First, identify what you’re changing
This process is for changing the master slide design of slides in an existing presentation. A master slide can affect the basic appearance of slides, including the background, graphics, and text formatting. Therefore, loading a master slide from a template is not the same step as choosing a template when creating a new presentation. For details about master slides and templates, see the relevant section of the Impress Guide.
Saving a copy of the presentation before you begin is a useful precaution. The guide states that the master slide controls basic formatting, while individual slides can be changed without affecting the master slide. Review the appearance of the slides after applying the new design.
Prepare the target slides and design
- Open the presentation and select the slides you want to change in the Slides pane on the left. For a single slide, select only that slide; for a group of slides, select the slides in the group.
- Identify which template contains the design you want to use. If it does not appear in the template-loading window, check that you selected the correct category and template.
- Decide whether you want the change to affect the entire presentation or only the slides you selected. This decision determines how to set the Exchange background page option in the confirmation window.
These steps are based on Impress documentation published for LibreOffice 26.2. If a menu or option looks different in your version, compare the steps in the Impress Getting Started Guide with the option in your own interface rather than assuming its name.
Load and apply the master slide
- From the menu bar, open Slide > Change Slide Master. This opens a window containing the available master slides.
- If the design you want is not listed, click Load. In the loading window, select a category and template; once you confirm, that template’s master slides are added to the design options.
- Select the master slide you want to use from the design list.
- Set the scope of the application. If Exchange background page is selected, the master slide is applied to all slides in the presentation. To apply it only to the selected slides, clear this option.
- Before confirming, check the slides you selected and the application scope again; then confirm the operation.
This explanation of the scope matches the guide’s steps under Slide > Change Slide Master. If you are targeting a specific group of slides, verify both the selection and the scope; selecting slides alone does not mean that the option to apply the change to all slides is turned off.
Which scope should you choose?
All slides: Choose this scope if you want a consistent design throughout the presentation. Check any cover or section slides that should look different separately afterward.
Selected slides: If you are changing the design only for the cover, a section divider, or a particular group of content slides, select those slides first and make sure Exchange background page is not selected.
The basic formatting of a master slide does not guarantee that the exact placement of every object will remain unchanged. According to the guide, a master slide can include properties such as the background, graphics, and text formatting, and individual slides can also be edited. So after the operation, review not just the background but also the titles and content areas.
Example: an 8-slide project presentation
Hypothetical example: Suppose Elif’s school project presentation has 8 slides: 1. cover, 2. objective, 3. method, 4–6. findings, 7. conclusion, 8. sources. Elif wants to change the design of only the cover.
Elif first saves a copy of the file, selects only the first slide in the Slides pane, and opens Slide > Change Slide Master. If the design she wants is not listed, she uses Load to select the relevant category and template. She then selects the design and checks that Exchange background page is not selected. After confirming the operation, she reviews the title and image on the cover, as well as the appearance of the other seven slides. This example does not claim that a particular design will produce the same result in every presentation; the result should be checked in the file.
Troubleshooting and verification
- The design does not appear in the list: Check your category and template selections in the loading window. If the design still does not appear, do not assume that it is available in the current list.
- More slides changed than expected: Check the application scope. If the option to apply the change to all slides is on, try again in your copy of the file, select the correct slides, and clear the option.
- A slide looks unexpected: Review the master slide’s background, text formatting, and content areas. If necessary, edit that slide separately; confirm the scope before applying the change to other slides again.
Final checklist
- A copy of the original presentation was saved.
- The correct slides were selected and the master slide to use was identified.
- Exchange background page was set to the desired scope.
- Titles, text, images, and the overall appearance of the slides were checked.
- The changes were saved to the correct file.
Frequently asked questions
Will a new master slide delete existing text?
The sources explain that the master slide controls basic formatting and that individual slides can be edited separately; they do not guarantee that content in every presentation will not be deleted. Work with a copy of the file and check the text after applying the change.
Can I change the design of only one slide?
Yes. Select the slide in question and make sure Exchange background page is not selected when applying the design. Then check that the other slides have not changed.
Related how-to guides
You can explore the relevant step in more detail with the LibreOffice Impress vs. PowerPoint comparison guide. You can explore the relevant step in more detail with the guide to using animation in LibreOffice Impress.
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