Microsoft has added three settings to PowerPoint Live, the presentation view in Teams meetings. The theme from the Teams settings will now also apply when presenting. To navigate, you can now also use the up and down arrow keys or Page Up and Page Down. You can drag the notes pane to the right of the slide wider or narrower, or collapse it completely. Microsoft announced the changes in the Microsoft 365 Insider Blog.
How do you set up the new features?
All three settings take only a few clicks and apply to your own view as a presenter:
- Theme: In Teams, click the three dots next to your profile picture and open the settings, then the appearance section. You can choose from a light, a dark, the classic, and a high-contrast theme. The next time you present, PowerPoint Live will apply your choice.
- Navigation: With the down arrow or Page Down you jump to the next slide, with the up arrow or Page Up back. The keys work everywhere in the view.
- Notes: Move the mouse over the dividing line between the slide and the notes until the pointer for moving appears. Drag the line to the left for more notes, to the right for a larger slide, or all the way to the right edge to collapse the pane. A click on the arrow brings the notes back.
In practice, the new keyboard control matters most, because Microsoft explicitly mentions presenters, that is, small remote controls for advancing slides that send arrow-key or page-key commands. Such devices now control PowerPoint Live without you having to change your usual workflow.
When will it be available and with which files does it work?
Microsoft is rolling out the features gradually, so some accounts do not yet show the new settings. The company does not name a date for all accounts, nor any countries where the changes are missing. The remaining restrictions are listed in the Microsoft Help on PowerPoint Live: Only files in .pptx or .ppsx format up to 2 GB can be presented, older .ppt files cannot. In Teams in the browser, the presenter view requires Edge version 18 or later or Chrome version 65 or later.
When it came to contrast and navigation, participants have so far been better equipped. In the attendee view, audience members switch to high-contrast slides and also page through the slide deck independently of the presentation. With the update, the presenters' side catches up.
What this means for you
If you present regularly in Teams, it is best to start a meeting alone before your next appointment and share a file via PowerPoint Live. That way you can see in advance whether your presenter advances the slides and which theme distracts you least while presenting.
Collapse the notes as soon as you speak freely: The slide then gets more space on your screen. If older presentations still exist as .ppt files, it is best to save the files as .pptx in good time, because PowerPoint Live does not support the old format. How you use notes, slide preview, and timer in PowerPoint itself is shown in the lesson on presenter view in the PowerPoint course.
Microsoft announced the changes on October 27, 2026.
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