PowerPoint is Microsoft’s slide show presentation program. It comes bundled with Word, Excel, and other office productivity programs. The program uses slides to convey information using text, graphics, animation, transitions and other features. The term slide refers to the old slide projector, which PowerPoint effectively replaces.

Create a Presentation

1. Open PowerPoint, click the File menu > New.
2. You can choose to create a blank presentation or choose a template from the menu.
3. Click the File menu > Save As, name your file and save it in the desired location.

Inserting a New Slide

To insert a new slide, click the Home tab on the Office Ribbon and choose New Slide. You can choose to inset a blank slide or select from one of the themed slides. You can also right click a slide in the left menu and select New Slide from the right click menu.

Generally, a presentation will contain a title slide, an agenda or table of contents slide, the main content slides and a summary or conclusion slide. If applicable add a reference or works cited slide.

Inserting Duplicate Slides

If you have already inserted slides into your presentation, you can insert duplicate slides easily, from the left menu right click the slide you want to duplicate and choose Duplicate from the right click menu or click New Slide on the Office Ribbon and select Duplicate Selected Slides.

Deleting Slides

To remove a slide, right click the slide in the left menu and choose Delete Slide. Or select the slide and press the delete key on your keyboard.

Add Images to Slides

Select the slide you would like to add the image to, depending on the slide layout you may have the option on the slide to insert an image, or click the Insert menu on the Office Ribbon and choose Picture. You can select a stock image or an image from your computer or online. You can also copy and paste an image from your computer or online.

Add Animations

Animations allow you to time your presentation with clicks.

1. Click the Animations tab on the Office Ribbon.
2. Select the part of your slide you want to animate (image, bullet point, text, etc.)
3. On the toolbar select the animation style.
4. On the Timing area of the Office Ribbon, you can choose the timing you want to apply to each animation. Once an animation has been added, a number will appear next to it. This indicates its order or the number of clicks it will take for that element to appear on the slide.

Adding Transitions

Slide transitions are animation effects that happen between slides. You can control the speed of each slide transition and add sound.

1. Click the Transitions tab.
2. Select the transition style and the timing.
3. Click Apply to All to apply the transitions to the entire presentation.

Save As You Go

As you are working on your presentation save it along the way to update the changes you are making. When finished save the final copy. Then run through your presentation to ensure it is setup properly.

When you purchase a new Windows computer, it comes with Microsoft OneDrive installed. Microsoft offers 5 GB of free cloud storage per user, the storage includes OneDrive files & photos, and Outlook.com pictures & attachments, you also get 15 GB of free Outlook.com email storage which is separate from your Microsoft cloud storage. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription you can purchase additional storage.

Here are some tips for working with OneDrive.

How to Enable Local File Storage

By default, OneDrive wants to store your files in the cloud. This allows you to access your files from any device and acts as a backup location, but you can also save copies of your files to your computer’s hard drive. Having a local copy of your files ensures that you always have access to them even if you don’t have an internet connection.
To ensure that all of your files are stored locally, open File Explorer and right-click the OneDrive folder in the left sidebar and select “Always keep on this device.” This option creates a local copy of your OneDrive files, when OneDrive syncs, your files will reside locally and in OneDrive.

To Specify Which Folders OneDrive Syncs

You can choose which folders on your computer sync with OneDrive.

1. Click the OneDrive icon in the taskbar notification area.
2. Select Help & Settings > Settings.
3. Select the Account tab.
4. Select Choose folders.
5. In the Choose folders dialog box, check any folders you want to sync. (unchecked folders will not sync) then click OK.

Understanding Sync Status

When you sync files and folders the sync status is denoted with small icons next to the files and folders.

A cloud: A blue cloud icon indicates the file is only available online and is not saved locally.

A green checkmark on a white circle: This file or folder is in the cloud and also saved on your local hard drive. With Storage Sense turned on, the files downloaded to your device will become online-only files after the time period you’ve chosen.

A white checkmark on a green circle: This file or folder has been designated as Always keep on this device, Windows will not automatically revert it to cloud-only if you haven’t used it after a period of time.

Animated arrows: When a file or folder is in the process of syncing to the cloud, the icon by its name will have two arrows animating in a circular motion.

To view recent activity, click the OneDrive icon in the system tray.

Using Folder Backup

If you enable folder backup the folders you choose will be moved to OneDrive, for example the documents folder would be moved from C:\Users\Name\Documents to C:\Users\Name\OneDrive\Documents. Once enabled any changes you make to the backup folder will be automatically synchronized to OneDrive.

If you prefer more control, you can disable backup, your default folders will remain in their original location, and you can sync files and folders by putting them in your OneDrive folder. This will also use less OneDrive storage space, as you won’t be syncing every file in your Documents and other folders.

Choose Where to Save Office Documents

By default, OneDrive wants to save the Office documents you create in the cloud, but you can turn that feature off to ensure that all of your documents are saved locally.

1. Open any Office app, Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
2. Click the File menu and then select Options.
3. Click the Save tab and select “Save to Computer by default,”
4. Then choose the “Default local file location” and click OK.

Note The Office “AutoSave” feature only works when saving files to OneDrive or SharePoint. When you choose the local storage option that option is disabled, however you can still use the Auto Recover feature, it will automatically save backup copies of your documents so you can recover them if needed. To ensure it’s activated, click the File menu > Options > Save and make sure the “Save AutoRecover information” option is checked and choose a frequency as to how often it saves.

Scan and Share Documents

OneDrive makes it easy to scan documents using your phone. The scan will be saved to your OneDrive account, you can scan anything, including legal documents, business cards, ID cards, Insurance cards, photos and anything else you want to save.

1. Open the OneDrive app on your phone.
2. Tap the Camera Icon.
3. Swipe right to select either Whiteboard, Document, Business Card, or Photo depending on the type of document you are scanning.
4. Tap the circle icon to start the scan. Once scanned, options will appear to crop, rotate, add text, or highlight sections.
5. View the document and click confirm to accept the scan or click cancel to rescan. Add more pages by tapping the Add button. Once you have added all of your pages, tap Done.
6. Enter a file name, then tap Save. The file will be saved to OneDrive, from there you can share the document with others.

Uninstalling OneDrive

If you don’t want to use OneDrive you can uninstall it. If you have been using OneDrive Backup be sure that you have saved all of your files locally before uninstalling,

Even if you don’t use the OneDrive app you can still use it online to save and share files.

1. Click Start > Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.
2. Find Microsoft OneDrive in the list.
3. Click the More Options Menu and click Uninstall.

Or

1. Type Control Panel in the search box.
2. Select Control Panel in the search results menu.
3. Click Programs > Programs & Features.
4. Select Microsoft OneDrive and click Uninstall.

Windows 11’s File Explorer tabs are similar to the tabs in your browser. You can open tabs in the same window and move between different folders.

Tabs make it easy to quickly jump between folders and copy and move files from one location to another.

Open and Close Tabs

Open File Explorer by clicking Start > All Programs > File Explorer, or type File Explorer in the search box.

Tabs will be displayed at the top of the File Explorer window. To open a new tab click the “+” next to the tab that is already open. The new tab will open to the right of all existing tabs. You can also right click any folder and choose “Open in New Tab.”

To close a tab, click the (X) in the corner of the tab to close the active tab.

To close all open tabs at the same time, just close File Explorer. You can also right click a tab and choose “Close other tabs” or “Close tabs to the right.”

Rearrange Tabs

To rearrange open tabs simply grab a tab with your mouse and drag it to the desired location. If you want to open a tab in a new, separate window, grab the tab and drag and drop the tab away from the File Explorer window.

Move or Copy Files & Folders Between Tabs

To move files and folders to another tab, select the file or folder and then click and drag it to the other tab. File Explorer will switch to that tab, and you can drop the file or folder into the new location. If you want to create a copy in the second tab location instead of moving, press the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping. You can also copy or cut and paste between folders using the right mouse click or the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+X to cut and Ctrl+V to paste.

Combine Windows

If you have two File Explorer windows open and you would like to combine them, drag the tab in one window to the other window’s tab bar.

Duplicate Tabs

To duplicate a tab, right click the tab and select “Duplicate.”

Jump Between Tabs

You can jump between tabs by clicking the tab or by using keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+Tab takes you to the next tab to the right, Ctrl+Shift+Tab takes you back to the previous tab to the left and Ctrl+ (Tab number) takes you to a specific tab. For instance, if you want to jump to the third tab, press Ctrl+3. Use the number keys along the top, and not the number keypad on the right.

Going paperless in your home offers several benefits, consider how much time you spend going through your mail, printing, copying, searching for documents, and sending documents to others.

If you are dependent on paper documents, you can end up spending valuable time managing and searching for those items. Cutting down on your reliance to paper can make you more efficient and reduce the paper clutter in your home. There will always be paper documents you need to retain, but you can decrease the amount you keep and receive.

How to Get Started

Start by making three document piles, “keep, digitalize, and trash”. Put all the documents you currently have that you must keep in the keep pile. Things like birth certificates, the deed to your home, marriage license, Social Security card, and other items that you must retain. Scan these documents to your computer and organize them appropriately into folders on the computer so that you have not only the paper copy but a digital copy as well. Then put the originals in a safe location. Having a digital copy of the documents you are keeping acts as a backup and also allows you easy access to those files.

The digitalized pile should contain documents that once scanned can be shredded and thrown away. This can include receipts, bank statements, utility bills and other documents that you don’t need once they have been digitalized. Once they have been scanned to your computer put the paper copies in the trash pile and then shred all the documents in the trash pile and throw them away.

Once you have taken care of the documents you currently have take steps to reduce the amount of mail you receive. You can do this by signing up for online bill pay and statements so that those types of documents are not mailed to you and instead you receive a digital copy. Almost every business has paperless options, and you can easily log into your accounts online to download any documents you need.

Benefits of Going Paperless

Improved Organization & Accessibility

When all your documents are digitalized and organized on your computer you will know just where to go to find what you are looking for. You can easily search for and find the documents you need and if you store copies of your documents in the cloud you can access them from anywhere, at home and away.

Share with Others

Having a digital copy of your documents allows you to easily share them with others when necessary.

Backups and Disaster Recovery

Once you have everything digitalized if there is a natural disaster, theft, fire, or other event that causes you to lose paper copies you will always have a digital copy to replace it. Once your documents have been digitalized you want to have a backup and recovery plan in place so that your computer is backed up on a regular basis.

4 Ways to Backup Your Data

Essentials of Your Data Backup Plan

Enhanced Security

Paper documents are susceptible to loss, manipulation, damage, and theft. A paperless system protects you from losing years of valuable information.

Reduced Paper Clutter and Trash

Landfills are overflowing with trash and anything that we don’t throw away reduces waste. Less paper means fewer trees are harvested and it cuts down on energy and pollutants that occur during paper production and distribution.