How to Add Music to PowerPoint? (Detailed Guide for All PPT versions & Mac)

They say music is a universal language. While we usually focus on content and visuals, we do believe that the right audio can take a PowerPoint presentation from good to great. Depending on the type and purpose of your presentation, you can add music to one or several slides, or to the entire presentation.

PowerPoint makes the entire process pretty easy. There are several ways you can add music to a PowerPoint:

• From a music file in your computer
• From YouTube
• From a video embed code (either from YouTube or another website)
• By recording an audio and adding it
• From Clip Art

Depending on what PowerPoint version you have, this is how to add music to your presentation:

How to Add Music to PowerPoint 2007

PowerPoint 2007 supports the following audio formats: AIFF Audio (.aiff), AU Audio (.au), MIDI (.mid or .midi), MP3 (.mp3), Windows Audio (.wav), Windows Media Audio (.wma).

Adding music to one or all slides in PowerPoint 2007:

• Select the slide you want to add music to.
• Click on the Insert tab in the top left corner of your screen.
• Click on the Sound button to open the drop-down menu, and select to add a sound file from your computer.
• Find the file you want to add and click OK.
• A pop-up window will open, asking you how you want the sound to start in your slideshow. You can either select 'automatically' or 'manually'.
• Click on the 'Animations' tab and go to 'Custom Animation.' A menu will show up on the right side of the screen.
• Select the file you just added and click on the drop-down menu icon.
• Select 'Effect Options.' A pop-up window will appear.
• You can select when the music will start and stop playing. It can be after one slide, multiple slides, or at the end of the presentation.

Other options for PowerPoint 2007 include adding a sound from Clip Organizer, from a CD, or recording a sound.

How to Add Music to PowerPoint 2010

PowerPoint 2010 supports the following audio formats: AIFF Audio (.aiff), AU Audio (.au), MIDI (.mid or .midi), MP3 (.mp3), Windows Audio (.wav), Windows Media Audio (.wma).

Adding music to one or all slides in PowerPoint 2010:

• Select the slide you want to add music to.
• Click on the 'Insert' tab in the top left corner of your screen.
• Click on the 'Audio' button to open the drop-down menu and select to add audio from file.

• Find the file you want to add and click OK.

• A sound icon will appear on the slide. You can drag it outside the slide if you don’t want it to show over the slide content.
• With the music icon selected, click on the 'Playback' tab, and then select 'Start Automatically,' for your music to start automatically when the slide is played.

• Click on the 'Animations' tab and go to 'Animation Pane'. A menu will show up on the right side of the screen.
• Select the file you just added and click on the drop-down menu icon.
• Select 'Effect Options'. A pop-up window will appear.

• You can select when the music will start and stop playing. It can be after one slide, multiple slides, or at the end of the presentation.

Other options for PowerPoint 2010 include adding a Clip Art audio or to record an audio and then add it to the presentation.

How to Add Music to PowerPoint 2013

PowerPoint 2013 supports the following audio formats: AIFF Audio (.aiff), AU Audio (.au), MIDI (.mid or .midi), MP3 (.mp3), Advanced Audio Coding – MPEG-4 (.m4a, .mp4), Windows Audio (.wav), Windows Media Audio (.wma).

Adding music to one or all slides in PowerPoint 2013:

• Select the slide you want to add music to.
• Click on the 'Insert' tab in the top left corner of your screen.
• Click on the 'Audio' button to open the drop-down menu and then select Audio on my PC.
• Find the file you want to add and click 'Insert.'
• A sound icon will appear on the slide. You can drag it outside the slide if you don’t want it to show on top of your slide content.
• With the music icon selected, click on the 'Playback' tab, and then select 'Start Automatically' for the music to start automatically.
• From the 'Playback' menu you can trim your audio, select when it starts and when it stops, and if the song should loop until stopped.
• With the audio icon selected, you can go on the 'Playback' tab and select 'Play in Background'. 'Play in Background' makes the audio file start automatically during a slide show and play across multiple slides.

How to Add Music to PowerPoint 2016

PowerPoint 2016 supports the following audio formats: AIFF Audio (.aiff), AU Audio (.au), MIDI (.mid or .midi), MP3 (.mp3), Advanced Audio Coding – MPEG-4 Audio File (.m4a, .mp4), Windows Audio (.wav), Windows Media Audio (.wma)

Adding music to one or all slides in PowerPoint 2016:

• Select the slide you want to add music to.
• Click on the 'Insert' tab in the top left corner of your screen.
• Click on the Audio button to open the drop-down menu and then select 'Audio' on my PC.
• Find the file you want to add and click Insert.
• A sound icon will appear on the slide. You can drag it outside the slide if you don’t want it to show on top of your slide content.
• With the music icon selected, click on the 'Playback' tab, and then select 'Start Automatically' for the music to start automatically.
• From the 'Playback' menu you can trim your audio, select when it starts and when it stops, and if the song should loop until stopped.
• With the audio icon selected, you can go on the 'Playback' tab and select 'Play in Background'. 'Play in Background' makes the audio file start automatically during a slide show and play across multiple slides.

How to Add Music to PowerPoint on Mac

• Open the PowerPoint presentation and click on the Insert tab, select 'Audio' and then Audio Browser.
• A pop-up window will display your audio browser with all the music you have in your iTunes library.
• Select the track you want to add. Click on 'Play' to preview the music.
• Once you’ve selected your track, drag and drop it on the slide. A speaker icon will show up on your PowerPoint slide.
• With the speaker icon selected, you will have a 'Format Audio' menu which allows you to select when the music starts and stops, and how it will play.
• You can select the music to start automatically or to play across all slides.
• Under 'Playback Options,' check 'Hide Icon During Show' and 'Loop Until Stopped.'

How to Add Music to PowerPoint Online

PowerPoint Online does not have the option of adding audio or video content other than from YouTube.

To add music from YouTube to a PowerPoint Online presentation, follow these steps:

• Select the slide where you want to place the video.
• Go to the Insert tab, in the Media Group and select Online Video.
• Search for the video you want to add, select it and press Enter.
• Select a video thumbnail image and click Insert. The video is now inserted on your slide. You can drag it in a different position with your mouse.
• To play the video, run Slide Show.
• Go to the View tab, click Start Slide Show, and select From Current Slide.

How to Add Music to PowerPoint from Youtube (All Versions)

PowerPoint has the option of adding a YouTube video to a presentation. The PowerPoint versions that support adding a YouTube video are PowerPoint 2013, 2016, and PowerPoint Online. The video will play directly from YouTube, so an Internet connection is required.

Adding music from YouTube to a PowerPoint presentation:

• Select the slide you want the video on.
• Go to the Insert tab, click Video, and select the Online Video option.
• A pop-up box with two options will appear on the screen. You can either use the YouTube search bar in the box and search for your video, or go with the second option and paste the embed code of your YouTube video there.
• If you choose to search for a YouTube video using the search box, a series of videos will show up. You can preview them and select the one you want. Then click Insert.
• If you choose to add an embed code, you need to go to YouTube, select the video you want to use, click Share, and copy the embed code. Then paste it in the Paste Embed Code Here box in PowerPoint.
• Click and press Ctrl and drag the video corner to make it larger.
• Click Slide Show and then hit Play to watch the video in Slide Show mode. You can use the YouTube buttons to play, pause, and adjust the volume.

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