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The AhaSlides add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint lets you embed interactive slides made on AhaSlides directly into your PowerPoint deck. Present your PowerPoint as usual — when you reach an interactive slide, participants join on their phones and submit responses live. This feature is compatible with all AhaSlides slide types.
This is different from importing a PowerPoint presentation into AhaSlides. The add-in embeds a live AhaSlides display inside PowerPoint; importing brings a PowerPoint file into AhaSlides.

Requirements and Limitations

  • Available for installed Microsoft Office 2019 and later. On earlier versions you’ll need to upgrade to use this integration.
  • The Presenter role does not work with the PowerPoint add-in. If several people need to run the same presentation at once, each needs their own copy.

Does the Add-in Read My PowerPoint Content?

No. The add-in does not read, access, or store any of your PowerPoint slide content. It only embeds a remote display of your AhaSlides presentation.

How to Set It Up

1

Download the AhaSlides add-in

In PowerPoint, click Insert in the top toolbar, then Get Add-Ins. Your interface may look slightly different depending on your PowerPoint version.Search for AhaSlides and click Add. The AhaSlides add-in window appears on your slide — you can delete the default PowerPoint content blocks and stretch the window to fit the slide.
2

Choose the slide or presentation

Log in to your AhaSlides account inside the add-in, then open the presentation you want to add. You can also edit slides directly within the add-in: select the slide, enable Edit mode, click the Content tab, and make your changes.
The add-in remembers the last presentation you had open. The next time you insert it on a new slide, it opens straight to that presentation instead of the full presentation list — so you don’t have to re-navigate nested folders each time.
3

Add your slide or presentation

Adding a single slide — once the slide is ready, click Select this slide below the canvas. The interactive slide is added to your PowerPoint slide.Adding a whole presentation — click Select Presentation. Your AhaSlides presentation is added and you can control it just as you would when presenting on AhaSlides. You can also do this from the My Presentations page using the Select Presentation button next to a presentation.

Adding Leaderboards 🏆

If you added a quiz slide and want to show scores:
  1. Use the pop-up leaderboard by pressing L on your keyboard (or the trophy icon in the control bar), or
  2. Manually add a leaderboard slide the same way you add other slides.
Without a leaderboard, your quiz still works in PowerPoint, but scores won’t be shown and no winner is announced.

Reloading Slides

Hover over the Menu option in the lower-left corner of the add-in to open a side panel with a Reload option. If you make changes to your slide on AhaSlides, click Reload to pull those updates into PowerPoint.

Troubleshooting

If you can’t install the add-in from the Microsoft Store

If Get Add-ins won’t load, the search returns nothing, or the install fails, you can install the add-in from its manifest file instead of going through the store. Download the AhaSlides manifest.xml file, then:
1

Open PowerPoint

Start the PowerPoint application on your computer.
2

Open the add-ins window

Go to the Insert tab in the ribbon, click Get Add-ins, then select My Add-ins at the bottom.
3

Add the add-in from the manifest file

In the Office Add-ins window, click Manage My Add-ins, choose + Add from file, then browse to and select the manifest.xml file you downloaded.
4

Check that it installed

The add-in appears under My Add-ins and you can start using it in PowerPoint right away.
This installs the add-in on your own copy of PowerPoint. Anyone else who needs it has to install it too, either from the store or from the same manifest file.

The QR code is cut off in presentation mode

The add-in only draws inside the area its object occupies on the PowerPoint slide. If that object is smaller than the slide, the AhaSlides display is cropped — and the join QR code is usually the first thing to disappear.
1

Open the slide in edit mode

Leave the slideshow and open the PowerPoint slide for editing.
2

Remove leftover PowerPoint placeholders

Delete any default PowerPoint title or content boxes still sitting on the slide so the add-in object has room.
3

Stretch the add-in object

Click the AhaSlides add-in object once, then drag its corners or edges outward until it fills the PowerPoint slide area.
4

Check it in presentation mode

Start the slideshow again and confirm the QR code is fully visible.
If it is still cropped after resizing, email hi@ahaslides.com with a screenshot of the slide in edit mode, a screenshot of the same slide in presentation mode, and your PowerPoint version and operating system.

Have a question?

Contact our support team — if you’re logged in, use the chat bubble in the bottom-right of your dashboard; otherwise contact us here or email hi@ahaslides.com.