Okay, here is the exact answer to how to insert the slide number and include the total number in PowerPoint, based on the provided reference and standard PowerPoint features.
To insert the current slide number in your PowerPoint presentation, you primarily use the Header & Footer feature. While the standard Header & Footer dialog box allows you to easily insert the current slide number dynamically, including the total number typically involves combining this with manual text or using the Slide Master for more advanced dynamic fields.
Here are the steps focusing on inserting the current slide number via the Header & Footer dialog:
1. Insert the Current Slide Number
Follow these steps to add the current slide number to your slides:
- Navigate to the Insert tab on the PowerPoint ribbon.
- In the Text group, click Header & Footer.
- The Header and Footer dialog box will appear. Click the Slide tab within this box.
- To add slide numbers, select the Slide number check box. This inserts a placeholder (
#>) into the footer of your slides, which will automatically update with the correct number for each slide.
2. Include the Total Number of Slides (Common Method)
The standard Header & Footer dialog box for slides does not have a built-in check box for adding a dynamic total slide count like it does for the current slide number. However, you can easily display the total count alongside the current number, often in the format "Slide X of Y", by using the Footer text box within the same Header & Footer dialog box.
Here’s how you can do this:
- After selecting the Slide number check box as described above, look for the Footer section in the Header and Footer dialog box.
- Select the Footer check box to enable the footer area.
- In the text box below the Footer check box, the
#>placeholder for the slide number will likely appear automatically if the Slide number box is checked. - Manually type the total number of slides in your presentation after the slide number placeholder, often preceded by " of ".
- Example: If your presentation has 25 slides, type
#> of 25. This will display "1 of 25" on the first slide, "2 of 25" on the second, and so on.
- Example: If your presentation has 25 slides, type
Note: Using this method, the total number (e.g., "25" in the example above) is static. If you add or remove slides later, you will need to manually update the total number in the Header & Footer dialog box. For a dynamic total count, you would typically need to use placeholders available in the Slide Master view, which is a more advanced method outside the scope of the standard Header & Footer dialog.
3. Apply to Slides
Once you have configured the slide number and footer text (including your manual total count), you have two options:
- Click Apply to apply the changes only to the currently selected slide(s).
- Click Apply to All to apply the changes to every slide in your presentation.
You can also select the Don't show on title slide check box in the Header & Footer dialog if you don't want the slide number and footer to appear on your presentation's title slide.
By following these steps, you can insert the current slide number using the built-in functionality and include the total number by adding it as static text in the footer alongside the dynamic slide number placeholder.
