Powerpoint: How to remove a locked graphic from a master slide.

Question

I'm building a powerpoint and using a master slide. I would like to remove a graphic - a solid line - but am unable to do so.

I've tried to upload an image, but of course that won't work. Here are the steps I tried, from a Jan. 18, 2021 comment:

If the graphic appears on all slides:

Choose View>Slide Master, then select the larger thumbnail at the top of the left-hand list.

If you can select the graphic, select it and delete it.

If the graphic is not selectable, right-click on the background and choose Format Background.

Select the Solid Color option, then set the color to your preferred color with the Color dropdown.

If the graphic appears on some, but not all slides, follow the steps above, but make the alterations to the slide layout(s) where the graphic exists.

If the graphic is not on the slide master or any layouts, follow the steps above on each slide.

I'm certain that this is a lost cause, but you should know the trouble that your limited, and limiting, software causes people.

Answer 1

I imagine that you may have gotten this file from someone else, or you created the locked shape yourself.

If it's from another source, the shape may have been locked in the Microsoft 365 version of PowerPoint. If you have Microsoft 365, open the Selection pane (Home>Select>Selection Pane), select the shape and click on the lock icon to unlock it.

If you have a retail version of PowerPoint (Office 2016, 2019, 2021), then you'll have to unlock it by editing the underlying XML of the file. Here's my how-to article: OOXML Hacking: Locking Graphics

This is not a problem with how PowerPoint is programmed, but rather how some people format PowerPoint presentations.

Answer 2

Rant understood and largely agreed with. Check.

Sometimes I wonder if MS will only be satisfied when ALL products, technologies and APIs are named "365".

Their naming conventions truly are ridiculous, to say nothing of confusion-inducing.

Answer 3

Thanks, John.

I now believe that the graphics were not locked. Some of them appeared to be locked, but weren't, and I was able to delete them. I'm not sure what was going on, but it might be that graphics were created on different slides within the set of slide masters (title and graphic, title and whatever, etc). The graphics could be seen on certain slide masters, but not removed from that slide. I went through all of the slide types and deleted what I wanted on each, and that seems to have worked. Application confusion? Microsoft? Not possible. :-) The OneNote debacle has left an indeleble mark on the Internet. It is now, and will be forever, very difficult to search for help with OneNote since there are/were two different applications with exactly the same name. And seemingly three ways to access the app formerly known as OneNote for Windows 10: desktop, Microsoft 365, onenote.com. I think there's another. Certain features are not available in all of them. For example, I don't believe it is possible to rename a notebook from the desktop app. Sorry for the rant, and thanks for replying. --Gary

Answer 4

Microsoft 365 is not the online version of the software. It's a subscription program that gives you access to Office programs for Windows, Mac and mobile devices. Microsoft has done a poor job of marketing, so many think 365 refers to the free Office programs for the web.

PowerPoint 365 for Windows and Mac (desktop software, not the web version) have the ability to lock and unlock graphics in the program.

If you're using a retail version (Office 2016, 2019, 2021), you have to edit the XML to lock or unlock shapes. Using PowerPoint for the web, it's not possible to lock or unlock shapes, you would have to download the file, edit the XML and upload the result.

Answer 5

There is no "Select" in the Home menu.

In fact, there's this: (from this page)

"If you’re used to creating the groundwork of your presentations in Slide Master View in the PowerPoint desktop application, you’ve probably noticed that PowerPoint for the web doesn’t have a slide master.

If you have the PowerPoint desktop application, you can open and create your presentation using the slide master there. Here’s how:"

Do I conclude that it is impossible to remove a locked graphic without hacking the XML file?