How to add a GIF to PowerPoint

When a picture isn’t enough and a video is too much, why not try something in between? You can add an animated GIF to PowerPoint and enhance your presentation in just a few clicks.

By using a GIF, you can show brief steps, invoke heartfelt emotions, or bring smiles to your audience’s faces. You can also include a GIF for entertainment during break time or to bring a fun conclusion to the show.

Whatever your reason, we’ll show you how to add a GIF in PowerPoint along with how Plus AI can help you create perfectly structured presentations.

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Method 1: Add a saved GIF to PowerPoint

If you have a GIF saved to your computer, you can pop it onto a PowerPoint slide like any other image.

1. Select the slide and go to the Insert tab.
2. Open the Pictures drop-down menu and pick This Device on Windows or Picture from File on Mac.

3. Navigate to the file’s location, select the GIF, and click Insert.

When the GIF appears on the slide, drag to move it where you’d like it.

Tip: If you have your saved GIF in a handy location, you can also drag it onto the slide.

Edit the GIF before adding it to PowerPoint

As you may know, animated GIFs loop automatically, meaning they restart from the beginning as soon as they end. However, you may not want this behavior for the GIF during your presentation.

You’ll find several online GIF editors, but one that makes it easy to stop the infinite loop is Ezgif.com.

1. Visit the Ezgif.com splitter on the web.
2. Choose, paste, or drag your saved GIF onto the Upload image section and click Upload.

3. When your file appears, click Split to frames.

4. You’ll then see each frame in the animated GIF. Scroll down and select Edit animation.

5. Below the next view of frames, go to the GIF Options section, enter 1 in the Loop count box, and click Make a GIF.

6. You’ll see a preview of the edited GIF, which should stop after one loop. Choose Save to download the updated file.

7. Use the steps above to place the edited GIF on your slide.

Method 2: Add an online GIF to PowerPoint

Maybe you need to find the GIF you want to include in your presentation. You can search for the GIF directly from PowerPoint.

1. Select the slide and go to the Insert tab.
2. Open the Pictures drop-down menu and pick Online Pictures.

3. Enter “animated GIF” in the Search box and optionally include a keyword for the type of GIF you want to find.

4. Select the GIF and pick Insert.

Again, you can move the GIF to a different spot on your slide if you like.

Tip: Check out our list of the best GIFs for presentations to get some inspiration!

Get help arranging slide elements with Plus AI

When you create a new PowerPoint presentation with the help of Plus AI, you can not only save time but receive a slideshow that’s preformatted for you. This includes text, images, and other elements using the slide layouts that fit your content best.

You can also take advantage of these additional Plus AI features for building presentations:

• Create a slideshow using a prompt, pasting text, uploading a file, or going slide by slide.
• Choose from attractive templates or make a reusable custom theme.
• Use a preset with instructions or settings across your collaborators.
• Open or reuse previous items from the History section.

For more information on these features and others, head to the Plus AI website.

Conclusion

By adding an animated GIF to a slideshow in PowerPoint, you can include something useful, entertaining, amusing, or emotional to match your presentation topic. And using Plus AI, you can arrange your slide elements in the most effective way to present the information to your audience.

FAQs

How to create a GIF in PowerPoint?

Just like saving your PowerPoint slideshow as a video, you can export it as a GIF too. Go to File > Export and pick Create an Animated GIF. Choose the quality and optionally adjust the additional settings including which slides to use. Click Create GIF, select a location, and pick Save.

How do I insert a GIF as a background in PowerPoint?

You can choose a GIF as your slide background just like other pictures in PowerPoint. Go to the Design tab and select Format Background. In the sidebar that appears, mark Picture or texture fill and click Insert to locate and add the GIF.

When you play your presentation, you’ll see the animated GIF as the background for your slide.

How do I insert animations in PowerPoint?

You can animate text, images, shapes, and other objects easily in PowerPoint. Select the slide element and go to the Animations tab. In the Animations section of the ribbon, choose a Style in the drop-down box. Then, optionally pick a Trigger, how to Start the animation, and its Duration.