How to Combine PowerPoint Presentations With Different Templates

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to combine two or more presentations with different theme templates. PowerPoint includes a Keep Source Formatting option that retains the template format for each slide. For example, a presentation with the Ion template showcasing your current products can include some slides with the Organic template promoting your future products to help your clients view the contrast between your timely products.

how to combine two powerpoint presentations with different backgrounds

  • Open your PowerPoint presentation in Normal view. If the left slide pane and command ribbon do not display, click the "Normal" button on the status bar.
  • Click the "Home" tab on the ribbon, click the "New Slide" down arrow in the Slides group to open a list and then click "Reuse Slides" to open the Reuse Slides pane.
  • Click the "Browse" button in the Reuse Slides pane and then click "Browse File" to bring up a list of your files in a dialog box. Click the PowerPoint file that contains the different template and then click "Open" in the dialog box to display the slides in the Reuse Slides pane.
  • Select the "Keep Source Formatting" check box at the bottom of the Reuse Slides pane.
  • Click the slide in the left pane where you want to insert the slide from the Reuse Slides pane. For example, click slide "3" if you want to insert a slide after this slide. A color border surrounds the selected slide.
  • Click the preferred slide in the Reuse Slides pane to copy to the left pane and presentation. Continue scrolling and selecting slides from the left pane and inserting slides from the right pane to expand your first PowerPoint presentation with the combined slides.

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  • Open the larger PowerPoint presentation to insert slides quickly from the smaller presentation.
  • Edit the slide presentations separately before you combine them.

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How to combine powerpoint presentations.

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Combining powerpoint files using the reuse slides option, copying and pasting powerpoint slides.

It's difficult for two or more people to work on a PowerPoint presentation simultaneously, as Office doesn't have the same collaboration features offered by Google Slides . One way around this problem is to combine PowerPoint presentations into a single file.

Merging two PowerPoints can be done by either importing the slides using the "Reuse Slides" option or by using the copy-and-paste method instead. These instructions are designed to work for the latest versions of Office , including Office 2016 and 2019, as well as Office 365 and Online. You may find the instructions vary for older versions of PowerPoint.

Related: What's the Latest Version of Microsoft Office?

The "best" method for merging PowerPoint files, or at least the method that PowerPoint officially supports, is to use the "Reuse Slides" option. This feature merges the content of one presentation file into another, matching the theme of the new presentation file in the process.

To do this, open your PowerPoint presentation file---this is the file you're looking to merge into. In the "Home" tab on the ribbon bar, select the "New Slide" button and then click the "Reuse Slides" option at the bottom of the drop-down menu that appears.

A menu will appear on the right. Click the "Browse" button to locate the PowerPoint presentation file that you want to merge into your open file.

Locate your second PowerPoint file and then click the "Open" button to insert it.

A list of slides from your second presentation will appear in the "Reuse Slides" menu on the right.

First, you'll need to decide on the formatting for your inserted slides. If you want to keep the format (including the theme) from the original presentation, make sure that the "Keep Source Formatting" checkbox is enabled at the bottom of the "Reuse Slides" menu. If you don't check this, your inserted slides will have the style of the open presentation applied to them.

To insert individual slides, right-click a slide and then select the "Insert Slide" option. Otherwise, click the "Insert All Slides" to copy all of the slides into your open PowerPoint presentation.

Your slide (or slides) will then be inserted into the open presentation, immediately underneath the currently selected slide. With your PowerPoint files combined, you can then save your merged file by clicking File > Save or Save As.

While the "Reuse Slides" method allows you to change the format of your slides before you insert them, you can also combine PowerPoint files by copying the slides from one open PowerPoint file and inserting them into another.

To do this, open a PowerPoint presentation and select the slides you want to copy from the slide selection menu on the left. From there, right-click on the selected slides and then press "Copy" to copy them to your clipboard.

Switch to the PowerPoint presentation you're looking to paste your slides into and then, in the slide selection menu on the left, right-click at the position you want to stick your slides.

To paste the slides and apply the theme of the open presentation file to them, click the "Use Destination Theme" paste option.

To keep the original theme and formatting, select the "Keep Source Formatting" paste option instead.

The slides you paste will then appear in your new presentation at the position you selected. You can then save the merged file by clicking File > Save or Save As.

  • Microsoft Office

How to merge two PowerPoint Presentations

Merging PowerPoint presentations helps you combine slides effortlessly, saving time while maintaining formatting consistency

How to Merge Two PowerPoint Presentations: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: open your primary powerpoint presentation.

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Step 2: Go to the "Insert" Tab and Choose "Reuse Slides"

notion image

Step 3: Select the Presentation to Merge

notion image

Step 4: Save Your Merged Presentation

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How to Combine Multiple PowerPoints into One

How to Combine Multiple PowerPoints into One | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

PowerPoint is one of the most widespread and widely used Microsoft tools in the world, allowing you to make high quality presentations in a simple, fast and super visual way. Maybe that's why presentations have triumphed in the world of business and education! 

Whether you're a professional or a student, you surely must have had to make more than one presentation throughout your career. That's a piece of cake when you have Slidesgo and its templates! In this post we want to lend you a hand and help you become a true master of this program: today you will learn how to combine different PowerPoint presentations .

How to merge PowerPoint presentations

If you want to join two or more different presentations in the same file, you want to add some extra slides or you need to merge the collaborative work of different teams, all you have to do is follow these steps: 

  • Open the first presentation. For this example we are going to use the template Minimalist Grayscale Pitch Deck .
  • Go to the Start menu > New Slide. Click on the drop-down, not on the button. A menu will open with different options, select "Reuse slides".
  • A menu will open on the right with recommended presentations. To add yours, click on Browse. We are going to add slides from the presentation Investment Business Plan .
  • Go to the place in the presentation where you want the new content to appear.
  • Choose which slides you want to add and add them one by one by clicking Insert Slide. You can also add the whole presentation by clicking on Insert All.

Pro tip : We recommend that you keep the "Use source formatting" checkbox checked. This feature makes the presentation you are adding keep its original style instead of adapting to the layout of the new one. 

Simple, isn't it? There is also another method, just as quick and easy, using the ancient technique known as "copy and paste". It consists of the following:

  • Open the presentation where you want the new slides to appear.
  • Open the other presentation and choose the slides you want to add. You can select more than one by pressing Control and clicking on them or you can select all of them by pressing Control + E. For this example we are going to add three slides from the Business Plan with Elegant Backgrounds template.
  • Right click and press copy or press Control + C.
  • Now go to the first presentation, choose the location and right click > Paste or press Control + V. Remember to select "Keep source formatting", this will keep the slides from losing their layout.

Now that you know how to put together your favorite presentations and slides, take a look at our website and download the ones that best suit your needs. You can choose resources from different designs and put them together to create the perfect presentation. 

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COMMENTS

  1. How to Combine PowerPoint Presentations With Different Templates

    Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to combine two or more presentations with different theme templates. PowerPoint includes a Keep Source Formatting option that retains the template format...

  2. How to Combine PowerPoint Presentations

    Merging two PowerPoints can be done by either importing the slides using the "Reuse Slides" option or by using the copy-and-paste method instead. These instructions are …

  3. How to Merge Two PowerPoint Presentations into One …

    There are two ways to merge presentations while keeping separate backgrounds when you use the Reuse Slides features, but you must first access the Reuse Slides pane. Open the presentation into which you want to insert slides from …

  4. How to merge two PowerPoint Presentations

    Merging two PowerPoint presentations is a simple yet powerful feature that allows you to combine multiple slide decks efficiently. With just a few clicks, you can insert, organize, …

  5. How to Combine Multiple PowerPoints into One

    How to merge PowerPoint presentations. If you want to join two or more different presentations in the same file, you want to add some extra slides or you need to merge the collaborative work of different teams, all you have to do is …

  6. How to Merge Two PowerPoint Presentations Together and …

    In PowerPoint, you pull together individual presentations using the Reuse Slides feature and maintain original formatting for each presentation. You can also use the Merge feature to …

  7. Merge PowerPoint Presentations

    In this video I demonstrate how to combine or merge two PowerPoint presentations, (the same method can be used to combine any number of slide decks). When ...