Intermittent Beep while using PowerPoint

Question

Intermittent Beep while using PowerPoint

I noticed that PowerPoint (365 version) intermittently plays the Windows Default Beep. It doesn't seem to matter what PowerPoint I have open or if I open a new blank slide.

I have also disabled all Com Add-ins. Any other ideas? It's kind of annoying.

I have already tried uninstalling and re-installing Office. I have the latest updates on my system and office as well.

I know I can disable the Default Beep sound in Windows Sounds for the whole system, but I don't think I should need to do that because of PPT.

Answer 1

I have further information to add. Using the F15 key with Caffeine.exe, and powerpoint. The dings STOP when you turn OFF "accessibility". Even with F15 turned on in Caffeine.

Answer 2

I found the answer. Hooray!

I was running the Caffeine background App which intermittently does a key press of a rarely used key (The F15 'key up' event) on the keyboard to stop the display turning off and stops you needing to login again after a timeout. This key is fine for most applications but PowerPoint doesn't like the key and gives an error beep to express its dissatisfaction.

The solution is to invoke Caffeine with the command option

caffeine64.exe -stes

Can I request that Powerpoint ignore function keys that it doesn't understand please?

In searching for a solution I found that this question comes up time and again on various forums including this one and this is the first time anyone has described the solution. All of thise questions are now closed. Could someone at Microsoft reopen them and add this answer so that other people with this problem can find the correct solution?

If you can do this I will post the links to these questions.

Answer 3

Hi Michael,

According the article of this app's site, use F15 can cause the issue for PowerPoint as described. If you prefer using this tool, the best way to resolve this issue is to use another key instead of F15 key, for example, SHIFT (or other key). 

See Caffeine (zhornsoftware.co.uk)

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites, or any support related to technology. 

Also there are several solutions in Windows to prevent it from lock/sleep. Or you may consider installing this Windows tool PowerToys Awake utility for Windows | Microsoft Learn to help keep your PC awake indefinitely or in an interval.

Regards,

Ryan

Answer 4

Dear respected,

As per the description, it seems like the behavior persists after reinstallation. If so, may I collect the version of PowerPoint and Windows from your side so that we can further investigate and deploy the tests on our test environment?

Best Regards,

Mia