This is a classic 101 PowerPoint mistake.
Instead, just like any common element you want to have on ALL of your slides, you want to use your Slide Master to update and manage them, as explained below.
[Watch] How to add slide numbers to PowerPoint
ARTICLE GIVEAWAY: Click here to download a printable PDF of how to add slide numbers to keep by your desk.
Adding slide numbers in PowerPoint is one of those things that should be simple and easy (like it is in Microsoft Word)…but it’s not.
And just so we are on the same page, in this article you can use the term slide number and page number interchangeably. They are the same thing in this case.
While a lot of people can “properly” add them to the PowerPoint Slide Master, they still can’t get them to properly show up in the Normal View.
And if you work in the professional services industry, this is something you’ll want to get right! The last thing you want to do is torpedo the overall quality of your presentation simply because you can’t get your slides properly numbered.
So before you mark your presentation as final or convert your presentation into the PDF file format (details here), follow the steps below.
1. Navigate to your Slide Master
Regardless of which version of PowerPoint you are using, the first step to properly adding slide numbers in PowerPoint is to navigate to the Slide Master view.
This is where all your slide numbers, footers, date & time and other content placeholders are managed.
To navigate to the Slide Master view in PowerPoint, simply:
- Navigate to the View tab in your Ribbon
- Select Slide Master
If you frequently need to use your Slide Master, I recommend learning the below Slide Master jump shortcut. Click play to watch top shortcut #1 in the video below.
That way you can quickly jump back and forth between the Slide Master view and the Normal View to edit your template.
Note: To learn more of our favorite PowerPoint shortcuts that will save you time when building and editing your slides, read our shortcut guide here.
2. Navigate to your Parent Slide
In the Slide Master view, navigate to the Parent slide on the top left. This will be the first and largest the slide listed on the left side of your screen.
3. Open the Master Layout dialog box
To open the Master Layout dialog box in PowerPoint, simply:
- Navigate to the Slide Master tab in your Ribbon
- Click Master Layout to open the dialog box
Note: The Slide Master tab will only show up in your Ribbon in the Slide Master view. That means if you don’t see it, you need to first navigate to this view as described in step #1 above.
4. Select Slide number
In the Master Layout dialog box, make sure you have a check mark next to Slide number. You can additionally add the Title, Text, Date and/or Footer here if you like. With your After you make your selections, hit OK.
5. Place and format your slide number
With the slide number added to your Master Slide, you can now format and/or place it wherever you want. In this case I’ve placed mine in the upper right-hand corner of my slide.
Where you place it on your Parent Slide determines where the numbers show up (by default) on your slides.
Note: By default, your slide numbering shows up on all of your slides in the same position. If they don’t, re-select the footers icon on the individual layouts, and they should reappear.
Note: If you want your slide numbering to appear in a different location on your slides (or formatted differently), manually adjust or format them on the Child Slide layouts.
6. Return to the Normal View
With your slide number properly set and formatted, you can then close the Slide Master View.
To do that, simply select the Close Master View command in the Slide Master tab in your ribbon.
7. Open the slide number dialog box
Back in the Normal View of your PowerPoint presentation, you now need to insert the slide numbers.
From the Insert tab, select the Slide Number command to launch the Header and Footer dialog box.
To learn more PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts like this to save you time when building and editing your slides, read our guide here.
8. Apply your slide number
Within the Header and Footer dialog box, make sure there is a check mark next to Slide number.
- Apply, to apply the slide number to the individual slide you are working on.
- Apply to All, to apply slide numbers throughout your presentation. They will not display on any individual layouts that you have removed them on.
Note: In the lower left-hand corner of the Header and Footer dialog box, you have the option to Don’t show on title slide. Selecting this option and clicking apply removes the slide number, date and time, and footer from your title slide.
This is great when you have a cover page for your presentation that needs to be clean. Just be aware, that the title slide in PowerPoint is defined as the first slide in your Slide Master beneath your Parent Slide.
PowerPoint Tip: Removing All Your Slide Numbers
To do this, in the Header and Footer dialog box, simply un-check Slide Number and click Apply to All.
PowerPoint Slide Numbers Not Working? Try this…
Note: If you need help creating a PowerPoint template from scratch, so that everything isn’t messed up, you ran read our step-by-step guide here
1. Re-apply your Slide Number
- Navigate to the Insert tab
- Click the Header & Footer command
- Select Slide Number
- Click Apply to All
This is the simplest fix if they aren’t showing up in PowerPoint, but it won’t catch everything. But, this is where I would recommend starting out first though.
2. Look for Duplicate Layouts
- Navigate to the View tab
- Click the Slide Master command
- Find the layout that is missing the Slide Number placeholder
- Click Footer (so it has a check mark)
- Click Close Slide Master view
Once you are back in the Normal View, the slide number will NOT automatically show up on your slides. You will need to re-apply them again as described in Fix #1 above.
3. Update Your Child Slide Layouts
- Navigate to the View tab
- Click the Slide Master command
- Cycle through your Child Slide layouts (the small ones)
- Delete all the Footer placeholders on the layouts (all of them)
- Click the Footers icon to re-apply your slide number
- Click Close Master View
Once you have updated your layouts in the Slide Master view, you can then remove and apply the slide numbers in the Normal View (see details above for removing and applying slid numbers).
Resetting your slide layout
Within the Home tab in your Ribbon, simply select the Reset command and all of the objects that are set on your Slide Master will snap back into the correct position, and/or reappear.
- The objects themselves are not correctly positioned on your slide master. In this case, simply navigate back to your Slide Master view and fix them.
- You have duplicate slide layouts. In this case, you need to change the layout of your slide to the correct one by selecting it from the Layout drop down menu. Then, go back to your Slide Master View and make sure you delete the duplicate layout
Slide Numbers STILL not showing…
Adding A Slide Number Total
While there’s no automatic way to do this in PowerPoint, there is a simple manual method that you can use. Click play below to see how to do this, and find out what can go wrong.
ARTICLE GIVEAWAY: Click here to download a printable PDF of how to add slide numbers to keep by your desk.
