Change the background of slides

You can add a solid or gradient color, a pattern, or an image as the background of a slide or an entire presentation.

Format the slide background with color

1. On the ribbon, select the Design tab.
2. Select Background Styles, and then select Format Background.
3. Under Fill, select Solid fill, Gradient fill, or Pattern fill.
4. Select a color and other accompanying options, as applicable.
5. By default, the selections you make apply to the current slide. If you want them to apply to all slides in your file, at the bottom of the pane, select Apply to All.

Format the slide background with a photo

1. On the ribbon, select the Design tab.
2. Select Background Styles, and then select Format Background.
3. Under Fill, select Picture or texture fill.
4. Under Picture Source, select Insert.
5. Choose where you want to get the image from, then go to the image, select it, and select Insert.
6. Adjust other settings as needed, such as the transparency of the image.
7. By default, the selections you make apply to the current slide. If you want them to apply to all slides in your file, at the bottom of the pane, select Apply to All.

Apply a background to one or more slides

1. On the Design tab, select Background Styles, and then select Format Background.
2. Select among the Solid, Gradient, Picture or Texture, or Pattern fill options to create the background style that you want.
3. By default, the selections you make apply to the current slide. If you want them to apply to all slides in your file, at the bottom of the pane, select Apply to All.

Remove the backgrounds from all slides

1. On the Design tab, select Background Styles, and then select Format Background.
2. Select Reset Background to remove the background from the slide.
3. Select Apply to All.

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Add the same image or watermark to every slide

Animate the background of your slides in PowerPoint for Mac

In PowerPoint for the web, you can do basic background formatting of one or more slides with a solid color or a picture. To do more advanced formatting, such as adding a color gradient or making a picture transparent, use the desktop version of PowerPoint on Windows or macOS.

Format the slide background with color

You can fill the background with a solid color. PowerPoint for the web doesn't support gradient fills for slide backgrounds.

If you want gradient fills in PowerPoint for the web, please provide feedback. For more information, go to How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?

1. On the Design tab, select Background.
   

2. Select Solid Fill, and then pick a color from the gallery.

   

   (To reset the background to its previous state, select Home > Undo .)

3. If you want all slides to have this same background color, on the Design tab, select Background > Apply to All.
   

Format the slide background with a photo

When you insert a picture as a background, PowerPoint for the web resizes the image as best as it can to fill the entire area of the slide. For best results, choose a picture that has the same orientation as your slides.

1. On the Design tab, select Background.
   
2. Select Insert Picture, then under Picture Background, select either This Device (to select your own picture) or Stock Images (to select a picture from the Microsoft image library).
3. Navigate to the picture you want to use. Select it, then select Open or Insert. 
4. To make all slides have this same background picture, on the Design tab, select Background again, then select Apply to All.
   

PowerPoint for the web supports the following picture formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .wmf, .emf, .tif, and .tiff.

PowerPoint for the web doesn't have the ability to make a picture transparent. Use the desktop PowerPoint app if you want to make a background picture transparent.

PowerPoint for the web doesn't have the ability to remove a picture's background. Use the desktop PowerPoint app to remove a picture's background.

Remove a slide background

You can remove whatever slide background you currently have by resetting to a solid white background:

1. On the Design tab, select Background.

2. Select Solid Fill, then pick White, Background 1 at the upper corner of the color gallery.

   

Apply a comprehensive design theme to your presentation

PowerPoint for the web comes with themes—sets of professionally designed colors, layouts, and fonts. After you select a theme, all your slides adopt that look. For more information, go to Design a presentation with PowerPoint for the web.