PPT: Bypassing Startup Dialog Boxes in PowerPoint (120128)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95
  • Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 4.0a
  • Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 4.0c
This article was previously published under Q120128

SUMMARY

When you start PowerPoint, two dialog boxes appear before a blank presentation is opened for you to work in. These dialog boxes are New Presentation and Autolayout. If you always prefer to begin with the same basic layout and want to bypass the two initial dialog boxes, you can force PowerPoint to load the Default.ppt presentation automatically.

NOTE: If you do this, make Default.ppt read-only so that you don't accidentally overwrite it.

MORE INFORMATION

To make PowerPoint open directly to a blank presentation, use the appropriate procedure for your version of PowerPoint.

PowerPoint 7.0

  1. Open a blank presentation in PowerPoint and save the presentation as Blank.pot in the same folder that you find Powerpnt.exe (Blank.pot is found in the Templates folder initially).
  2. Start the Windows Explorer, use the right mouse button to click the Blank.pot icon, and drag it to the desktop.
  3. A shortcut menu appears. Click Create Shortcut here.
  4. Click on this icon when you want to enter PowerPoint with the Blank.pot as the default presentation being the first thing you see.

PowerPoint 4.x

  1. Run PowerPoint, choose the options you would like to load as the default, make any desired changes to the default slide (for example, font, color, or layout), and save the file as Default.ppt. Make sure you save it in the same directory as the PowerPoint executable file.
  2. Exit PowerPoint.
  3. In Program Manager, click the PowerPoint icon. Click Properties on the File menu.
  4. The Command Line box in the Program Item Properties dialog box contains something similar to the following:

    C:\Powerpnt\Powerpnt.Exe

    Change this line to read

    C:\Powerpnt\Powerpnt.Exe C:\Powerpnt\Default.Ppt

    where drive C is the drive where the PowerPoint directory resides, and Powerpnt is the PowerPoint directory.
  5. Click OK to save the changes.
  6. Open File Manager and select the file C:\POWERPNT\DEFAULT.PPT.
  7. On the File menu, click Properties.
  8. Under Attributes, select the Read Only check box. Click OK and close File Manager.
  9. Double-click the icon to start PowerPoint.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/16/2005
Keywords:kbhowto KB120128
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