Transitions are the effects PowerPoint plays when moving from one slide to the next. They can be subtle, like a Fade, or more dramatic, like a Push or Morph.
Does this affect you?
Use this for PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2021, and PowerPoint 2019 on Windows or Mac when slides feel abrupt or transitions do not play during the presentation.
Add a transition to a slide or all slides
A transition belongs to the slide you are entering, not the slide before it.
- Select the slide thumbnail that should have the transition when it appears.
- Open the Transitions tab.
- Choose an effect from the gallery. Use the More arrow to see all Subtle, Exciting, and Dynamic Content options.
- Use Preview to replay the effect.
- Adjust Duration in the Timing group to make it faster or slower.
- Click Apply To All if every slide should use the same transition.
Without Apply To All, PowerPoint changes only the selected slide. That is useful for title slides or section breaks that need a different feel.
Fix transitions that do not play
The issue is often a slideshow setting rather than the transition itself.
- Open Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show.
- Make sure Show without animation is unchecked.
- Make sure Show without narration is unchecked if narration should play too.
- Click OK and test with Slide Show > From Beginning.
- If effects still fail, open File > Options > Advanced > Display and test the hardware graphics acceleration setting.
More control
Use sounds sparingly
On the Transitions tab, the Sound dropdown can attach a short effect to the slide change. One or two can help; a sound on every slide usually distracts.
Advance slides automatically
In Timing, uncheck On Mouse Click, check After, and set the number of seconds. This is useful for kiosk or looping displays.
Understand Morph
Morph is a transition that animates matching objects between two similar slides. Duplicate a slide, move or resize objects on the second slide, then apply Morph to the second slide.
Preview the whole deck
Use Slide Show > From Beginning, or From Current Slide, to test transitions in real presentation flow.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – Add, change, or remove transitions between slides (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Apply timing settings for transitions (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Fix problems playing slide shows (2024)