 2011 tutorial, you may not be able to resize the text boxes as you wish. It is possible only when you have selected the Do not Autofit option. So, first select the Do not Autofit option and then you will be able to resize the text box using these eight square handles as explained below:
• Drag any of the handles inwards, and you reduce the size of the text box.
• Drag any of the handles outwards, and you increase the size of the text box.
• To maintain the width:height proportion of the text box, hold the Shift key while you drag one of the four corner handles. The Shift key held while dragging does nothing to the four side line handles.
• To resize equally on opposite sides of a text box, press the Option (Alt) key while you drag one of the four side line handles.
• To resize equally from the center on all four sides of a text box, press the Option (Alt) key while you drag one of the four corner handles.
3. Drag any of these eight handles as required. In Figure 3 you can see that the selected text box is being resized by dragging the top-left corner handle.
4. 
   Figure 3: Text box being resized
5. Figure 4 shows the selected text box after getting resized. Compare Figures 2 and 4.
6. 
   Figure 4: Text box resized
7. Note: Is resizing your text box changing its position on the slide? You need to change the Autofit Options for the particular Text Box or Placeholder you are resizing.
4. Make sure to save your presentation often.