Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP/2003

A PPT file is a presentation in the binary format of Microsoft PowerPoint 97 to 2003. PowerPoint 2007 replaced it with PPTX, but millions of PPT files still circulate: lecture slides on old university pages, training materials, company templates nobody has updated, presentations from archives and attachments from people who still run an old Office. Every current version of PowerPoint opens them, in compatibility mode.

A short history

PowerPoint was written at Forethought, a small Californian company founded by Robert Gaskins. Version 1.0 shipped for the Macintosh in April 1987, and in July of the same year Microsoft bought Forethought for 14 million dollars. A Windows version followed in 1990. Until 1995 almost every release used a different binary format. PowerPoint 97 introduced the format we now know as PPT, and it remained the default up to PowerPoint 2003. Microsoft documents it in the [MS-PPT] specification, which has been covered by its Open Specification Promise since 2007.

What is inside a PPT file

A PPT is a Compound File Binary container, a small file system inside a single file. Its first bytes are always D0 CF 11 E0, the same signature as old DOC and XLS files. Inside are streams: "PowerPoint Document" with slides, masters and text in binary records, "Current User", an optional "Pictures" stream with embedded images, and document properties. A PPT can also contain VBA macros.

Limits compared with PPTX, as described by the Library of Congress:

• Video is always linked, never embedded. Copy the PPT without the video file and the slide shows an empty frame.
• Features added since 2007, such as SmartArt, newer transitions and text effects, are converted to static pictures or simpler forms when you save as PPT.
• The file is not readable without special software. Unencrypted text is often visible in a hex viewer, but the layout is not.

A related extension, PPS, is the same format set to open straight into the slide show.

How to open a PPT file

• Windows and Mac: Microsoft PowerPoint, any version. The title bar shows "Compatibility Mode".
• Free: LibreOffice Impress on Windows, macOS and Linux, Keynote on a Mac, Google Slides in a browser after uploading to Google Drive.
• Phone: the PowerPoint app for Android and iOS, or Google Slides.

Common problems

PPT opens in compatibility mode

New features are disabled until you convert the file. In PowerPoint choose File > Info > Convert, which saves a PPTX copy.

Video in a PPT will not play

The video was linked, and the link points to a folder on the author's computer. Ask for the video file, put it next to the PPT and reinsert it, ideally after converting to PPTX, which can embed video.

Fonts look different on another computer

The fonts were not embedded and the other computer uses substitutes. Embed fonts when saving in PowerPoint or send a PDF.

Macros are blocked

Microsoft 365 blocks VBA macros in files downloaded from the internet. Only unblock files from a source you trust.

Converting PPT

We convert presentations on our own servers.

• PPT to PPTX: the standard upgrade. Slides, text, pictures, tables and charts carry over. VBA macros are dropped, because PPTX cannot store them.
• PPT to PDF: for sharing and printing, one slide per page. Animations, transitions, sound and video are lost, and speaker notes are not included. Fonts missing on our server are replaced with metrically compatible ones where possible, for example Carlito instead of Calibri. More on PPTX to PDF, which works the same way.
• PPT to an image (PNG, JPG): only the first slide is converted. For all slides, convert to PDF.
• PPT to ODP for LibreOffice and OpenOffice.

If you have PowerPoint, File > Save As > PowerPoint Presentation (*.pptx) gives the most faithful result. Our converter helps when you have no Office, work on Linux or a phone, or need to convert several files at once.

PPT at a glance