How to Save a PowerPoint as a PDF

After you’ve created a presentation, you need to save it if you want to use it again. You can also choose to save a copy of an existing presentation under a new name, to a different location, or using a different file type. You will also want to save periodically when you’re creating and editing a presentation to prevent any loss of work.

Save a New Presentation

1. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.

   Shortcut: Press Ctrl + S.

   

   If this is the first time you've saved the presentation, the Save As screen will appear.

2. Choose where you want to save your file:
   • OneDrive is a cloud storage folder accessible to all computers and mobile devices that you’ve connected to your Office 365 account.
   • You can select a SharePoint site, if you’re part of an organization that uses one.
   • Select This PC to save the file locally in your Documents folder.
   • Click Browse to open a dialog box, where you can browse through your computer’s folders, drives, and network shares to select a folder to save in.
3. Enter a file name.
4. Click Save.
   

The file is saved and can be safely closed to reopen later.

Toggle AutoSave

If you've saved a presentation to your OneDrive or SharePoint, you'll be able to use AutoSave. Notice that up in the Quick Access Toolbar, the AutoSave feature is automatically turned on, but you can toggle it off if you don't want changes to be automatically saved.

1. Click the AutoSave toggle button to turn the feature on or off.
   

Save Progress

If you’re not able to use AutoSave, or you're just choosing not to use it, you’ll want to manually save any changes you want to keep. This way, you won’t lose progress if you experience an unexpected crash.

1. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.

   Press Ctrl + S to save the changes in the same location with the same file name.

   

Save As a New File and/or Location

Sometimes, you may want to make a copy of an existing presentation and save it to a new location and/or save it with a new name.

1. Click the File tab.
   
2. Click Save As.
3. Select a location.
   
4. Enter a new file name.
5. Click Save.
   

The presentation is saved in the new location with the new name. The original file is automatically closed, and you can start working on the new one right away.

Save to Different File Formats

PowerPoint files are normally saved as PowerPoint Presentations, but you can save the information to other file formats as well. For example, you may want to save your file as a PDF so that someone who doesn't have PowerPoint can view the presentation.

1. Click the File tab.
   
2. Click Save As.
3. Choose where you want to save your file.
4. (Optional) Enter a new File name.
5. Click the Save as type list arrow.

   You can choose to save your presentation as any of the file types in the drop-down list.

6. Select a file format.
7. Click Save.