PowerPoint Designer improves slides for Microsoft 365 subscribers by automatically generating design ideas to choose from.
While you're putting content on a slide, Designer works in the background to match that content to professionally designed layouts.
Tip: Check out these YouTube videos from Microsoft Creators for more help with slide design!
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| This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature. If you don't see the Design Ideas |
Get design ideas
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Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas
on the ribbon. -
The first time you try out PowerPoint Designer, it may ask your permission to get design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on.
To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Once you've turned on "connected experiences," PowerPoint automatically shows you design ideas when you're creating your slides. Over time PowerPoint learns from your experience using design ideas and shows you design ideas at the appropriate time.
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Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
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Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Press Ctrl+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.
What Designer gives you:
A title-slide photo and a design scheme
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This feature is available to When you start a blank presentation and enter words on the slide, Design Ideas recommends high-quality photos that reflect the slide text, plus a design scheme with colors that complement the photograph you choose. All the slides in the presentation will fit together visually.
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
More visuals, less text
Too much text on your slide? Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable graphic.
Bulleted lists get suggestions for an icon to accompany each bullet item. If you don't like a suggested icon, just select it and use our on-the-spot replacement button:
Illustrations
PowerPoint Designer watches for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for, and it shows you those illustrations in various layouts. The Illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.
Design Ideas and "ink"
(Only for Microsoft 365 subscribers) PowerPoint Designer recognizes when you draw or write with ink, and it incorporates that content into the design ideas it shows you.
Turn off PowerPoint Designer
If you don't want PowerPoint Designer to automatically offer suggestions:
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On the File menu, click Options.
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In the PowerPoint Options dialog box, click the General tab on the left, then scroll toward the bottom and clear the Automatically show me design ideas check box.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on Windows
 | This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature. |
| Design ideas for one photo | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Multiple photos, color extraction, and facial recognition | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Convert lists to SmartArt graphics | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas for action-oriented lists | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas where icons substitute for text | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas for charts | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas for time lines | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas for converting text to Icons + SmartArt graphics | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
| Design ideas for content drawn in ink | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 |
|
| This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature. If you don't see the Design Ideas |
Get design ideas
-
Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon.
-
The first time you try out PowerPoint Designer, it asks your permission to get design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on or Let's go.
To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Once you've turned on intelligent services, PowerPoint automatically shows you design ideas when you add photos to your slides.
-
Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
-
Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Press ⌘+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.
| | You can ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon. |
What Designer gives you:
A title-slide photo and a design scheme
| |
When you start a blank presentation and enter words on the slide, Design Ideas recommends high-quality photos that reflect the slide text, plus a design scheme with colors that complement the photograph you choose. All the slides in the presentation will fit together visually.
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
SmartArt graphics
Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.
Bulleted lists get suggestions for an icon to accompany each bullet item. If you don't like a suggested icon, just select it and use our on-the-spot replacement button:
Illustrations
PowerPoint Designer watches for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for, and it shows you those illustrations in various layouts. The Illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.
Turn off PowerPoint Designer
If you don't want PowerPoint Designer to offer suggestions:
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On the PowerPoint menu, select Preferences.
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Under Authoring and Proofing Tools, select General.
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In the General dialog box, under PowerPoint Designer, clear the Automatically show me design ideas check box.
The Design Ideas button is grayed out
If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it means:
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You aren't connected to the internet, or
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A slide isn't selected. (This can be the case when multiple slides are selected in the slide thumbnail pane in Normal view, or when the focus in the thumbnail pane is between two slides. It also is the case when the focus is in the Notes pane or you are in Slide Show view rather than Normal view.)
The Design Ideas button isn't there
PowerPoint Designer is a feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers. If you don't see the Design Ideas button, you're using PowerPoint 2016 for Mac rather than PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on the Mac
| | This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature. |
| Applies to: | PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac |
|
| This feature is available for files stored on OneDrive and SharePoint in Microsoft 365. If you don't see the Design Ideas |
Get design ideas
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Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon.
PowerPoint shows design ideas for your slide.
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Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
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Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Press Ctrl+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.
What Designer gives you:
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
SmartArt graphics
Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.
Bulleted lists get suggestions for an icon to accompany each bullet item. If you don't like a suggested icon, just select it and use our on-the-spot replacement button:
Illustrations
PowerPoint Designer watches for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for, and it shows you those illustrations in various layouts. The Illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.
The Design Ideas button is grayed out
If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it means that someone else is currently also editing the slide:
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If you're co-authoring a presentation with someone else and more than one person is actively editing a single slide at one time, Designer won't give design suggestions on that slide.
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However, as soon as there's only person editing the slide, Designer will begin offering design suggestions again once that person does an action (such as adding a photo) that Designer can respond to.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on PowerPoint for the web
| Applies to: | PowerPoint files stored in OneDrive, OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint in Microsoft 365. |
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| PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using an iPad, but not an iPhone. Read Requirements below for more details. |
Get design ideas
-
Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon.
-
The first time you try out PowerPoint Designer, it asks your permission to get design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on or Let's go.
To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Once you've turned on intelligent services, PowerPoint automatically shows you design ideas when you add photos to your slides.
-
Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
-
Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo
to back out of a design change you've just selected.
What Designer gives you:
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
SmartArt graphics
Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.
The Design Ideas button is grayed out
If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it means you aren't connected to the internet.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on iOS
| | PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using an iPad, but not an iPhone. |
| Applies to: | PowerPoint for iOS |
|
| PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using an Android tablet, but not a phone. Read Requirements below for more details. |
Get design ideas
-
Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon.
-
The first time you try out PowerPoint Designer, it asks your permission to get design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on or Let's go.
To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Once you've turned on intelligent services, PowerPoint automatically shows you design ideas when you add photos to your slides.
-
Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
-
Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo
to back out of a design change you've just selected.
What Designer gives you:
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
SmartArt graphics
Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.
The Design Ideas button is grayed out
If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it means you aren't connected to the internet.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on Android
| | PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using an Android tablet, but not a phone. |
| Applies to: | PowerPoint for Android |
|
| PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using a Windows tablet, but not a Windows phone. Read Requirements below for more details. |
Get design ideas
-
Ask for design ideas any time by choosing Design > Design Ideas on the ribbon.
-
The first time you try out PowerPoint Designer, it asks your permission to get design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on or Let's go.
To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Once you've turned on intelligent services, PowerPoint automatically shows you design ideas when you add photos to your slides.
-
Scroll through the suggestions in the Design Ideas pane on the right side of the window.
-
Click to select the design you want, or else close the window. If you select one of the ideas, your slide is changed accordingly.
You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo
to back out of a design change you've just selected.
What Designer gives you:
Professional layouts
PowerPoint Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.
SmartArt graphics
Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.
The Design Ideas button is grayed out
If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it means you aren't connected to the internet.
Requirements
Requirements for PowerPoint Designer on Windows Mobile
| | PowerPoint Designer is available when you're using a tablet, but not a phone. |
| Applies to: | PowerPoint Mobile |
Troubleshooting
- Which problem are you having?
- I don't see the Design Ideas button
- I clicked the Design Ideas button, but no suggestions are offered
- The Design Ideas button is grayed out
Design Ideas are only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers
On desktop versions of PowerPoint, only subscribers get design ideas. You can try or buy a subscription here.
On PowerPoint for the web, Design Ideas are available to everyone.
One Microsoft 365 subscription package doesn't include Design Ideas: Office 365 Germany Germany.
Turn on the Office connected experiences
To use PowerPoint Designer, make sure that Office "connected experiences" are turned on:
Go to File > Account, and under Account Privacy select Manage Settings.
See Enabling and disabling intelligent services for more information.
An administrator may have turned off PowerPoint Designer
PowerPoint Designer is a feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers, but some organizations turn off the feature. If you have an Microsoft 365 subscription but don't see the Design Ideas button, ask your IT department.
Reinstall Office to get subscriber features
If you've upgraded from Office to an Microsoft 365 subscription, you need to uninstall Office and then reinstall in order to get the subscriber features. See the instructions in these articles:
Restart the app to get PowerPoint Designer
Sometimes users find that the first time they start PowerPoint after installing Microsoft 365, the Design Ideas button isn't available. Restarting the app fixes this problem.
If there are no Design Ideas available for you, a few things might be the cause. First of all:
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Make sure you're connected to the Internet. PowerPoint Designer goes online to get its Design Ideas.
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Use a theme that comes with PowerPoint (not a custom theme or one that you've downloaded from elsewhere).
Following are other problems and how to solve them:
No design ideas for slides with pictures
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Make sure your slide has either the Title or Title + Content slide layout applied.
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Don't use any additional objects or shapes on the same slide as your photo.
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Use a maximum of four photos (.jpg, .png, .gif, or .bmp) per slide, and make sure they're larger than 200 x 200 pixels in size.
No design ideas for process-based slides
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Make sure your slide has the Title + Content slide layout applied.
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Don't use any additional photos, objects, or shapes on the same slide as your process text.
Because PowerPoint Designer is a relatively new service, it is still learning new tricks. If Designer can't generate high-quality options for you, it won't show any options at all. We're working hard to be able to generate great design ideas for more varieties of your content.
And of course, if you don't find Designer useful, you can turn it off by going to File > Options > General, and then clearing the box that says Automatically show me design ideas.
Someone else is editing
If you're co-authoring a presentation with someone else and more than one person is actively editing a single slide at one time, Designer won't give design suggestions on that slide.
However, as soon as there's only person editing the slide, Designer will begin offering design suggestions again once that person does an action (such as adding a photo) that Designer can respond to.
No design ideas for slides that have shapes or text boxes
PowerPoint Designer isn't able to suggest design ideas when a slide has a shape or text box drawn on it. You can have photos and you can have text in a placeholder.
See Also
Combining colors in PowerPoint: Mistakes to avoid
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