Select individual slide components that are stacked

PowerPoint includes a Selection and Visibility task pane that keeps track of all components (shapes, objects, and placeholders) that might reside on a slide. Sometimes when slide components are stacked on top of each other, it is difficult to select each one.

1. To open the Selection and Visibility pane, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Select, and then click Selection Pane.

2. In the Selection and Visibility pane, under Shapes on this Slide, click the object or placeholder that you want to select.

   
   In the Selection and Visibility pane, Rectangle 4 is selected, and therefore the rectangle shape in the PowerPoint window is selected also.