PowerPoint Tips & Tutorials

Play sound or music by passing mouse over an icon (without clicking)

You can play a sound or music file on a slide without clicking the mouse. Usually, you insert a file by choosing Insert > Movies and Sounds > Sound from File. You see a sound icon on the slide. A dialog box asks you if you want to play the sound automatically or when you click the icon. If you want control over when the sound plays, you choose to click.

There's another way to play a sound -- by passing the mouse over the icon. Follow the previous instructions to insert the sound. Then follow these steps:

1. Select the icon.

2. Choose Slide Show > Action Settings and click the Mouse Over tab.

3. Click the Object Action option and choose Play (the default) from the drop-down list.

4. Click OK.

If you hide most of the icon behind another object, it won't be conspicuous. When you pass the cursor over the icon, a hand or hourglass may appear, but you can move the cursor away from the icon and the sound or music will play.

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