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How to add music to your powerpoint presentation.

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Adding music to your presentation.

There are many ways to improve your PowerPoint presentation---adding animations to objects, customizing slide transition styles, and using interesting themes to name a few. In addition to all that, you can also add music to your presentation.

PowerPoint makes it very simple to add music to your presentation. Adding music to your presentation may be a great idea, but there are also cases where it may be considered unprofessional. We’re not here to tell you when to do it, just how to do it, but make sure it’s appropriate for the situation.

Switch to the "Insert" tab and then click the “Audio” button.

A menu will appear, giving you the option to either upload music from your PC or record your own audio track.

If you’d like to record your own audio, select “Record Audio,” and the “Record Sound” window will appear. Go ahead and give your audio a name, then click the “Record” icon when you’re ready to start.

After the “Record” icon is selected, a timer will start which gives you the total length of the sound being recorded. Once you’re ready to stop recording, press the “Stop” icon. To listen to your recording, you can press the “Play” icon. If you’re happy with what you're recording, select “OK” to insert it into your presentation.

If you prefer to upload music from your PC instead, go back to the audio options menu and select “Audio on My PC.” This will open your PC’s directory. Locate the audio file you’d like to use, then select “Insert” at the bottom-right of the window. PowerPoint supports several popular formats, like MP3, MP4, WAV, and AAC.

Now you’ll see a speaker icon appear in your presentation. Here, you can play the audio, control the volume, and move the audio back or forward 0.25 seconds.

Additionally, the “Playback” tab appears in the ribbon. By default, the “Audio Style” is automatically set to “No Style.” This means that the audio will only play on the slide where you insert it, the icon will appear in the presentation, and the audio will only begin once you click that icon.

But you can change all that. You can use the options here to adjust the default playback volume, choose whether the music starts automatically or on a click, whether it plays across other slides, whether it loops until you stop it, and so on.

We’re going to change this by selecting “Play in Background” in the “Audio Styles” section.

There are a few other options available to you, as well. You can add (or remove) bookmarks for specific times in your audio clip, trim parts of the audio, and give your audio a fade in/out effect.

Use these tools to customize the perfect audio for your presentation.

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How to Add Music to PowerPoint

When editing PowerPoint templates or creating new presentations from scratch, you might want to insert a narration or add music to PowerPoint. There are two methods by which you can insert music into your PowerPoint slides and control how it is played.

Adding Music to PowerPoint using an Audio File

You can add music to PowerPoint by using an existing audio file via Insert > Audio > Audio on my PC .

Select the music file from your device to insert it into your PowerPoint presentation.

Once the audio file is added, you can drag and drop the audio icon to place it in your slide or keep it hidden via the Playback tab by checking the Hide During Show option. The Playback tab also lets you control whether to start the music by clicking or automatically. 

You can also play the music in a loop and across all slides instead of just one. Other options allow you to preview audio, trim the music file, add a fade duration at the beginning and/or end of the audio track, and adjust the volume.

Adding Music to PowerPoint by Recording Audio

You can also record audio to insert a song or music into PowerPoint. You can use this feature if you intend to add a background score by recording it using a mic. Such as recording Live playback music. To start recording your mic and computer audio, go to Insert > Media > Audio > Record Audio .

Click the Start button to begin recording music from your connected mic.

Once the recording is complete, click Stop to insert the audio into your PowerPoint presentation. Once the audio file is added, you can manage playback settings via the Playback tab to play the video across or a single slide, trim audio, add fade effect, play in a loop, hide in the slideshow, and adjust other options according to need.

While many PowerPoint users might ask the question as to how to add music to a PowerPoint presentation, the process is the same as adding or recording audio in general. The same process can also be used to add narration, be it from an existing file or by recording it.

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5 ways to add music to PowerPoint

Depending on the type of slideshow you’re creating in Microsoft PowerPoint , music might be the perfect addition to the show. You may want a fun upbeat song on a slide or a soft subtle melody throughout the presentation.

Upload a song from your computer

Download free music, record music while creating the slideshow, add an offscreen video, play the song or use as background music.

We’ll show you how to add music to PowerPoint a few different ways and then use a single song on a slide or play background music from start to finish.

What You Need

Microsoft PowerPoint

Probably the easiest way to add music to your slideshow is to upload a song from your computer. This can be a tune you’ve saved and listen to often or one from a playlist.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to add the music.

Step 2: Go to the Insert tab and choose the drop-down arrow for Audio on the right side of the ribbon.

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Step 3: Pick Audio on my PC , browse for the music file, and select Insert .

Step 4: You’ll then see an audio icon on your slide for the song.

Step 5: Use the Play button to listen and the Playback tab to adjust the playback options.

Maybe you have the type of song in mind you want, but don’t have a copy saved to your computer. There are a few online resources for obtaining royalty-free songs for presentations at no cost.

Fesliyan Studios Inc. : Choose a genre at the top such as commercial, happy, sad, or relaxing. Press the Play button to listen, then check out alternate versions where available. Choose Download to get the song.

Chosic : You’ll see a slew of songs for presentations from upbeat to soft. When you hear the song you want, select Download > Free Download .

SoundCloud : If you’re already a SoundCloud listener, this is a good option for presentation music. Type “free downloads” or similar into the search box and review the results. When you find the song you want, select More or the three dots to download the tune.

If you can find royalty-free music on YouTube as well, there are a number of ways to download MP3s from YouTube .

Once you download one of these songs, save it to your device and simply upload it to the slideshow as described above.

If you’re lucky enough to be gifted with musical talent, you can use your skills to record a song directly in PowerPoint. Warm up your vocal cords or grab your guitar and make your own presentation music.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to record the music.

Step 3: Pick Record audio . Note: You must have either a built-in or external microphone for your computer.

Step 4: When the Record Sound box appears, select the red, round Record button to start recording.

Step 5: Press the square Stop button when you finish. To listen to the recording, press the green Play button.

Step 6: When you finish, select OK to insert it onto the slide.

Step 7: You’ll then see the audio icon just like with an inserted audio file. Press the Play button to hear the recording.

Sometimes the ideal song for a situation is attached to a video. While you can’t currently just play the audio and you probably don’t want the video as part of your presentation, there’s a workaround to get that tune in your show.

Step 1: Open your PowerPoint presentation and select a slide to add the video.

Step 2: Go to the Insert tab and choose the drop-down arrow for Video on the right side of the ribbon.

Step 3: Pick This Device , Stock Videos , or Online Videos and follow the prompts to insert the video.

Step 4: When the video appears on the slide, drag a corner or edge to make it smaller and then drag it off of the slide to one of the sides.

This allows you to play the video to hear the audio but not see the video in your slideshow.

Step 5: Select the video and use the Playback tab to adjust the options for playing it when clicking the slide or automatically.

Once you add the music to PowerPoint, you can set it to play on a single slide or last the duration of the presentation.

Step 1: Go to the slide containing the music and select it.

Note: If you want the music to play in the background throughout the slideshow, you’ll likely want the file on the first or second slide per your preference.

Step 2: Head to the Playback tab and choose to play the song with the slide or as background music.

Step 3: To play the song only on that slide, choose the Start drop-down box in the Audio options section of the ribbon and pick how you want the music to begin. You can select In click sequence , Automatically , or When clicked on . When you advance to the next slide, the song stops playing.

Step 4: To play the song throughout the presentation, select Play in background in the Audio styles section. This automatically checks the boxes for Play across slides and Loop until stopped . You can also choose an option in the Start drop-down box for how to begin playing the song.

Keep in mind this only works with audio files, not the video file method described above.

Step 5: Adjust any other options on the Playback tab per your preference. You can increase or decrease the volume, rewind the song after it plays, or add a fade in or out effect.

Remember to practice your presentation after you add the music to make sure it sounds the way you want. You might also consider adding closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

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How to Add Music to PowerPoint (Step-by-Step)

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• October 18, 2019

In this article you’ll learn how to add music to PowerPoint, and the different playback and looping options that are available to you.

There are two main things to note about adding music (or other audio files) to PowerPoint:

1. Adding music to your presentation is slightly different than adding narration directly from within PowerPoint.

If you are trying to add pre-recorded narration files to your presentation, I recommend instead using the  Record Audio  or  Record Slideshow  features to narrate a PowerPoint.

That’s because the built-in narration tools make lining up your voice narration with your slides a lot easier. To learn all about how to narrate a PowerPoint using these tools,  read our guide here .

2. Adding music to PowerPoint will increase the size of your PowerPoint presentation, as you can see in the picture below.

Because the MP3 music files are embedded directly into your PowerPoint presentation, the size of your presentation will increase by the size of the MP3 music file you add.

For example, if you add a 17MB song to your presentation, the size of your presentation will increase by 17MB. If you add two music files to your slides, it will increase even further.

Embedding lots of audio files can make sharing your presentation difficult. To learn different ways you can compress PowerPoint to reduce your file size, read our guide here.

How to add music to PowerPoint (MP3 or other)

​ To add music to a PowerPoint presentation, simply:

• Navigate to your  Title slide  (or wherever you want your music to start)
• Click the  Insert  tab
• Open the  Audio  drop down (in the Media group)
• Select  Audio on My PC…
• Navigate  to the folder on your computer
• Select  the Audio file
• Click  Insert

As a result, the audio file is embedded in your presentation as an object on your slide, and two new Ribbon tabs become available as you can see in the picture below.

Because the audio file is embedded in your presentation, anyone who now opens the presentation can access and play the music inside PowerPoint.

By default, your song will play within the  Click Sequence  of your presentation (see details below).

After inserting music to your presentation, you can then convert your entire presentation into a  video and share it with your colleagues. To learn how to save your presentation as a video,  read our guide here .

How to hide an audio file in PowerPoint

If you don’t want your audio file to be visible on screen during your presentation, you can either click and drag it off your slide space, or simply:

• Select  the Audio File
• Open the  Playback Options  tab
• Select  Hide During Presentation

Selecting  Hide During Presentation  hides the audio file object on the slide when running your Slideshow, so that it doesn’t display.

If you do this, make sure you are using either the  In Click Sequence  or  Automatically  play options for your audio file, otherwise your music will never play, as discussed below.

Note:  Make   sure you add your audio and music files to the exact slides on which you want them to play, because they can only be played once you reach the slide where they have been placed.

Adjusting when your music plays in PowerPoint

By default, your music files will play as part of the click sequence of your presentation which you can see and set within the  Animations Pane ​ (see  In Click Sequence  below).

However, like for most things in PowerPoint, you can change what triggers your music to play.

To change when your music file starts playing in PowerPoint, simply:

• Select the  Music file  on a slide
• Open the  Playback Options  tab
• Open the  Start  drop down
• Choose  In Click Sequence ,  Automatically  or  When Clicked

Below is an explanation of what each of these different playback options means.

1. In Click Sequence

In Click Sequence means that your song will play based on it’s click sequence in your Animations Pane. If you have no animations or triggers set up on your slide, your song will play right before you advance to the next slide.

To change the order of your Click Sequence with other animations, simply.

• Open the Animations tab
• Click the Animation Pane
• Reorder your music file with your other animations

2. Automatically

Automatically means that your music plays as soon as you advance to that slide, and continues playing until either the song ends, or you advance to the next slide.

If you think you might be on this slide awhile and want the song to continue playing, simply select Loop Until Stopped .

3. When Clicked On

When Clicked On means that the music file will only play if someone physically clicks on the music file during your presentation.

This can be useful when you only want to play a song under certain circumstances, or when you want to control when the music starts or stops using your mouse.

Just make sure that if you select When Click On that you don’t also select Hide During Show . That’s because Hide During Show hides the audio file when you are giving your presentation, which means that you cannot click on it to start your song.

How to loop music across your entire presentation

If you are turning your PowerPoint presentation into a video, or want your music to play across all your slides as you present them, follow these steps:

• Insert  and  select your music file on your first slide
• Open the  Playback  tab
• Check  Loop Until Stopped
• Check  Play Across Slides
• Set the  Start  to play  Automatically

Doing so, your music will play as soon as you start your presentation ( F5  on your keyboard) and will continue to loop and play throughout your presentation.

Your music will now only stop when you either exit slideshow mode (hitting  Esc  on your keyboard) or get to the end of your presentation.

To learn the different keyboard shortcuts for starting and stopping a PowerPoint slideshow,  read our guide here .

How to trim music in an PowerPoint presentation

If you only want a section of your audio file to play, you can use the audio trimmer tool in PowerPoint.

To trim an audio file in PowerPoint after you’ve inserted it, simply:

• Select  your Audio file
• Select the  Trim Audio  command
• Adjust the  Start time
• Adjust the  End Time

As a result, your audio file will be trimmed to the new start and end times you set.

Note:  If you later compress the media in your presentation, the parts of the audio file you trimmed away will be permanently removed.

This will decrease the size of the audio in your PowerPoint presentation, but it will also permanently alter your music file.

To learn a variety of different ways you can reduce your PowerPoint file size by compressing things in PowerPoint,  read our guide here .

How to remove all music files from your presentation

Audio and media files can easily be removed from your presentation by simply selecting them and hitting Delete.

However, if you have a lot of audio, video or music files spread out throughout your presentation, you can remove them all at the same time by following these simple steps.

1. Find your presentation in File Explorer

Save and close your PowerPoint presentation, and then open the file folder where your presentation sits.

If your presentation is on the Desktop, simply click and drag it into a folder so you can see it in  File Explorer  as pictured above.

2. Turn on File name extensions

To turn on the file name extensions in  File Explorer , simply:

• Click on the  View  tab
• Select  File name extension s

This enables you to see (and edit) the file name extensions of your files. For example:

3. Turn your PowerPoint into a ZIP file

To turn your PowerPoint presentation into a ZIP file, simply:

• Right-click  your file
• Select  Rename
• Replace the ‘ .pptx ‘ part with ‘ .zip ‘ and hit  Enter
• Select  Yes

This converts your PowerPoint presentation into a ZIP file with all your PowerPoint objects in it. As a result, you’ll be able to open the folder and edit its contents.

4. Delete any MP3 or MP4 files from your media folder

For example, if you want to delete the media files (MP3 and MP4) out of your presentation, simply:

• Open the  ZIP  folder
• Double-click  PowerPoint
• Double-click  Media
• Select the MP3 and MP4 files you want to delete and hit  Delete

This deletes all the selected files from your presentation, regardless of where they exist within your presentation.

Note: The media folder also includes any audio or video narrations you have added to your presentation, so if you delete all those file types, you’ll remove the narration as well.

Therefore, if you are not sure which MP3 or MP4 files you want to delete from the folder, double-click them inside the ZIP folder to preview them before you delete them.

5. Turn your ZIP folder back into a PowerPoint presentation

Once you’ve deleted your media files, turn your ZIP file folder back into your PowerPoint presentation, simply:

• Right-click  your ZIP folder
• Change the ‘ .zip ‘ to ‘ .pptx ‘

As a result, you can now open your PowerPoint presentation without all the media files you deleted.

Note:  If you don’t like seeing the  File extension names  in your file folders, you can simply turn them off in File Explorer, like this:

• Navigate to the  View  tab
• Uncheck  File name extensions

In conclusion, there is a lot you can do with audio when you add music to your presentation.

If you followed the instructions in this article, you now know exactly how to add music to PowerPoint, and the different playback and looping options available to you.

Just remember to pay attention to how and when you trigger your music to play in PowerPoint… especially if you choose to hide your audio file in Slideshow mode, as otherwise it might not play.

If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about how to improve your PowerPoint skills by visiting us here .

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How to Add, Record or Edit Audio or Music in PowerPoint

Do you want to set the right mood and keep your audience engaged and entertained during your next presentation? In this new Slidesgo School tutorial, you’ll learn how to add audio or music to your presentations . You’ll also find out how to edit them to your liking .

Adding Audio from your Computer

Recording audio from powerpoint, editing audio, adding online audio, adding music from youtube, playing several clips in succession during your presentation.

• Before we begin, please note the following: in PowerPoint 2010 or older, you should use .wav or .wma files in Windows, and .wav files in Mac. If you’re using a newer version, we recommend that you work with AAC .m4a files.
• Open your PowerPoint presentation and select the slide where you want to add audio.
• On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click the Audio drop-down arrow. You’ll see two options: the first one allows you to add audio from your PC, whereas the second one allows you to record audio (you’ll need to have a microphone set up in your computer).
• Select Audio from My PC. A new window will open, where you have to locate the audio file you want to add to your presentation.
• Once located, click the drop-down arrow next to Insert. You’ll see two options:
• If you choose Insert , the audio will be directly inserted into your presentation, increasing the size of the document.
• If you choose Link to File , a link to the file will be created, reducing the size of the document. However, there could be issues if you use the presentation in a different computer, forcing you to link the audio file to the presentation again.
• Select the option that best suits your needs.
• If you want to export any audio included in your PowerPoint presentation, right-click its icon → Save Media As (you can only do this with audio inserted from your PC).
• Please note that if you want to play a different audio in each slide, you’ll need to add the audio files one by one. You’ll also need to uncheck “Play Across Slides”. You can refer to the “ Editing Audio ” section in this tutorial if you want more information.
• On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click the Audio drop-down arrow. Select Record Audio. A new window will open.
• Enter the name of the audio file you’re about to record.
• Press Record to start recording. To stop, press the Stop button. To play what you’ve recorded, press Play.
• If you’re happy with what you’ve recorded, click OK. If that’s not the case, click Cancel.
• Select the audio whose format you want to adjust. A new set of tabs, called Audio Tools, will appear on the toolbar.
• In the Bookmarks group, you’ll find an option to add bookmarks, which will be visible in the timeline. These can be helpful if you want to quickly find the main points in your audio during the presentation.
• In the Editing group, there are options to add a fade in and a fade out. You’ll also find the Trim Audio option. If you click it, a new window will open, where you can set the start point and the end point of the audio clip.
• In the Audio Options group, you’ll find the following options to adjust the behavior of the audio clip:
• Volume: It allows you to set the volume of the clip.
• Start: Click the drop-down arrow to choose how you want the audio to start. If you’re using Office 2010, you’ll also find an option here to play the audio clip during the entire presentation.
• Loop until Stopped: Once the audio clip finishes, it starts again indefinitely until you stop it.
• Play Across Slides: If you enable this, the audio clip will be played during the entire presentation. If “Loop until Stopped” is enabled too, it won’t stop playing until you reach the end of the presentation.
• Hide During Show: Check this option if you want to hide the icon.
• Rewind after Playing: Check this option if you want the timer of the audio clip to go back to the beginning when it reaches the end.
• If you’re using newer versions of PowerPoint, you’ll find a group called Audio Styles. Choose “No Style” if you don’t want additional effects. Choose “Play in Background” if you want the audio clip to be played in the background during your presentation.
• You can change the icon of the audio clip. To do so, on the Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Change Picture.
• Insert an icon or a picture. We’ll use it to link the online audio. Please refer to the How to Add and Modify Icons tutorial to learn how to insert icons.
• Add the link to the online audio resource. If you don’t know how to do it, please refer to the How to Insert a Hyperlink in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Once added, click the icon of this audio. A new window will open, where you must click the Play button. Some audio platforms, such as Soundcloud, allow you to generate an autoplay sharing link. With that, you just need to click the icon to play the audio automatically.
• If you want to pause the playback, you’ll need to exit the presentation mode and do it manually.
• Insert the video containing the audio or music you want. If you don’t know how, please refer to the How to Add a Video in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Decrease the size of the video and place it outside the visible part of the slide.
• We need to set it to automatically play in presentation mode. To do this, on the Playback tab, in the Video Options group, click the Start drop-down arrow and select “Automatically”. If you need more information, please refer to the How to Add a Video in PowerPoint tutorial.
• Please note that the audio will stop when changing slides.

To create a playlist that plays across all slides during your presentation, you need to use an audio editing software, such as Audacity or Adobe Audition, and edit the clips so that they come one after another. When you’re done, export it as a single audio file, which you can now use in your presentation.

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How to add music to a PowerPoint slideshow to make your presentation more engaging

• You can easily add music to a PowerPoint slideshow if you want to make your next presentation more engaging.
• You can add any MP3, MP4, WAV, or AAC file on your computer to your PowerPoint presentation, and adjust the settings so that it plays across slides if you want to.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories .

It's true that Microsoft   PowerPoint is a business program made for creating official-looking presentations  for school or office settings — but that doesn't mean you can't use it to make your presentations fun, too. 

One way to spice up a presentation is to add music — in a business setting, it'll be unexpected, and the fun surprise may just make your colleagues sit up straighter, pay attention, and maybe even enjoy the meeting. 

This feature can also give a little extra umph to a school presentation — for example, a presentation on America in the '60s could be enhanced by the addition of some Motown music in the background.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft office (from $149.99 at best buy), apple macbook pro (from $1,299.00 at apple), acer chromebook 15 (from $179.99 at walmart), how to add music to a powerpoint presentation.

1. At the top of the PowerPoint screen, on the toolbar, click the "Insert" tab.

2. Under "Insert, on the right side of the screen, click "Audio."

3. If you're using a PC, click the option for "Audio on My PC." If you're using a Mac, click the option for "Audio from File" or "Audio Browser."

Note: You can also record your own sound if you select "Record Audio."

4.  Locate the file you'd like to use, then click "Insert" in the dialog box. You can use MP3, MP4, WAV, or AAC files.

5. The file will appear on your PowerPoint as a little playback bar. You can use this to control the song. Move it to a part of your slide where it won't be in the way.

6. If you want the sound to play throughout the presentation, rather than just on the slide that the audio file is located on, click on the file to bring up the "Playback" tab on the toolbar at the top of your screen, and click on it.

7. Directly underneath the "Playback" tab, click the option for "Play in Background" to play the sound throughout. 

Adjust any other options you want in this tab, like volume, fade in and out, and looping. When you're finished, return to the home tab to continue working on your presentation, or click save to finish. 

Related coverage from  Tech Reference :

How to change and format the background of your powerpoint slides to custom designs, how to add a border to slides in powerpoint, and give your slideshow a sleek design, how to change your language settings in microsoft powerpoint in 3 different ways, how to copy or duplicate a powerpoint slide and put it anywhere in your slideshow, how to download and access microsoft powerpoint on your mac computer.

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How to Add Music to PowerPoint

Music sets the mood for your presentation

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What to Know

• Go to a slide and select  Insert  >  Audio  >  Audio on My PC .
• Start music automatically under Audio Tools Playback .
• Play a song across all slides by inserting the audio file on the first slide, then Playback > Play in Background > Loop Until Stopped .

This article explains how to play music automatically at a certain point in the slideshow, play after a delay, or play the music throughout multiple slides on both Windows and Mac. Instructions in this article apply to PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010; and PowerPoint for Mac.

How to Insert a Music File on A Slide

It's easy to insert a music file on a slide. Go to a slide and select Insert > Audio > Audio on My PC . In the dialog box, choose the file and select Insert . An icon for the music file appears in the center of the slide.

How to Play Music When a Slide Appears

You can start music automatically when a specific slide appears or after a delay.

To start playing music automatically:

Insert the music file on the PowerPoint slide where you want the music to play.

Select the music icon on the PowerPoint slide.

Go to Audio Tools Playback .

Select the Start down arrow and choose either In Click Sequence or Automatically .

In PowerPoint 2010, PowerPoint 2013, and PowerPoint for Mac 2011, In Click Sequence is not available.

Go to Slideshow and select From Beginning to test the music.

How to Play Music After a Delay

Set music to play after the amount of time you choose.

Go to View and select Normal view.

Select the audio icon on the slide.

Go to Animations , select Add Animation , and choose Play .

Select Animation Pane and make sure the audio clip is the first item listed. If you have no other animations in place, it will be the only item.

Select the arrow next to the sound clip and select Effect Options .

Go to the Effect tab.

Select From Beginning under Start Playing .

Select After Current Slide under Stop Playing .

Go to the Timing tab.

Select the Start down arrow and choose With Previous .

Press the Up Arrow in the Delay box to choose how many seconds you want to wait before the music begins.

Select OK when you're finished.

How to Play a Song Across All Slides

You can play a single song or a collection of music throughout an entire presentation, as well.

To play music during the entire presentation in PowerPoint 2019, PowerPoint 2016, PowerPoint 2013, and PowerPoint 2010:

Insert the music file on the first slide of your PowerPoint presentation.

Select the audio icon on the slide, go to Playback , and select Play in Background . In PowerPoint 2010, choose Play Across Slides .

Place a check next to Loop Until Stopped .

Play Music in PowerPoint for Mac

Play music during an entire presentation in PowerPoint for Mac.

Open the PowerPoint presentation in which you want to play music throughout the slideshow and display the first slide.

Go to Home , select Media, and choose Audio Browser .

Locate the audio file you wish to add to the PowerPoint presentation and drag it to the slide.

Go to Format Audio .

Select the arrow next to Start in the Audio Options group and choose Play Across Slides .

Go to Playback Options and select Loop Until Stopped .

Hide the Audio Icon

You may not want the audio icon to be visible on the slide where you inserted music. Fortunately, hiding it is a simple task.

Select the audio clip icon.

Go to Playback and select the Hide During Show checkbox.

In PowerPoint for Mac, select the Playback Options down arrow and choose Hide Icon During Show . 

Audio File Formats Supported by PowerPoint

Before you add music to your PowerPoint presentations, understand which audio file formats are supported. If it's not listed below, you can't use it.

• AIFF Audio file (.aiff)
• AU Audio file (.au)
• MIDI file (.mid or .midi)
• MP3 Audio file (.mp3)
• Advanced Audio Coding - MPEG-4 Audio file (.m4a, .mp4)
• Windows Audio file (.wav)
• Windows Media Audio file (.wma) 
• AIFF Audio file (.aiff or .aif) 
• AU Audio file (.au or .snd)
• MP3 Audio file (.mp3 or .mpga)
• MP2 audio (.mp2)
• MPEG-4 Audio file (mp4 or .mpg4)
• Waveform Audio file (.wav, .wave, .bwf)
• Audible.com audio (.aa or .aax)
• Apple MPEG-4 audio (.m4a)
• Advanced Audio Coding - MPEG-2 Audio file (.aac or .adts)
• Apple CoreAudio format (.caf)
• Adaptive Multi-rate Audio (.amr)
• Ringtone (.m4r) 
• AC-3 audio (.ac3) 
• Enhanced AC-3 audio (.eac3, .ec3)

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2 Ways to Add Any Music to PowerPoint in 2021

PowerPoint presentations are far more engaging with music added. I'll go over 2 different ways to add any track you want to your presentations in 2021.

An appropriate song can be effective in setting the tone of the presentation, retaining your audience's attention , and making your project more memorable .

Even better – a musical track playing along with your presentation can help you refine your timing when you prepare, so you're on pace when you present. It's easy to add any music you have saved to your device, or even a track you found online, to your PowerPoint presentation. Here's what you'll need to know:

Adding a track from your computer

Adding a track from youtube or soundcloud, editing the audio timing in powerpoint.

Open your presentation and select the slide where you'd like the track to begin playing. Select the " Insert " tab in the top toolbar and choose " Audio ," then " Audio from file ." When you've selected the file you want to use from your file browser, PowerPoint will add a small audio layer that looks like a speaker icon.

Even easier, you can simply find the right audio file in your file browser, then drag & drop it onto the correct PowerPoint slide. Once you've added it to your presentation, you'll need to customize its timing and trigger so it works the way you want.

You can add any music you want to your presentation, even if you don't have them saved already. I recommend finding music on YouTube or SoundCloud : YouTube contains nearly every song you know, and SoundCloud is perfect for discovering new music in pre-curated playlists, and both are completely free & accessible. Once you've found the track you want to use, right-click on the URL bar and copy the song's link.

Next, head over to Kapwing.com, and paste the link you copied into the white box. Wait a few seconds while Kapwing uploads the file.

Then, click the green "Export Video" button in the top right corner and selection "MP3" from the dropdown. If you want to use just a specific part of the track, you can also trim the file while you're in the Studio.

Once your music is finished processing, click "Download" to save it to your computer. Now, open your presentation and select the slide where you'd like the track to begin playing.

Select the " Insert " tab in the top toolbar and choose " Audio ," then " Audio from file ." Alternatively, you can find the recently downloaded file in your file browser and drag & drop it directly into your PowerPoint window. Now you're ready to customize your presentation's timing!

Just adding music to your PowerPoint presentation isn't enough – you'll need to make sure it starts playing when you want it to, with the right triggers, and for the correct duration. Start by selecting the audio layer – it looks like a white speaker icon. With the track selected, choose " Animations " from the top toolbar.

Click the "Play" icon in the top toolbar to open the animations sidebar. Using the options in the sidebar, you can set the beginning of your audio track, the end trigger, the duration, and the media options.

I recommend using the " After Previous " option for the beginning trigger, and setting the media duration using slide numbers – if you want the music to play automatically until the end, just set the duration to the remaining number of slides under the " Media Options " section.

For more content on audio, video, and presentation editing, check out our YouTube channel Kapwing App . And for for information on audio editing and high-level presentation creation, read through some related articles on audio editing with Kapwing:

• How to Add Music to an Instagram Story • How to Add Any Music to TikTok • How to Add Music to Snapchat • Add Music to Photos Using Kapwing

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How to Add Music to PowerPoint? [A Complete Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Whether you want to play some pleasing melody while playing your presentation at an event or whether you want to play some soothing music when giving a presentation to a class, the first step is to know how to add music in PowerPoint!

To add music to PowerPoint, first, click on the “Insert” tab. Then, click on the “Audio” option from the ribbon, and then choose “Audio from my PC” from the dropdown. A file explorer window will open up. Navigate to the folder containing the music file, select the file, and click on “Insert”.

But, just knowing how to add a music file is not enough. There are quite a few things that you can do with music in PowerPoint!

In this article, we’ll do a deep-dive on adding music to PowerPoint. We shall also take a look at how you can play the music across slides. Plus, we shall also learn how to adjust a few settings so we can play the music with a click! That, and much more!

So, let’s get started!

1. How to Add Music to PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint has an “Audio” feature that allows you to add a recorded presentation speech or music to a slide. Although you can choose to add some music to your presentation, with this feature you can also add narration to your slides in PowerPoint!

Here’s a detailed step-by-step process that you need to follow to add music to your PowerPoint presentation –

Step-1: Click on the “Insert” tab

Select the slide to which you want to add the music to from the slide thumbnail pane and then click on the “Insert” option from the menu bar located at the top of your screen.

Step-2: Click on the “Audio” button

In the “Insert” menu, click on the “Audio” button which is the speakerphone icon. In the dropdown menu, select the “Audio on My PC” option (as shown in the image in step 1).

This will open a “File Explorer” popup window.

Step-3: Select the preferred audio from “File Explorer”

In the “File Explorer” window, select the music file that you want to add to the PowerPoint slide. Then click on the “Insert” button at the bottom of the window.

1a. Add Music to PowerPoint 2007

All older versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, including PowerPoint 2007 allow you to add music to a slide. All you have to do is follow the 4 simple steps mentioned below –

The first step is to click on the slide where you want to add music. Then click on the “Insert” tab from the menu bar located at the top of your screen.

Step-2: Click on the “Sound” option

Under the “Insert” tab, click on the “Sound” option with a downward-facing arrow. Be sure not to click on the speakerphone icon right over the “Sound” option. This will open a dropdown menu.

Step-3: Click on “Sound from File”

In the dropdown menu, click on the “Sound from File” option to open a “File Explorer” window. Now all you have to do is select your preferred music file and click on the “OK” button.

Step-4: Select preferred way to play the music

Now you will see a dialogue box in the middle of the screen. Click on the “Automatically” option if you want to play the music as soon as the slide is opened. Click on the “When Clicked” option if you want to play the music manually during the presentation.

1b. Add Music to PowerPoint 2016

The process of adding music in PowerPoint 2016 is similar to that of PowerPoint 2020.

To add music, all you have to do is click on the “Audio” button in the “Insert” menu and select the “Audio on My PC” option. Then select the preferred music from the “File Explorer” window.

1c. Add Music to PowerPoint on Mac

In a Mac device, you can easily add music to a Microsoft PowerPoint slide. Follow the 3 quick steps.

In the menu bar located at the top of the screen, click on the “Insert” tab to open the “Insert” menu.

Step-2: Select the “Audio Browser” option

In the “Insert” menu, click on the “Audio” button which is the musical note icon. Now click on the “Audio Browser” option from the dropdown menu. This will open a dialogue box.

Step-3: “Drag and Drop” the music file

Scroll through the “Audio Browser” dialogue box to find your preferred music file. Now all you have to do is “Drag and Drop” the music file from the dialogue box to the selected slide.

If you are using Office 365 on Mac, the process is the same as the one described for Windows.

2. Choosing Music for your Presentation

Now that you know how to add music to your presentation, you will most definitely need to know where to get the music files from!

There are a couple of things that you can do apart from adding music that you may already own on your computer.

The first thing that you can do is use music videos from YouTube!

2a. How to Add Music to PowerPoint from YouTube?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to add media files including music files from external sources as well. You can add media files from online sources like Youtube, Vimeo, Stream, etc.

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can directly add music from YouTube. In this method, I’m going to show you how to add a video from YouTube in PowerPoint.

All you have to do is follow the easy steps mentioned below –

Step-1: Click on the “Insert” menu

In the slide thumbnail pane, click on the slide where you want to add the music. Then click on the “Insert” tab from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Step-2: Click on the “Online Videos” option

In the “Insert” menu, click on the “Video” button to open a dropdown menu. Select the “Online Videos” option from the dropdown menu (as shown in the image in step 1).

This will open a dialogue box.

Step-3: Paste the link to the Youtube video

Click on the box under the “Enter the address for the online video” option. Now all you have to do is paste the link of the Youtube music video which you want to add to the slide.

Then click on the “Insert” button at the bottom of the dialogue box.

Step-4: Move the Video Outside the Slide Canvas

If you don’t want the video to show, you can simply drag the video outside the slide canvas and it won’t appear during the slideshow. However, it will still play if you have set it to play on a click! (which we shall talk about later in the article)

2b. Can You Add Music to PowerPoint from Spotify?

Microsoft PowerPoint does not support the “Ogg Vorbis” file format which the Spotify application uses. So you cannot directly add music from Spotify to PowerPoint.

Furthermore, the music files in Spotify are encrypted, so it is not legal to add a music file to PowerPoint from Spotify. However, you can add the music from YouTube or from iTunes in a PowerPoint on Mac.

I’d highly recommend getting a music file from one of the other sources that I’ve shared in this article rather than getting it through illegal means from Spotify!

3. How to Get FREE Music for PowerPoint?

So, if Spotify doesn’t work, you may be wondering how to get free music for your PowerPoint presentations!

Well, there are actually quite a few websites on the internet that will provide you with some music options. But, you really need to be careful with the licenses and legalities involved.

I’ve had the most success with the following three options!

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube Audio Library is a great free resource to get some good music.

You can easily search for a particular type of music. You can also search by a specific genre or even the artist.

Then, click on the file to play it and see if you like it. Once you’ve decided on the file that you like, you can simply download the file on your computer.

One drawback with YouTube Audio Library is that you need to have a YouTube channel to access it. However, creating a channel is free and it only takes a minute. You don’t have to run the channel, just create it and use the audio library for the music.

Do make sure that you check out the license terms and conditions of use of the music provided by YouTube.

Another great resource for some decent music is Pixabay .

The music available on Pixabay is completely free to download and use even for commercial projects. You can easily search through a variety of different moods and genres of music through the panel on the left.

You can also use the search bar to quickly look for a good music option.

In my experience, although Pixabay is free, it takes a lot of time to find a really good music file that you can actually use in your presentation!

3. Envato Elements

The best option on this list is Envato Elements .

With Envato Elements , you get a ton of options and the quality of the music provided is surprisingly really high! So, it really doesn’t take too long to find a good music option that you can actually use in your presentation!

You can easily search for the type of music file that you are looking for.

Although Envato Elements requires you to pay a monthly subscription fee. But the reason I consider this a FREE resource is that you get to download unlimited files! You heard that right, you get UNLIMITED downloads with no restrictions!

And, while you are at it, you can also download an unlimited number of presentation templates for your future needs as well!

You can sign up once and cancel the subscription immediately. So, you end up paying for just 1 month. And, when you cancel your subscription, your account still remains active for the end of the cycle.

For that one month, go crazy downloading all the files that you need! [You can thank me later! :-)]

4. How to Play Music Across Multiple Slides in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can easily play the music inserted in one slide across all slides of the particular presentation.

To play music across slides, first, select the audio file. Then, click on the “Playback” tab. From the ribbon, click on the “Play in Background” option.

Once that’s done, the music will play in the background across all the slides in PowerPoint when in presentation mode.

5. How to Edit Music or Audio Files in PowerPoint?

PowerPoint allows you to carry out some of the basic editing functions to the music file.

After inserting music or an audio file in Microsoft PowerPoint, you can easily edit the music. Here’s what you need to do –

Step-1: Click on the speakerphone icon

In the slide with the music added, click on the speakerphone or “Audio” icon.

Step-2: Click on the “Playback” tab

Now all you have to do is click on the “Playback” tab from the menu bar located at the top of the screen. In the “Playback” menu, you will find various options to edit the music or audio file.

Here, you can trim the music file, apply fade-in or fade-out effect, play it across slides, loop until you want to stop it, and much more!

6. How to Get Music to Play Automatically in PowerPoint?

It is very easy to get the music to play automatically in PowerPoint. All you have to do is click on the “Playback” menu.

Now click on the “Start” button and select the “Automatically” option from the dropdown menu.

7. How to Set Music to Play on a Click in PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to choose how to play the music added to a slide.

To set the music to play on a click, open the “Playback” menu from the menu bar located at the top of the screen. Now all you have to do is click on the “Start” box and select the “When Clicked On” option from the dropdown menu.

8. How to Delete the Music File in PowerPoint?

If you receive a PowerPoint presentation that has a music file that you want to get rid of or if you want to insert a different music file in your presentation, you can easily delete the audio file in PowerPoint!

To delete the music file in PowerPoint, first, select the music file by clicking on the “Speaker” icon of the audio file on the slide. Then, simply press the “Delete” key on your keyboard to remove the music file from your presentation.

Once the file has been deleted, you can choose to insert a different music file by following the process described in the article to add an audio file!

Credit to drobotdean (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited).

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How to Insert Multiple Music to Powerpoint

Last Updated: January 11, 2019

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 179,666 times. Learn more...

Show you how to insert multiple music to PowerPoint presentation with step-by-step illustrations.

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• Insert music and time it Video
• Trim a music clip Video
• Play music for a set duration Video

Insert music and time it

Play audio, such as music or a song automatically when a slide appears, while you are presenting, and time the slides to fit the music.

I want to play music in the background of this slide show and time the slides to fit the music.

Let's do that.

First, I'll insert the music file.

With the first slide displayed, I'll click INSERT , Audio , and Audio on My PC .

I'll select the music file, and click Insert .

The file is placed in the middle of the slide.

It is selected, and the AUDIO TOOLS tabs are available.

To set the music, so it plays in the background, on the PLAYBACK tab, I'll click Play in Background .

Note that this applies the following settings: the Start setting switches from On Click to Automatically .

And these three options are now checked: Play Across Slides , Loop until Stopped , and Hide During Show .

I don't need the music to repeat, so I'll uncheck Loop until Stopped .

While that turns off Play in Background , all the settings that I want are still in place.

Let's click Slide Show to see how this plays.

The music starts automatically and plays continuously, as I click, in the background of my slides.

Now, I want the slides to advance automatically, timed to match the length of the music.

So next, I'll add slide timings.

First, let's see how long the music clip is.

On Slide 1, I'll point to the audio icon to see the playbar. When I point to the end of the playbar, a pop-up shows the clip's total time, 14.89, which is about 15 seconds.

I'll set the slide timings with this in mind.

To set timings, click the TRANSITIONS tab, and under Advance Slide , check the After box. Then, specify a time. I'll click the up arrow to set the slide timing to 1.00 second.

Then, I'll click Apply To All . So, each slide will play for 1 second and then advance.

Now, 1 second per slide may seem too short, but note that the slides have a Fade transition applied too, and the transitions add to the total playing time.

For the last slide, I am going to increase the timing, though. I'll click the up arrow to 4 seconds, because the picture has a Fade animation.

I'll click the ANIMATIONS tab , Preview , so we can see it.

I need to allow time for that fade out.

The playing time for the slides should now be close to the 15 seconds for the music.

For good measure, let's click the SLIDE SHOW tab and make sure Use Timings is checked.

We are ready to see the show.

I'll press F5 to play it from the top.

The slides advance on their own, according to the timings, and the overall time fits with the music.

Finally, here is a file-management tip.

When we clicked Insert to insert the audio file, the file was embedded in the presentation, and that creates a large file size overall.

To reduce file size in a presentation with embedded audio, save the presentation, and click the FILE tab.

On the Info tab, under Properties , you'll see the file's size.

This presentation file is over 8 megabytes.

To make the presentation file smaller and more manageable for sharing, click Compress Media , and choose a type of compression, in terms of quality.

Let's try Internet Quality . The file gets compressed, and the Compress Media window shows the amount of space saved.

We'll close this window. When I save the file, and click FILE again, I see that the file size is reduced almost by half.

If I don't like the result of the compression, I can click Compress Media , Undo .

If you want to avoid the issue of a large file size, another option is to link to the audio file.

To do that, when you first insert the file, click the arrow next to Insert , and click Link to File .

When you present, you need to have access to the linked audio file from the presenting computer.

For more information about this, see the course summary at the end of this course.

Up next: Trim a music clip and fade it out .

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