PowerPoint presenter view is a very helpful tool that allows users to have complete control over their slide show presentation. It’s functionality allows the presenter to do much more than just swap from slide to slide, and acts as a dashboard for the entire presentation.
Although this is a helpful tool, it has display requirements that require a multiple display with the extended option selected. If you don not use this already, it needs to be configured in the computers system settings.
In this post we will talk about what it is and what tools are useful for the presenter. We will also learn what needs to be done in your display settings, and different methods of connecting to a second display.
What is it and What Tools are Useful?
Presenter view is a tool in Microsoft’s PowerPoint program . It allows presenters to show the slide show in full screen on a second monitor, while having a presentation dashboard on their primary monitor.
On this dashboard you can access helpful tools such as:
- Current Slide Display – Shows the slide currently being presented.
- Next Slide Preview – Shows what the next slide will be.
- Speaker Notes Panel – Displays the speaker notes for the current slide.
- Timer/Clock – Keeps track of how long you’ve been presenting.
- Slide Navigation Thumbnails – Allows quick navigation to any slide.
- Black/White Screen Button – Temporarily blacks or whites out the presentation screen.
- Laser Pointer / Pen / Highlighter Tools – Lets you draw or point on slides in real time.
- Zoom Function – Allows you to zoom into a portion of a slide.
- Swap Displays Button – Switches the presentation and presenter view between screens.
- End Slide Show Button – Ends the presentation.
- Toggle Subtitles/Captions – Enables real-time captions and subtitle options.
- Custom Display Settings – Adjust monitor and resolution settings for optimal layout.
Utilizing these tools will surely make your presentation far more engaging and professional, but as mentioned before, may require some editing of the display settings.
Inputs and Display Setting Configuration
It is key to remember that you need at least two displays to use this function.
The easiest way to connect your monitor to a Smart TV or monitor is through a display cable, usually HDMI, or with the Windows 11 cast feature.
This feature can be found in the display settings.
To find your display settings, choose the Settings app, press on System, and then Display.
Once in the display section you must navigate to the multiple display options. This is located at the bottom of the page.
Once in this section the default option for multiple displays is duplicate. This mirrors your main screen to the external monitor.
The duplicate setting is not compatible with presenter view. In order for you to use presenter view, you must choose the “extend display” option. This is because it requires the two screens to be on their own independant displays.
You can also orient the screens to decide how the mouse cursor will move from one screen to the other, this is done by moving the squares numbered 1 and 2 at the top of the menu page, and then hitting apply.
For more in depth information about this process check out our blog post, How to Set Up Multiple Displays on Windows 10, about it.
Even though the post is using Windows 10 as an example, it is pretty much the same exact process on Windows 11, apart from a few options being moved around.
Using the tool
Once the monitors are correctly set up, navigate to the “Slideshow” tab within the presentation you have created.
Once in this section you will see the presentation view option on the left side of the ribbon.
Select which monitor corresponds to what view you want on which. It will give you one option for which monitor the presenter dashboard is on and the other will show the slide show.
Below is an example of the dashboard view on a computer, and the second screen that the computer is casting the presentation to.
Again this ONLY WORKS with the Extended Display option set in the Windows settings. If you do not see the second monitor option then you have not set them up correctly.
Refer back to the list provided above for all the different features the dashboard offers.
Check out the Microsoft support page for more information on presenter view.
If you have questions about how to use PowerPoint Presenter view on windows, or our other services, please call or email. We’re happy to assist you! Feel free to use our contact form to send us a message. Thank you!