Wondering how to randomize PowerPoint slides? Well, if you have used MS PowerPoint before then, you must have realized that there is no direct option by default in the software to shuffle PowerPoint slides. To play with the order of slides before making the presentation, all you have to do is drag and drop with the mouse to shuffle the slides and then play all at once which is fairly a simple task.
However, when there is a need to randomize slides impromptu while doing the presentation, it becomes a little tricky as there are many third party software plugins that do this task for you. To keep the process short and simple here is a detailed guide on how to randomize slides in PowerPoint:
How to Randomize Slides in Powerpoint
A way to do this is by making use of Visual Basic to make the next slide random in PowerPoint. You can create an action button calling for a random slide. This method is most likely used for gaming and picture slideshows applications. Here are the steps to help you understand the procedure:
- Go to the “Start” Menu and open Microsoft PowerPoint 2018 (or whichever version you have as most of these have nearly the same commands and functions).
- Now open the slideshow you want to present randomly.
- Open the Menu by clicking on the office symbol.
- You need to navigate to the “Trust Centre” which you can find by clicking on “PowerPoint Options.”
- After clicking on “Trust Centre Settings” button, click on the radio button to “Disable all macros with notification.” Now click “OK,” and you will be back on the PowerPoint Options window.
- Next, you need to click on “Popular” and ensure that “Show Developer Tab in the Ribbon” is enabled. Now click “OK” to get back to the presentation.
Now that you have set the right environment needed to incorporate action button for random slide you need to create the Visual Basic macro through the following steps:
- Press “Alt” + “F11”. This will open the Visual Basic Editor.
- Now you need to click on “Insert” and further choose “Module.”
- In the editor window, copy and paste the below code:
Sub sortrand() ActivePresentation.SlideShowWindow .View.GotoSlide Int(Rnd *_ ActivePresentation.Slides.Count) + 1 End Sub
4. Press “Alt” + “Q.” This will save the settings in macro and return to the presentation.
After setting up macro the last thing which you need to do is create the action button which will directly enable you to randomize the slides as and when you want. Here are the simple steps you need to follow for creating an action button:
- In the home menu, just click on “Insert” tab and then click on the “shapes” button.
- At the bottom of the drop-down menu, you will find various shapes under “Action Buttons” heading. Choose whichever icon you like for your new action button.
- By clicking on the work area, you can drag the shape to the desired size suiting your requirements.
- In the dialogue box that appears, just click on the radio button beside “Run Macro” and then select “sort_rand” micro which you created earlier. Next, click on “OK.”
- Now press “Ctrl” + “C” to copy it to the clipboard. Next, move on to the next slide.
- Press “Ctrl” + “V” to paste the button into the slide. Now just repeat this for each of the slides in your presentation.
- Now, press on F5 to run the slideshow from the beginning.
- Then click on the button you just created to present a random slide next. This button will always display a random slide every time that you click on it.
Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most versatile software used by professionals, artists, thinkers, students, and people around the world to present their ideas to masses. The usage of MS PowerPoint has seen exponential growth over the last decade and is likely to increase further owing to its utility, simplicity, and popularity. There may be many other methods to randomize PowerPoint slides but the one discussed above is the most straightforward technique, easy to understand, and takes minimum time for execution!