Duplicate Slide Masters in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

Duplicating a Slide Master is different from adding a new Slide Master. And it's a time saving option because you don't have to make the same changes all over again. Let's explain this with a scenario. Imagine you have formatted your existing Slide Master by applying a Background Style, adding a logo, or even adding your own Picture placeholder layout. And now you want a new Slide Master that's almost the same as your existing one, but you want a different Theme Colors set to be used. For such a small change, it is advisable that you duplicate your existing Slide Master and then make any more changes instead of starting all over again with a new Slide Master.

Follow these steps to learn how you can duplicate your existing Slide Master in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac:

1. Launch PowerPoint and open your presentation. Next, select the View | Master | Slide Master menu option. This opens the Slide Master View, as shown in Figure 1. Here, within the pane on the left, you'll find the existing Slide Master with associated layouts and some formatting done (highlighted in red within Figure 1).
2. 
   Figure 1: Slide Master in a PowerPoint Presentation
2. To duplicate the Slide Master select it and choose the Edit | Duplicate menu option, as shown in Figure 2. You can also select your existing Slide Master, and press the ⌘ + D keyboard shortcut.
3. 
   Figure 2: Duplicate option within the Edit menu


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3. This will create a duplicate of your existing Slide Master, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3. Notice that this duplicated Slide Master is just like your existing Slide Master. If you had added new Slide Layouts to the original Slide Master, you will see those new Slide Layouts within the duplicated Slide Master as well.
4. 
   Figure 3: Duplicated Slide Master
Tip: PowerPoint will just prefix a number before the name of the duplicated Slide Master. Ideally, you should provide a sensible name to your new Slide Master. We explain how you can rename the Slide Master in our Add and Rename Slide Masters in PowerPoint 2011 tutorial.
4. Now, you can make the requisite changes to the duplicated Slide Master.
5. When done, click the Close Master button (highlighted in blue within Figure 3 above) within the Slide Area. This will get you back to Normal View.
6. Save your presentation often.