Explore default locations of built-in Office Themes on your computer. These are the Themes that have been installed as part of Microsoft Office versions.
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint
OS: Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X
Discover where Microsoft Office stores its built in Themes across Windows and macOS. This guide demystifies hidden system folders, version specific paths, and the logic behind how PowerPoint loads Themes.
Default Office Theme locations
Where Are Built-in Office Themes Located?
Microsoft PowerPoint includes a rich collection of built-in Office Themes, but locating the actual theme files on your computer can sometimes feel like navigating a maze. This guide explains where these files are stored on both Windows and macOS, and how different versions of Microsoft Office use different system folders for Themes.
You will learn why these locations are not always easy to find, how to access them, and where custom Themes are stored when you create your own. Whether you are troubleshooting, organizing assets, or simply exploring how Office works behind the scenes, this guide provides a clear and practical map to every built-in Office Theme location.
Have you noticed the Themes that Microsoft PowerPoint displays when you create a new presentation? These Themes appear in the Presentation Gallery as well as within the Themes drop-down galleries inside PowerPoint. But where are these Theme files actually stored? And how does PowerPoint determine which Themes are available to you?
These are common questions, especially since this information is not always easy to locate. Fortunately, this guide will help you understand where Themes are stored and how PowerPoint manages them behind the scenes.
If you also want to locate your custom Themes and templates, explore our Where Are Custom Office Themes and Templates Saved page.
BackDepending upon where you installed Microsoft Office, the built-in Themes may be located in almost maze-like hidden subfolders! By default, this translates to these folder locations:
Multiple locations may contain Themes installed with Microsoft Office on Windows:
<UserName> translates to your user name, as in the user name you use to log in to Windows, whereas LocaleID is the language code for your version of Microsoft Windows. You can find a list of Locale IDs here.
Macintosh HD:Applications:Microsoft Office 2011:Office:Media:Office Themes
Funnily enough, you cannot find any Themes anywhere within an Office 2019 or 2016 installation. Follow these steps to access the Themes:



Multiple locations may contain the Themes installed with the program:
<UserName> translates to your user name, as in the user name you use to log in to Windows, whereas LocaleID is the language code for your version of Microsoft Windows. You can find a list of Locale IDs here.
Macintosh HD:Applications:Microsoft Office:Office:Media:Templates:Office Themes
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Document Themes 14
Macintosh HD:Applications:Microsoft Office:Office:Media:Templates:Office Themes
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Document Themes 12
Note: These paths assume that you installed to your C drive (on Windows) or the Macintosh HD drive (on Mac OS X). If you installed it on another drive, you will substitute the drive in your path. Also, you may have changed the name of your Microsoft Office folder to Microsoft Office 2016 or a similar name for other versions of Microsoft Office. In that case, your paths may differ on account of different folder names.
Related Links: Where Are Custom Office Themes and Templates Saved? | Which Themes are Installed within Office Versions?
BackTheme Basics: Where are Office Themes and Templates Located? (Glossary Page)
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