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You are here: Home / Backgrounds / 2 ways to save time and effort by setting default shape formats in PowerPoint

2 ways to save time and effort by setting default shape formats in PowerPoint

February 4, 2018 by Ellen Finkelstein 10 Comments

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powerpoint-tips-change-default-theme-template-1aI rarely use shapes with outlines. So every time I insert a shape, I click the Format tab, choose Shape Outline, then No Outline.

Wait, why am I doing that? I can customize my themes!

I often use the default theme to create graphics. Here are the steps to customize it to always get a theme with shapes that have no outlines. Of course, you can make any changes you want.

Remember that themes don’t have any objects in them, unlike templates, which can have sample slides, logos, images, etc.

Know which theme you’re using

powerpoint-tips-change-default-theme-template-1First, I want to show you a little trick that will tell you which theme you’re using. This will help you know which theme is your default. PowerPoint used to show you the current theme on the status bar at the lower-left of the PowerPoint window, but for some reason stopped doing that.

But you can get it back!

Right-click the status bar in PowerPoint to see the Customize Status Bar list. Click Theme to always see which theme you’re using. (You’ll see the current theme listed on the right.)

Now, look at your status bar. It shows your current theme!

This is probably the theme that you want to change.

Why not change the Slide Master?

Remember that many defaults are set in the Slide Master, such as the font, text alignment, etc. So if that’s what you want to change, you would use a slightly different procedure. In that case, see my post, “Customize the Default Theme to Instantly Get the Look You Want.”

And you shouldn’t use this method to change the default shape color, because you should set your colors on the Slide Master. “Try Design Variations” explains how to set your theme colors.

In fact, the reason you can’t use the Slide Master to get rid of the shape outline is that while you can customize your fonts and colors, you don’t have the same flexibility with shape effects. You can choose from a set group of effects, but it’s hard to know from the thumbnail images exactly what you’re getting and you can’t customize them. And as far as I can tell, none of the options offers shapes with no outline

1. Define and set the default shapepowerpoint-tips-change-default-theme-template-4

Now, define your shape and make it the default. Follow these steps:

  1. Insert a shape.
  2. Make the changes you want. I clicked Shape Outline and chose No Outline.
  3. Right-click the shape and choose Set as Default Shape.

Setting a default shape works only for your current presentation. And if you want default shapes only for one presentation, this is the method to use.

2. Set the theme as your default theme

If you want your formatting to be permanent, you have to take one more step, that is, to set the theme as your default. You can do this for your customized theme as well.

Follow these steps:

  1. Click the Design tab.
  2. Click the More down arrow at the right end of the Themes gallery/group to expand the display of the available themes.
  3. Find your current theme. (Because you have displayed it on your status bar, you know what it is.)
  4. Right-click it and choose Set as Default Theme.

The shape itself won’t be saved with the theme. Remember, themes don’t contain objects/text/ images, etc.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must be using a custom theme for this to work.

powerpoint-tips-change-default-theme-template-3To test that this worked, do the following:

  1. Close and re-open PowerPoint.
  2. Choose the Default Theme if you see the Startup screen.
  3. Insert a shape. It should be formatted the way you want it.

No outline–yay!

To make a similar change for other themes that you don’t want to be your default theme, just do the following:

  1. On the Design tab, choose the theme. Note its name.
  2. Insert a shape and format it.
  3. Right-click it and set it as the default shape as described above.
  4. Click the More arrow and choose Save Current Theme.
  5. Choose the current theme from the list and click Save.
  6. When prompted to replace it, click Yes.

Are you spending time doing the same formatting of shapes over and over? Leave a comment and please share this post with others using the Social Media buttons.

If you like tips like this, you’ll love my e-book, 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know! Check it out here.

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READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. Customize the default theme to instantly get the look you want
  2. Changing the Default for New Objects
  3. Create a theme in PowerPoint that changes colors
  4. Save PowerPoint customizations for the Quick Access Toolbar and ribbon

Filed Under: Backgrounds, Shapes & text boxes, User Interface Tagged With: customize theme, remove shape outline, set default shape, set default shape format, set default theme

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Aroog AyubCraig Hadden (@RemotePoss)Ellen FinkelsteinLuc SandersLuc Sanders Recent comment authors
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Arnout
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Arnout

I still don’t understand why current PowerPoint versions by default add an outline to objects (in the most default of default templates).

From a designer perspective this makes no sense to me! It also gives this typical ‘PowerPoint look’ we all loathe and try to avoid.

Then again, perhaps I should be happy they dropped the default drop shadow and color gradient as the default! 🙂

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5 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
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Ellen Finkelstein

I think there are 2 reasons: it’s always been like that and if they changed the default it would have repercussions on existing presentations that would freak people out. Also, people wouldn’t be sure how to add an outline. Luckily, it’s an easy default to change if you know how.

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5 years ago
Arnout
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Arnout

Hi Ellen,

No need to freak people out any more with PowerPoint! 🙂

However, I stille find the design choices PowerPoint follows a bit arbitrary. They did drop the default shadow after all. And looking at current design trends, I most often remove the outline (far more than I would add it). But hey, the world sure has some greater disputes to settle on!

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5 years ago
Luc Sanders
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Luc Sanders

Hi Ellen,
Tried your suggestion to remove the outline of shapes in the theme. It does not seem to work. I am still using PPT 2013, is this something that has changed in PPT 2016/365?

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4 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
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Ellen Finkelstein

Luc, I’m not aware of a change but it is working for me. Try this — after creating your no-outline shape and saving it as the default, save it as a template. I called mine no-outline.potx. Then open a new presentation based on the template. Does that work for you?

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4 years ago
Luc Sanders
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Luc Sanders

Ellen,
Using a template works. Using the in-built themes does not. Making a new custom theme works.

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4 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
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Ellen Finkelstein

Luc, right, you have to make a new custom theme. That’s because you can’t change shape effects in the built-in themes. I added a note to that effect. Thanks for the clarification.

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4 years ago
Luc Sanders
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Luc Sanders

Glad to be of service. Love your blog by the way.

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4 years ago
Craig Hadden (@RemotePoss)
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Craig Hadden (@RemotePoss)

It’s very helpful to have these steps laid out, so thanks for sharing.

I’ve come to realise that the fewer default design traits used in a deck, the better it looks!

One other default I’d like to overcome is the size of corners on rounded rectangles, because I think they look way better when they’re more subtle. So is there a way to change the default size of rounded corners?

That might be handy for cases like this [link], to replace bullets with rounded shapes.

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4 years ago
Aroog Ayub
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Aroog Ayub

HI, Is there a way to permanently add a custom shapes into shapes so that we can use it again and again?

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3 years ago
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