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How do you add an editable text field to a master slide?

Anonymous
2019-11-26T16:36:19+00:00

Hey there,

I have been struggling with this for the past hour.

I cannot seem to find how to add a text box with a default text to master slide that can be edited once it's in the slides.

From what I see, it's either a text placeholder that will only give a format, or a text box that will stay in the background without being able to be edited.

How do you get around this?

Thanks alot!

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-11-27T09:52:10+00:00

    Thanks for your answer!

    This seems like a very limited solution, I'm quite bummed. You would think that Microsoft would have implemented such a feature in 2019 - Last questions that I saw on this topic are dating from 2009.

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. John Korchok 231.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-11-26T17:22:02+00:00

    If you aren't using the footer and/or date fields, you can repurpose them to do this. 

    1. Choose View>Slide Master and select the master (the larger slide at the very top of the left-hand thumbnails) to show this on all slides, or choose a layout (one of the smaller thumbnails below the master( if you only need this on slides based on a certain layout.
    2. Choose Insert>Header & Footer. If you're using the Date and time field, check Fixed.
    3. Type the default text you want to appear in the Footer or Date and time fields.
    4. Click on Apply to All.
    5. Choose Slide Master>Close Master View.
    6. If the text doesn't display on all slides, click on Home>Reset on those slides to update the display.

    The Footer or Date text is editable on the slides.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2019-11-26T16:52:52+00:00

    Assuming you mean text that will show in show mode or print AND be editable then there is no way to put this on the master or custom layout.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  4. John Korchok 231.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-11-27T15:45:56+00:00

    For feature requests, please take a look at the PowerPoint User Voice forum. That's where Microsoft checks for user feedback. I don't see any requests like yours, so you might want to create a suggestion.

    7 people found this answer helpful.
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