Do you have a deck that requires audio? We love that! Fully utilizing all that PowerPoint has to offer gives your audience a more rich experience. When using audio and visual, you’re tapping into two different learning styles, therefore gaining durability with a higher percent of your audience. However, whenever function gets in the way of design, that can be a bit of a bummer. Thankfully, in this case, Microsoft has already thought ahead for those using audio in PowerPoint.
Trying to Get Rid of the Audio Icon?
When you embed an audio file, you get a big audio icon to fit somewhere on your slide. While the audio icon is functional, it may throw the balance of your slide off if you can’t find the right place for it to live. It also looks just a bit unpolished for certain aesthetics. If you’d rather your slide be clear of the icon altogether, this is possible in presentation mode! Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to achieve an audio icon-free slide.
Steps to Hide Your Icon When Using Audio in PowerPoint
This tutorial will work for Windows and Mac desktops versions of PowerPoint.
First, open your presentation. If you haven’t already inserted your audio, here’s how you can do that.
Choose the Insert tab, and you’ll see a Media drop-down on the far right of tab. After you click Media, select the type of audio you want to insert. It could be in your browser, in a file, or you could simply record it on-the-spot.
Once you select your audio, a sound icon will appear on your slide. You can move it to wherever you choose. When you click to select the sound icon, additional tabs will pop up in your menu.
Locate a tab called Playback next to Audio Format. Click that tab.
Once in the playback tab, you’ll see quite a few options. Check to see if the Hide During Show box is clicked. This is how you hide that unsightly audio icon! Once checked, the icon will disappear when you are in presentation mode.
Your presentation will still look the same in edit mode after you’ve checked the box.
Once you select presentation mode, the icon disappears.
When in presentation mode, you can either set the audio to play automatically, or you can click the spacebar to play. If for some reason you decide not to play the audio, then you can just advance to the next slide by clicking the right arrow, and the audio won’t play.
We hope you enjoyed this quick tip on hiding your audio icon in PowerPoint. Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your presentation or necessity is forcing your hand, we’ve got your back. We love finding new ways to make life in PowerPoint simple, easy and straightforward. Have questions about PowerPoint functionality? We can offer tutorials, classes, or mentorship. Let us know what you need today!
