PowerPoint Default template settings for all users

Question

We have a corporate template and the same need to be kept as default template for all PowerPoint users across the organizations. How can we perform the default template setting across the business users?

Answer 1

Dear Ameer Ali3,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. I am happy to help you.

If it's a corporate device, admin users can deploy it, you can refer to this thread.

How to add a custom PowerPoint template across corporate PC's so everyone can access it | Microsoft Learn

If it's a personal device, because the template for a presentation is personalized and saved locally, it is not possible to set a template for all users.

I look forward to your reply. Thanks for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Tin | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Here's how to set default templates or themes for Office programs. Please see the section titled Set a Default Template or Theme in PowerPoint. You can automate this for all users with a G.P.O. Your I.T. department should be able to set that up for you.

Answer 3

Hey John,

You might want to have a look at that link in different browsers. In Chrome (Win10), I get something like this:

There's more below/right, but the "Free Control Add-in .." bit is cropped as shown, is immovable, and fixed ... it stubbornly covers all the actual page content.

Answer 4

Hi Steve, Thanks for the heads-up, I'll do more checking on small monitors.

Answer 5

Hi John,

We copied the template to all the users across the organization using GPO, but we couldn't default the template across the users. How can we achieve that?

Even we tried the below setup and didn't work

Step 2: Distribute the Theme Using Group Policy

1. Open Group Policy Management:

o Open the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on a domain controller.

2. Create or Edit a Group Policy Object (GPO):

o Create a new GPO or edit an existing one that applies to the users who need

the theme.

3. Configure File Preferences:

o Navigate to User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings ->

Files.

o Right-click and choose New -> File.

o In the Source file(s) field, enter the path to the custom theme file on the

network.

o In the Destination file(s) field, enter a path on the local machine where

you want to store the theme file, such as

%AppData%\Microsoft\Templates\ThemeName.thmx.

o Set the action to Update to ensure the file is copied to the user's machine.

Step 3: Configure PowerPoint to Use the Default Theme

1. Set Registry Keys via Group Policy:

o In the same GPO, navigate to User Configuration -> Preferences ->

Windows Settings -> Registry.

o Right-click and choose New -> Registry Item.

o Configure the following registry settings to set the default theme in

PowerPoint:

▪ Key Path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\G

eneral

▪ Value Name: SharedThemeFile

▪ Value Type: REG_SZ

▪ Value Data: Path to the custom theme file on the local machine, e.g.,

%AppData%\Microsoft\Templates\ThemeName.thmx.

2. Deploy the GPO:

o Link the GPO to the appropriate Organizational Unit (OU) that contains the

users who need the default theme.

o Ensure the GPO is properly applied by running gpupdate /force on a test

machine.