PowerPoint how to add slide numbers

Distinguish slide numbers from page numbers

This guide explains how to add numbers to slides in a PowerPoint presentation. Adding page numbers to notes pages or handouts is a separate setting. Microsoft’s guide to slide and notes page numbers explains these two processes separately.

Menu names and paths may vary depending on your version of PowerPoint and your platform. Microsoft’s instructions include paths such as Insert > Slide Number, Insert > Header & Footer, and Insert > Footer > Slide Number. Don’t assume these options are all available at the same time in every version. Use the options on your screen; if the menu path differs, make sure you’ve found the option that opens the number settings.

Add numbers to all slides

1. Open the Insert tab. If Slide Number appears in your interface, select it. Microsoft’s other instructions describe using the Header & Footer window or the Footer > Slide Number path.
2. In the settings window, go to the Slide tab or find the Slide number checkbox in the relevant pane. Check the box.
3. To apply the setting to all slides in the presentation, select Apply to All. If you see an option to apply it only to the selected slide, you can select Apply for that instead.
4. Check the result on your slides. Look at the first slide and a later slide to see how the settings took effect.

Microsoft’s instructions for adding, hiding, and repositioning slide numbers explain how to check the number box and select Apply to All. In some interfaces, the number’s position appears in the preview; if you don’t see this option, check the number’s position in the presentation.

Hide the number on the title slide

If you don’t want a number on the first, or title, slide, check Don’t show on title slide in the number settings. If you want the number applied to the other slides as well, select Apply to All. Microsoft’s instructions describe this option for hiding the number on the title slide.

This is not the same as changing the starting number. Check that the title slide in your presentation has no number and that numbers appear on the later slides. If you need a specific numbering pattern, also consider the starting-number step below; don’t assume the number you expect without checking what appears on screen.

Change the starting number

To start numbering with a value other than 1, follow the desktop path described by Microsoft: Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. In the window that opens, find Number slides from and choose the starting value you want. Then check the numbers shown on the slides.

If the menu or field has a different name on your screen, don’t change another setting that looks similar. Make sure you’ve found the field that changes the starting number. This step sets where numbering begins; the choice to show a number on the title slide is set separately.

Example: an unnumbered cover and numbered content slides

Hypothetical example: Imagine an 8-slide project presentation where the first slide is the cover and the remaining slides are content slides. You don’t want a number to appear on the cover.

• On the Insert tab, open the number option that matches the interface on your screen. It may be under Slide Number, Header & Footer, or Footer > Slide Number.
• Check the Slide number box.
• If you don’t want a number on the cover, also check Don’t show on title slide.
• Select Apply to All, then check the cover and a few of the following slides.

This example uses only the setting that hides the number on the cover. If you have a specific requirement for the starting number, set that separately. Check what appears on your slides to confirm that the scope you chose meets your expectations.

Add a number to only the selected slide

Microsoft’s instructions include a step for adding a number to the selected slide: check the Slide number box and select Apply. First select the slide you want to number, then open the number settings and apply the change. If you want to number multiple individual slides, the instructions say to repeat the process for each slide you want.

As you use this method, check which slide is selected and whether you chose Apply or Apply to All in the settings window. Afterward, inspect the target slide and a slide that you don’t want numbered. This lets you confirm the scope of your selection in the presentation itself.

Reposition the number

To change the number’s position, Microsoft’s desktop instructions use View > Slide Master. Select the Slide Master thumbnail at the top of the thumbnail pane. In the slide pane, press and hold the slide number placeholder until the four-headed arrow appears, then drag it to its new position. When you’re done, select Close Master View.

This step is for repositioning the number. If it doesn’t appear at all, first check whether the number box is checked and what scope you applied the setting to. For information about master slides and placeholders, see our guide to editing placeholder text in the PowerPoint slide master and, for footer visibility, our guide to footers not showing in the slide master.

Final checklist and frequently asked questions

• Is the Slide number box checked?
• Was the number applied only to the selected slide or to all slides?
• Is your preference for showing a number on the title slide set correctly?
• If you need a custom starting number, did you set that separately?
• Have you checked the number’s position and how it appears in the presentation?

If I leave the title slide unnumbered, will the next slide be 1? Hiding the number on the title slide and changing the starting number are separate settings. Check what appears on the next slide; if you want a different starting number, also use the starting-number setting in the Custom Slide Size window.

Can I add a number to just one slide? Yes. According to Microsoft’s instructions, use Apply to add a number to the selected slide. Make sure you selected the slide you want and confirm afterward that the change was applied only to that slide.