Microsoft 365 customers who opt-in to First Release can now test the ability to export Word documents to PowerPoint presentations on the web.
“Have you ever wished you could easily export your Microsoft Word document into a PowerPoint presentation with just a few clicks?” Microsoft’s Andrea Eoanou writes in the announcement post. “Now you can! We are excited to announce this feature is now available in Word and PowerPoint for the Web with your Microsoft 365 subscription, and we cannot wait for you to try it out.”
Well, you may have to wait, regardless. Aside from the First Release requirement noted above, this feature is also only available in English. And it only works in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox (and presumably Chromium-based browsers); Internet Explorer and Safari are not supported.
It seems easy enough: Just create a document in Word for the web and then choose File > Export > Export to PowerPoint presentation (preview). In the window that appears, choose a design theme and then click Export. When it’s done, you’ll be prompted to open the presentation in PowerPoint for web.
“This feature uses artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to save you time and provide you with slide suggestions powered by Designer in PowerPoint,” Eoanou notes. “The slides are derived from your section headers in the document, so make sure to organize your Word document accordingly for optimal suggestions. Based on key words in your document, Designer in PowerPoint will suggest imagery, icons, videos, themes[,] and fonts to arrange your content. You can always change the suggested content if needed. “
This feature only exports text at this time, Microsoft adds. The exporting of other media content is not currently available.