How to compress a PowerPoint (PPT).

A woman sitting at a table compresses PowerPoint files on her laptop.

Compressing your PowerPoint files can make it easier to save, send and share your presentations. Learn how to compress PowerPoint files on macOS and Windows.

Whether you create Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT) files for work or for university, knowing how to compress a PowerPoint presentation can be very beneficial. Not only can it help you save space on your laptop, PC, phone or tablet, but it can also make sharing your files that little bit easier.

Not sure where to start? This guide will take you through all the steps needed to compress your PowerPoint files.

In this guide:

What does it mean to compress a PowerPoint?
Why should you compress a PowerPoint file?
How to compress and reduce PowerPoint file size.
How to compress PowerPoint files on macOS
How to compress PowerPoint files on Windows
Tips on how to compress a PowerPoint presentation.
More resources to work with your PowerPoint files.

What does it mean to compress a PowerPoint?

When you compress a PowerPoint, you are simply reducing the PPT file in size, without impacting its original quality.

It’s not only PowerPoints that can be compressed. Many other file types, such as images and PDFs can also be compressed. So, if you don’t want to compress the whole PowerPoint, you can choose to compress just the media files within the PowerPoint presentation instead. This method can also reduce the overall size.

Why should you compress a PowerPoint file?

PowerPoints are a useful tool for summarising and sharing lots of information. You can use the slides to showcase insightful content, graphics, images and videos. But these useful assets can add up quickly and ultimately lead to a large PPT file, which can be difficult to send or upload.

This is where compressing a PowerPoint can help, as it makes your file:

Easier to send over email. Many email providers have a size limit on the files you send. If you want to share a PowerPoint over email, it could fail due to being over the size limit. Compress the PPT before attaching it to your email to ensure it can reach the recipient and be accessed by a collaborator you choose.
Quicker to upload. If you’re uploading the file to any shared drives, websites, or a cloud-based service, you may have a long wait time depending on the size of the PowerPoint. By compressing the file, you can save time and get it stored where it needs to be quickly.
Takes up less computer storage. Storage on PC, laptops, phone and tablets vary – but they do have a limit. Compress a PowerPoint and make room for even more valuable documents and content.

How to compress and reduce PowerPoint file size.

There are several ways to compress a PowerPoint, including:

Amending the size of images, videos and other files within the PowerPoint
Reducing the quality of your assets when you save it
Changing the file type completely, such as from a PowerPoint to PDF file
Converting it to a ZIP.

Take a look at each method of reducing PowerPoint file size in further detail below.

Compress images within your PowerPoint.

You can easily adjust the size of images that sit in your PowerPoint. This simple trick can reduce your whole PowerPoint’s size. You can either go through each individual image and compress them on their own, or you can do them all at once.

Open the PowerPoint.
Go to File > Options > Advanced.
Find “Image Size and Quality” and amend your settings:
- Make sure “Discard editing data” is checked
- Make sure “Do not compress images in file” is unchecked
- From the Default resolution dropdown menu, choose 150 PPI or lower.
Select OK.

With these settings in place, images will now be compressed, which in turn will reduce the size of your PowerPoint file.

Compress audio and video files in a PowerPoint.

Video or audio files will take up a lot of space in a PowerPoint presentation. While getting rid of audio and video content altogether will make the file smaller, it’s not always an option.

Instead, you can follow these steps to reduce the your audio and video files:

Go to File > Info.
Click Compress Media.
Choose which compression option suits your needs (there will be a selection to pick from).
Once the file has finished compressing, click to close.

If the compression does not look right or you’re not happy with it, you can go back into these settings and adjust it until you find one you like.

Convert a PowerPoint file to a PDF.

If you want to keep the assets in your PowerPoint file the same size, you can compress the PPT by converting it to a PDF. You can do this easily with an online PDF application like Adobe Acrobat. Simply:

Head to the PPT to PDF converter
Upload your PowerPoint file.
Wait for the file to convert, then download your new PDF.
If the file size still isn’t small enough, you can use the PDF Compressor to shrink it even more.
Send and share with the relevant people.

Turn your PowerPoint file into a ZIP file.

Instead of compressing content within your PowerPoint (like the images and videos), you can convert your PowerPoint into a ZIP file to compress the entire presentation size. To do this:

Open the folder where your PowerPoint is saved.
Right-click the PowerPoint you want to compress.
Hover over “compress to…”
Click ZIP file.

How to compress PowerPoint files on macOS.

If you’re using PowerPoint on a Mac, you will only be able to reduce the size of the images within your file rather than any audio or video files. You can do this by following the steps below:

Open PowerPoint.
Go to File > Compress Pictures (If you only want a certain number of images compressed, select them before you click File).
A Compression Table will appear with the different options. These are:
- Printing — highest quality.
- Viewing on Screen — 30% reduction in quality.
- Sending in an email message — quality is reduced by another 30%.
You can also select to delete portions of the photos that have been cropped. This can also reduce the file size.
Click OK to complete.

How to compress PowerPoint files on Windows.

Using a Windows computer? The steps will differ slightly. Instead, you’ll need to:

Go to File > Compress Media (make sure Info is selected in the left sidebar before clicking Compress Media).
You’ll have the choice of:
- Highest quality option
- The middle option (suited for the internet).
- Lowest quality option (can be easily shared over email).

Tips on how to compress a PowerPoint presentation.

Ready to start the process? Here are some final tips and tricks to factor in before you compress a PowerPoint file with Adobe.

Consider the quality of your images with each compression. When you compress a PowerPoint you reduce the quality of your images, video and audio. You should check the quality before saving a final copy.
Replace animations and 3D effects. Animations can be a fun way to get people engaged in your PowerPoint, but they do increase the file size. Instead, opt for static components where possible, so you don’t need to compress the PowerPoint too much.
Make sure images are saved as JPEGs. PNG format contains more data than a JPEG. Because of this, you may want to convert your PNG files into JPEGs before adding to your PowerPoint file.
Delete any unnecessary visuals. If you don’t need certain elements in the PowerPoint, consider deleting them. For example, if you had music on a certain slide, could this be deleted and played externally into the room from a different laptop or mobile device?
Consider showing videos on a different platform. You also have the option to click out of the PowerPoint to showcase any videos. This could be a good idea if the video is longer, or the quality was reduced too much when compressed. You could always include a link in the PowerPoint to YouTube (if the video is on the site).