Designer improves slides for Microsoft 365 subscribers by automatically generating design ideas to choose from.

While you're putting content on a slide, Designer works in the background to match that content to professionally designed layouts.

Designer is only available to subscribers of Microsoft 365. If you don't see the Designer  The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. button, or you don't see certain features described on this page, see Requirements for more details.

Get design ideas

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  1. In PowerPoint, you can get design ideas any time. Select Design > Designer  The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint.on the ribbon.

  2. The first time you try Designer, a prompt might appear requesting your permission to provide design ideas for you. To use Designer, select Turn on. If you're not sure the feature is turned on, go to File > Account, and under Account Privacy select Manage Settings. Check the box to Turn on optional connected experiences.

    Note: Microsoft is committed to helping protect your security and privacy while using Designer. To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  3. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas

  4. Select the design you want and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, select the "X” at the top-left corner of the Designer pane.

    You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Press Ctrl+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer, to elevate your presentations. Easily add a photo to your title slide and get a cohesive design across your slides. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer, looks for key terms that is has illustrations for and displays relevant visuals in various layouts. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Sample slide of a photo suggested for a title slide.

A title-slide photo and a design scheme

When you start a blank presentation and add text to the slide, Designer suggests high-quality photos that align with the slide's content. It also recommends a color scheme that goes well with the photo you choose. All the slides in the presentation will fit together visually.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

Professional layouts

Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

More visuals, less text

Too much text on your slide? Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable graphic. Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Sample slide with a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer added illustration and design touches to.

Illustrations

Designer looks for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for and shows them in different layouts. The illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.

Manage Designer

If you don't want Designer to automatically offer suggestions:

  1. In PowerPoint, select File at the upper-left side of the window, then select Options at the lower-left corner.

  2. After PowerPoint Options opens, select the General tab on the leftmost side.  Then go to PowerPoint Designer and clear the Automatically show me design ideas checkbox.  

Task, checklist, planning symbol

This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature.Find your version

Design ideas for one photo  Applies to:

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1511 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1602 or later  

Multiple photos, color extraction, and facial recognition  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1603 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1605 or later

Convert lists to SmartArt graphics  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1609 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1701 or later

Design ideas for action-oriented lists  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1702 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1708 or later

Design ideas where icons substitute for text  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1612 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Not available yet

Design ideas for charts  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1705 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1803 or later

Design ideas for time lines  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1707 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 1803 or later    

Design ideas for converting text to Icons + SmartArt graphics  Applies to:

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365   

Design ideas for content drawn in ink  Applies to:  

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Current Channel: Version 1812 or laterSemi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Not available yet

Troubleshooting for Microsoft 365

If you’re having trouble with Designer with PowerPoint in Microsoft 365, there some things you can try.

If you don't see the Designer button, here are some things to review.

Design ideas are only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers

On desktop versions of PowerPoint, only subscribers get design ideas. To try or buy Microsoft 365 subscription, see Microsoft 365.

On PowerPoint for the web, design ideas are available to everyone.

One Microsoft 365 subscription package doesn't include design ideas: Office 365 Germany.

Turn on Office connected experiences

To use Designer, make sure that Office "connected experiences" are turned on. In the ribbon, go to File > Account, and under Account Privacy select Manage Settings. Then go to Turn on optional connected experiences and check the box to turn on. For more information, see Enabling and disabling intelligent services.

The Account panel showing the Account Privacy, Manage Settings button

Administrator might have turned off Designer

Designer is a feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers, but some organizations turn off the feature. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription but don't see the Designer button, ask your IT department.

Reinstall Office to get subscriber features

If you've upgraded from Microsoft 365 to a Microsoft 365 subscription, you need to uninstall Microsoft 365 and then reinstall to get the subscriber features. See the instructions in these articles:

  1. Uninstall Office from a PC or Uninstall Office 2016 for Mac

  2. Reinstall Microsoft 365

Restart the app to get Designer

Sometimes users find that the first time they start PowerPoint after installing Microsoft 365, the Designer button isn't available. Restarting the app fixes this problem.

If you don't see any suggestions when you select the Designer button, here are some things to check. 

  • You might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again. Designer goes online to get design ideas.

  • Use a theme that comes with PowerPoint (not a custom theme or one that you've downloaded from elsewhere).

No design ideas for slide with pictures

  • Make sure your slide has either the Title or Title + Content slide layout applied.

  • Don't use any additional objects or shapes on the same slide as your photo.

  • Use a maximum of four photos (.jpg, .png, .gif, or .bmp) per slide, and make sure they're larger than 200 x 200 pixels in size.

No design ideas for process-based slides

Make sure your slide has the Title + Content slide layout applied.

Don't use any additional photos, objects, or shapes on the same slide as your process text.

Because Designer is a relatively new service, it's still learning new tricks. If Designer can’t generate high-quality options for you, it won’t show any options at all. We're working hard to be able to generate great design ideas for more varieties of your content.

And of course, if you don’t find Designer useful, you can turn it off by going to File >Options > General, and clear the Automatically show me design ideas checkbox.

Someone else is editing

If you're co-authoring a presentation with someone else and more than one person is actively editing a single slide at one time, Designer won't give design suggestions on that slide.

When a single user is editing a slide, Designer will resume suggesting designs in response to specific actions the user takes, like inserting a photo.

No design ideas for slides that have shape or text boxes

Designer isn't able to suggest design ideas when a slide has a shape or text box drawn on it. You can have photos and text in a placeholder.

If you can see the Designer button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, here are some things to check:

  • You might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again.

  • A single slide isn't selected. This can be the case when multiple slides are selected in the slide thumbnail pane in Normal view, or when the focus in the thumbnail pane is between two slides. It also is the case when the focus is in the Notes pane or you are in Slide Show view rather than Normal view.

Designer is only available to subscribers of Microsoft 365. If you don't see the Designer  The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. button, or you don't see certain features described on this page, see Requirements for more details.

Get design ideas

  1. In PowerPoint, you can get ideas at any time. Select Design > Designer The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the ribbon.

  2. The first time you try Designer, , a prompt might appear requesting your permission to provide design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, select Turn on or Let's go.

    Note: Microsoft is committed to helping protect your security and privacy while using Designer. To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  3. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas.

    When you select a design idea, it immediately appears full-size on the slide

  4. Select the design you want, and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, select the "X" at the top-left corner of the Designer pane. 

    You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Press ⌘+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.

You can get design ideas any time by choosing Design > Designer The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the taskbar.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer to elevate your presentations. Easily add a photo to your title slide and get a cohesive design across your slides. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer looks for key terms that is has illustrations for and displays relevant visuals in various layouts. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Sample slide of a photo suggested for a title slide.

A title-slide photo and a design scheme

When you start a blank presentation and add text to the slide, Designer suggests high-quality photos that align with the slide's content. It also recommends a color scheme that goes well with the photo you choose. All the slides in the presentation will fit together visually.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

Professional layouts

Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

More visuals, less text

Too much text on your slide? Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable graphic. Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Sample slide with a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer added illustration and design touches to.

Illustrations

Designer looks for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for and shows them in different layouts. The illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.

Manage Designer

If you don't want Designer to offer suggestions:

  1. In PowerPoint, select Preferences.

  2. Under Authoring and Proofing Tools, select General.

  3. In General, go to PowerPoint Designer, then clear the Automatically show me design ideas checkbox.

Task, checklist, planning symbol

This is a subscriber-only, Microsoft 365 feature.Find your version

 Applies to:

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac Monthly Channel: Version 15.26.0.160910 or later    

Troubleshooting for Mac

If you’re having trouble with Designer with PowerPoint in Mac, there some things you can try.

If you see the Designer button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, here are some things to check.

  • You might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again.

  • A slide might not be selected. This can be the case when multiple slides are selected in the slide thumbnail pane in Normal view, or when the focus in the thumbnail pane is between two slides. It's also the case when the focus is in the Notes pane, or when you are in Slide Show view rather than Normal view.

Designer is a feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers. If you don't see the Designer button, you're using an older version of PowerPoint for Mac, rather than PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac.

Designer is available for files stored on OneDrive and SharePoint in Microsoft 365. If you don't see the Designer  The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. button, or you don't see certain features described on this page, see Requirements for more details.

Get design ideas

  1. In SharePoint in Microsoft 365, you can get design ideas any time, select Design > Designer  The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the ribbon. PowerPoint shows design ideas for your slide.

  2. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas.

  3. Select the design you want and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, select the "X" at the top-left corner of the Designer pane

    You can also select another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design. Press Ctrl+Z to undo a design change you've just selected.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer to elevate your presentations. Easily add a photo to your title slide and get a cohesive design across your slides. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer looks for key terms that is has illustrations for and displays relevant visuals in various layouts. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Professional layouts

Designer detectspictures,charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

SmartArt graphics

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic. Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Illustrations

Designer looks for key terms and concepts that it has illustrations for and shows them in various layouts. The illustrations are from the Microsoft 365 icons library.

Sample slide with a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer added illustration and design touches to.

Task, checklist, planning symbol

 Applies to:

PowerPoint files stored in OneDrive, OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

Troubleshooting for Web

If you see the Designer button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, it might mean that someone else is currently editing the slide.

  • If you're co-authoring a presentation with someone else and more than one person is actively editing a single slide at one time, Designer won't give design suggestions on that slide.

  • When a single user is editing a slide, Designer will resume suggesting designs in response to specific actions the user takes, like inserting a photo.

Designer is available when using an iPad, but not an iPhone, see Requirements for more details.

Get design ideas

  1. In PowerPoint, you can get design ideas any time. Tap Design > Design Ideas The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the ribbon.

  2. The first time you try Designer, a prompt might appear requesting your permission to provide design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, tap Turn on or Let's go.

    Note: Microsoft is committed to helping protect your security and privacy while using Designer. To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  3. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas.

    Screenshot shows Designer in PowerPoint on an iOS device with Design Ideas visible on the rightmost side of the window.

  4. Tap the design you want and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, tap the "X" at the top-left corner of the Designer pane.

  5. You can also choose another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo Undo your last action to back out of a design change you've just selected.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer to elevate your presentations. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer provides suggestions for your pictures, charts, or tables and with various visuals. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Professional layouts

Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

SmartArt graphics

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

Designer can turn text such as lists, processesor timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic.  Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Task, checklist, planning symbol

Designer is available when you're using an iPad, but not an iPhone.

 Applies to:

PowerPoint for iOS Version 2.0.17042601 or later    

Troubleshooting Office for iOS

If you see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, you might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again.

Designer is available when using an Android tablet but not an Android phone, see Requirements for more details.

Get design ideas

  1. In PowerPoint, you can get design ideas any time. Tap Design > Design Ideas The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the ribbon. 

  2. The first time you try Designer, a prompt might appear requesting your permission to provide design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, tap Turn on or Let's go.

    Note: Microsoft is committed to helping protect your security and privacy while using Designer. To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  3. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas.

    Screenshot shows Designer in PowerPoint on Android with Design Ideas visible on the rightmost side of the window.

  4. Tap the design you want and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, tap the "X" at the top-left corner of the Designer pane.

    You can also choose another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo Undo your last action to back out of a design change you've just selected.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer to elevate your presentations. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer provides suggestions for your pictures, charts, or tables and with various visuals. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Professional layouts

Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

SmartArt graphics

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic. Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Task, checklist, planning symbol

Designer is available when you're using an Android tablet, but not a phone.

 Applies to:

PowerPoint for Android Version 16.0.7531.1011 or later    

Troubleshooting for Android

If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, you might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again.

Designer is available when using a Windows tablet but not a Windows phone, see Requirements for more details.

 Get design ideas

  1. In PowerPoint, you can get design ideas any time. Tap Design > Design Ideas The Designer button on the toolbar in Microsoft PowerPoint. on the ribbon.

  2. The first time you try Designer, a prompt might appear requesting your permission to provide design ideas for you. If you want to use Designer, tap Turn on or Let's go.

    Note: Microsoft is committed to helping protect your security and privacy while using Designer. To learn more, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  3. Go to the Designer pane on the rightmost side of the window and look through the design ideas.

    When you select a design idea, it immediately appears full-size on the slide

  4. Tap the design you want and your slide is changed accordingly. To exit Designer without making any changes, tap the "X" at the top-left corner of the Designer pane.

    You can also choose another idea from the pane or go back to your original slide design: Tap Undo Undo your last action to back out of a design change you've just selected.

Explore Designer

Learn more about the different features in Designer to elevate your presentations. You can use SmartArt graphics to turn text into engaging visuals. Designer provides suggestions for your pictures, charts, or tables and with various visuals. Find out what other features Designer has to offer.

Professional layouts

Designer detects pictures, charts, or tables on a slide and gives you several suggestions for arranging them in a cohesive, attractive layout.

Sample slide with a text timeline and photo that Design Ideas arranged and laid out.

SmartArt graphics

Sample slide showing a text timeline that PowerPoint Designer converted to a SmartArt graphic

Designer can turn text such as lists, processes, or timelines into an easily readable SmartArt graphic. Learn more about SmartArt graphic.

Task, checklist, planning symbol

Designer is available when you're using a tablet, but not a phone.

 Applies to:

PowerPoint Mobile Version 16.0.8201.1017 or later    

Troubleshooting when using a Windows tablet

If you can see the Design Ideas button in PowerPoint but it's grayed out, you might not be connected to the internet. Make sure you have an active internet connection and try again.

See Also

Combining colors in PowerPoint: Mistakes to avoid

Format the background color of slides

Start with a presentation template

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