Here’s the scenario: in PowerPoint for Mac, you’re setting colors accurately in the color picker. You’re entering only RGB or Hex values on the RGB Sliders pane of the color picker, because you know that PowerPoint only stores colors in RGB/Hex, not CMYK. (You did know that, right?) Nut when you windows users open the file, they see csome colors that have different values and a different appearance. What’s going on here?
You’re experiencing a problem with mandatory color management. We’re living in an era when computer manufacturers have decided they know better than us what we want. When I first wrote about this problem in 2015, it was possible to download a non-color managed panel for the macOS color picker that would give you exactly the RGB values that you chose. Mac PowerPoint: Accurate Colors – Best Practices
But those color pickers have gone away and I can’t find anything to replace them. (If someone finds one, please let me know!) So here’s my next-best suggestion:
The Current Best Solution to Setting Colors Accurately in 2025
If you are creating PowerPoint files that will be used by Windows users, you should set your display to use the same default color management profile that is used in Windows. In System Settings>Displays, set the Color Profile dropdown to sRGB IEC61966-2.1. Then, when setting the color theme values in PowerPoint, click on the three-dot icon beside the RGB Sliders and set the profile there to sRGB IEC61966-2.1 as well. Then set the color values and save the PowerPoint file.
In testing, this approach is mostly accurate. Out of 6 accent colors, only one green value was shifted, from 90 to 89. All the colors had the same values when opened in PowerPoint for Windows. Please keep in mind that when this file is viewed on a system that uses a different color management profile, the RGB values will change. But I don’t see any way to prevent this in modern operating systems.
Custom table styles are an important part of a PowerPoint template. But you should be aware of what you can and cannot expect when designing PowerPoint table styles. The program has a few shortcomings when compared to custom table styles in Word.
Items that can be set in a PowerPoint table style
In a table style, it’s possible to set
the text size and style for the table,
the line weight, style and color for horizontal and vertical internal borders, plus the top, bottom, left and right edge borders, and
the banding color for even and odd rows and/or columns.
A custom table style can be set to be the default style, so inserting a table automatically applies that custom format.
A table style can display optional Header and Total Rows and First and Last Columns that have different formatting than the rest of the table. The shading and borders of these parts can be different from the main body of the table. The text size should be the same, but the text color, bolding and/or italicization can vary. On the Table Design tab the Table Style Options allows users to turn these design features on and off, so a single table style can have multiple appearances if you design for them:
A table style can display row band shading between the rows when banding is turned on, then rules can appear if the user turns banding off.
By default, when a table is added, the Header Row and Banded Row options are automatically selected. If your design doesn’t included banded row shading, the Banded Row option will have no effect.
Default for new table: Header Row and Banded Rows OnIf all options are deselected, a plain table results.Banded Columns are rarely used, but the effect is available.If multiple options are selected, they add up
Table Style Options – Header Row, First Column, Last Column, Total Row
Header Row On, affects only the first row of the tableFirst Column OnLast Column OnTotal Row On
Table Style Options – Corner Cells
In addition, the corner cells (upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right) can have unique formatting. In the example shown, if the user turns on both Header row and First Column, then the unique formatting for the upper left cell is displayed.
Header Row On, First Column OffHeader Row Off, First Column OnBoth Options On
Items that cannot be set in a PowerPoint table style
PowerPoint table styles do not include:
varying horizontal or vertical text alignment within cells. All new tables will have all text top-aligned. All text can be preset to one of left-, center- or right-aligned.
row height or column width. All new tables have equally sized rows and columns.
cell margins. All new table have cell margins of 0.05″ top and bottom and 0.1″ left and right.
multiple header rows. A new table can only have a single header row.
selected cells in different colors. All cells in a given part of a table will have uniform formatting.
If you design depends on any of these, a table can be created as a sample that a user can copy and paste to reuse.
Office tables are purely rectangular. Tables cannot have rounded corners or racetrack headers. If your design includes rounded corners, we can create a sample table with graphic shapes laid over top of the table. These shapes are not groupable with the table, so copying and pasting can be a little trickier for users.
Best Practices in Designing PowerPoint table styles
Tables can have their own set of up to 9 text levels (PowerPoint’s equivalent to styles). This set of text levels is shared among all tables in the template. By default, when a table is inserted, all text uses first level text styling.
Although it is possible for a user to change table text levels using Home>Paragraph>Increase List Level (Windows) or Home>Indent More (macOS), few users are aware of this command and even fewer will use it. It’s not at all intuitive. In consequence, all the text for a table should be designed to be the same size, and all table designs in a presentation need to use the same size. Otherwise, users will simply not create tables that follow your design.
Creating PowerPoint Table Styles
If you want to try creating custom table styles in PowerPoint, please read my articles on the subject:
This is such a common problem, I thought I’d write a short article about why it happens and how to solve it. The symptom is that you apply a numbered style to text, but when the number reaches 10 (or 100, or some other fixed width), the indentation of the text jumps. The effect looks like this:
This happens because the tab setting of the list style is too small. When you reach a number that is wider than the tab setting, the indentation jumps to the next available tab, which may be a default tab that you didn’t even set in the style. To fix the issue, you must increase the tab width in the list style. Here’s how to do that.
With the insertion point flashing in the problem numbering, choose the Home tab, then click on the third button in the Paragraph group. This is the button that displays Multilevel List when you hover over it. Do not click on the second button, which is currently highlightlighted. Click on the third button, then look for the highlighted List Style near the bottom of the dropdown. Right-click on the highlighted style and choose Modify. The Modify Style dialog opens.
In the Modify Style dialog, click on the Format button and choose Numbering:
The Modify Multilevel list dialog opens. Choose the text level causing the problem and adjust Text indent at to a larger amount.
If your list style has more levels below, you may have to increase their indentation as well to keep the levels aligned. When you’re done, OK out. The text indents pop to the right, leaving plenty of room for larger numbers:
In a corporate environment, you normally need new documents to appear with company branding instead of reusing Microsoft’s designs. Here’s how to set a default template or theme so that each new document, presentation or workbook looks like your company guidelines (or your personal preferences).
Template or Theme – Choosing a Format
Templates contain a theme, but a theme is much simpler than a template. You may need to create both types of files. If your goal is to create a unified look in Office, you’ll want to create a theme, then apply it to templates in Word and Excel.
A Theme file contains a Color Theme, a Font Theme and an Effects Theme. It also contains the slide layouts that were in the PowerPoint file when you saved it as a theme. For this reason, you can use a theme as a mini template for new PowerPoint presentations.
Themes provide minimal formatting information for the templates to which they are applied. A theme will supply a set of 12 colors, 2 fonts and a set of visual effects for inserted shapes. It’s possible to add up to 50 custom colors to a theme. Effects themes format the defaults for inserted shapes, but are not editable in any version of Office. I recommend our Flat effects theme, which is more in tune with current graphic design trends than what Microsoft supplies.
When your goal is a full-featured starting point for new files, you’ll want to create a template instead of a theme. Templates can include sample content, typestyles, VBA macro programming and AutoText, depending on the file format. Here at Brandwares, we almost always supply templates rather than themes.
Create a Better Default Template Experience
In Office on both Windows and Mac, Microsoft has decided that the first thing you need when you open an Office program is to be offered a creative choice in what kind of off-brand document you’re going to create today. In a corporate environment, or really any circumstances where you just need to get work done, this is an unneccessary distraction. You really just need to have a default document open so you can get down to business.
If the Backstage or Gallery displays, when an Office program starts, the program will not automatically create a new file from the default template. You would have to have a file open, then press Ctrl + N (Command + N on a Mac) to create a new file from your template. This limits the usefulness of a default template.
In Office for Windows, you’ll get a better default document experience if all the programs do not show the Backstage on starting. In all three programs, choose File>Options>General and uncheck Show the Start screen when this application starts. Once you do that, opening the program will also open a file created from the default template.
Office for Mac features similar Gallery screens that open by default when the program starts. Turn these off. In PowerPoint, choose PowerPoint>Preferences>General and uncheck Open Presentation Gallery when opening PowerPoint. In Word, choose Word>Preferences>General and uncheck Show document gallery when opening Word. Excel is similar: Excel>Preferences>General and uncheck Show Workbook Gallery when opening Excel.
Set a Default Template or Theme in PowerPoint
I’m starting with PowerPoint because it’s the only Office program that can save a Theme file. In Office for Mac, PowerPoint is also the only program that can create a Color Theme,. (To create a custom Font Theme in Office for Mac, please see this article: OOXML Hacking: Font Themes.) A theme created in PowerPoint can be applied to Word and Excel to give a basic uniform look to documents and workbooks. Theme files cannot contain sample slides, custom table styles, VBA code or preformatted Notes or Handout masters. If you need any of those items, create a template instead of a theme.
Unlike Word, PowerPoint doesn’t have a source file that serves as the starting point for new presentations, analogous to Normal.dotm in Word. But you can give it one! Start by making a copy of your template or theme. Templates will have a file ending of .potx or .potm, while themes will end with .thmx. Change the file name to Default Template, leaving the file ending unchanged.
Here are the steps in PowerPoint for Mac:
While holding down the Option key, click on Go in the macOS menu bar and choose Library. Your hidden user Library folder opens.
Navigate to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Themes
Drag the Default Theme template or theme into the Themes folder.
Open PowerPoint and choose File>New Presentation or press the Command + N key combination to create a new presentation. The new deck is formatted per your template or theme.
Here are the steps for PowerPoint for Windows
Open a File Explorer window
Copy and paste this text into the address bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\Document Themes
Drag the Default Theme template or theme into the Document Themes folder.
In PowerPoint, use the Ctrl + N keyboard shortcut to create a new file from your default template or theme. Or choose File>New, then click on the Default Theme icon at the upper left end of the row of recently used templates and themes.
Set a Default Template or Theme in Word
Setting a template default in Word can be a bit tricky, because Word already has one: the Normal.dotm file. The wrinkle is that Normal.dotm is also the default storage location for user-created content like macros, custom typestyles and AutoText. A minimalist approach is to apply a new theme to an existing Normal.dotm, sidestepping those issues.
Set a Default Theme in Word
A Word-created Normal.dotm always has the Office theme applied to it. You can set a different theme for new documents by editing Normal.dotm and applying a theme file you’ve created in PowerPoint. This is safe for user-created content, as no content is deleted. Custom styles that were based on the Office theme will change appearance, but otherwise keep their characteristics.
Themes are limited in scope, but if your branding goals are limited, that may be enough. Here are the steps for macOS:
With Word open, press Option + F11. The VBA editor opens.
Press Command + Ctrl + G. The Immediate window opens in the VBA editor.
Copy and paste this text into the Immediate window, then press return: application.NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument
The Normal template opens in Word. Close the VBA editor.
Choose Design>Themes>Browse for Themes, find and select the Theme file you saved from PowerPoint, then click on Open.
Save Normal.dotm, then close it.
Here are the steps for Word for Windows:
With Word open, press Alt + F11. The VBA editor opens.
Press Ctrl + G. The Immediate window opens in the VBA editor.
Copy and paste this text into the Immediate window, then press Enter: application.NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument
The Normal template opens in Word. Close the VBA editor.
Choose Design>Themes>Browse for Themes, find and select the Theme file you saved from PowerPoint, then click on Open.
Save Normal.dotm, then close it.
Replace Normal.dotm in Word
If your users may have saved macros, styles or AutoText content, make a copy of Normal.dotm before replacing it, then to use Word’s Organizer feature to copy custom content back to the new template. Here is the procedure to replace Normal.dotm in Word for macOS:
Close Word
While holding down the Option key, click on Go in the macOS menu bar and choose Library. Your hidden user Library folder opens.
Navigate to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates
Drag in the new Normal.dotm file and confirm that you want to replace it.
Restart Word to test that a default document matches the new formatting.
The steps for Word for Windows are complicated by Microsoft’s June 2024 change to the default location of Normal.dotm. These instructions cover Word 2019 and older editions:
Close Word
Open a File Explorer window
Copy and paste this text into the address bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates
Drag the new Normal.dotm file into the Templates folder and confirm that you are replacing the file.
Restart Word to test that a new document matches the new formatting.
As of June 2024, for Microsoft 365 and Word 2021, Normal.dotm has been moved to the Custom Office Templates folder in the user’s Documents folder. The default path is C:Users\YourActualUserName\Documents\Custom Office Templates
Set a Default Template in Outlook
Outlook uses the template called NormalEmail.dotm to set email formatting. It’s stored in the same folder as Normal.dotm. Follow the same steps as for Normal.dotm: close Outlook, edit NormalEmail.dotm in Word (not Outlook), then replace the template. It’s unlikely that NormalEmail.dotm will contain macros, custom styles or AutoText, so you don’t need the precaution of backing up the file before replacing it.
Set a Default Template in Excel
After formatting a workbook with a custom theme, typestyles and any other necessary formatting, save the file in template (.xltx) format with the name Book.xltx.
PowerPoint for Mac Excel steps:
Close Excel.
While holding down the Option key, click on Go in the macOS menu bar and choose Library. Your hidden user Library folder opens.
Navigate to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Excel
Drag the Book.xltx file into the Excel folder.
Open Excel. In Excel for Mac, opening the program creates a new workbook from your template. You can also choose File>New Presentation or press the Command + N key combination to create a new workbook. The new deck is formatted per your template.
Excel for Windows doesn’t work as well as it used to Book.xltx, so there are more steps:
Close Excel
Open a File Explorer window
Copy and paste this text into the address bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
Drag the Book.xltx into the XLSTART folder.
Open Excel to test.
I also recommend that Windows users add a second copy of Book.xltx to the Custom Office Templates folder at C:Users\YourActualUserName\Documents\Custom Office Templates. Call this one something like Default Workbook. The first time you use it, you’ll need to choose File>New>Custom Office Templates to choose it. After that first use, it will display in the row of Excel templates:
In PowerPoint for Windows, you can’t get rid of the Blank Presentation thumbnail. Clicking on that will only get you a Microsoft default presentation. Likewise, in Excel for Windows, you can’t remove Blank Workbook, which also delivers a Microsoft default.
Most of the time, the Microsoft-supplied Table of Contents samples will work for Word documents. But sometimes a client needs a custom Table of Contents added to their template. This article shows you how to save a custom Table of Contents and ensure that is displayed prominently, so users pick the right one.
The most obvious use case for customization is to create a non-standard TOC that uses the client’s branding. In addition, sometimes a TOC needs to work differently as well as having a distinct appearance.
An example of this might be if a template uses both heading styles (which need to appear in the TOC) and outline numbering styles (which should not be included in the TOC). A default Microsoft TOC will display both sets of styles, so a custom TOC is required.
How Does a Table of Contents Work?
A standard TOC is a collection of hyperlink fields inside a TOC field. If you insert one of the Microsoft-supplied TOC samples, those fields are embedded in a Content Control. This content control is not particularly useful. It gives you a way to change to a different style of Microsoft TOC (not helpful in branded documents) and a slightly more convenient way to update the TOC. You can create a TOC without a content control if you use the Custom Table of Contents command (highlighted in blue) to create it:
Tables of Contents usually get their text from text that is formatted with heading styles. The Microsoft TOCs grab all headings that are levels 1, 2 or 3, which is why they are a problem with outline numbering. When you create a custom Table of Contents, it can refer to specific heading styles, like Heading 1. Then, no other styles will be included in the TOC.
Most often, a template that has a custom TOC will have it added to the document already. Since there’s a sample in the file, users don’t need to add one. The sample has the required formatting, the user only needs to add text to the document before updating the TOC.
Create a New Custom Table of Contents
Here at Brandwares, we never use the Microsoft-supplied TOC styles. Instead, we create each TOC from scratch using References>Table of Contents>Custom Table of Contents. Then we click on the Options button and uncheck Outline levels. That prevents other styles that use outline numbering from displaying in the TOC. Finally, we select the specific styles that are supposed to appear.
If the TOC is to have a heading above with the text “Table of Contents”, you’ll want it to look like one of the document headings styles. But you don’t want it to actually apply that style to the heading: then the first entry to appear in the TOC would be a repeat of the heading directly above it! Fortunately, Word has a built-in styles called TOC Heading that solves this problem. It repeats the appearance of Heading 1, but it’s outline level is set to Body Text, so it will not repeat in the TOC.
Customize Existing TOC Appearance
The look of a table of contents is determined by the styles that are used in it. There are 9 built-in styles called TOC 1, TOC 2, etc. up to TOC 9. Since there are 9 styles, you can create up to 9 levels in a Table of Contents. Or a document can have setup like a Table of Contents, a Table of Figures and a Table of Tables, each of which use three different TOC styles. Each of these styles can have different amounts of indentation, different types of dot leaders between the text and the page number, different line spacing, etc. All the visual formatting will be set in these TOC styles.
Customize how a Table of Contents Works
Besides the visual appearance, you can control how the Table of Contents operates. To do this, you change the field code that tells Word how to display the TOC. To revise the TOC field code, you need to be able to see it:
In Word for Windows, choose File>Options>Advanced. Scroll down to the Show document content section and check the option for Show field codes instead of their values. OK out.
In Word for Mac, select Word>Preferences>View and check the option Field codes instead of values, then close the prefs panel.
The TOC changes to something like this:
{ TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u }
The brackets are not ordinary curly brackets: they are special characters that begin and end Word fields. So you can’t just type them in on your keyboard. The contents of the field are editable from the keyboard, just not the brackets. At the beginning of the field is the name of the field type, in this case TOC for Table of Contents.
After that are a set of switches (the letters after backslashes). Each switch makes the TOC behave differently. The sample from Microsoft use the \o switch followed by “1-3”. This combinations grabs all text that is set in the built-in styles Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3. After that, the \h switch creates hyperlinks from each TOC entry to the heading that it refers to. The \z switch hides the dot leaders and page numbers if the document is in Web View. And the \u switch gets all text that is set to outline levels 1, 2 or 3. It’s this switch that creates problems when you also have outline numbered lists, since they use the same text levels as heading styles do.
To make a TOC display only Heading 1, 2 or 3, just delete the \u switch. If the heading styles have custom names, then delete the \o switch and the “1-3” text. Instead, use the \t switch. That switch specifies styles name, followed by the TOC level that the style should use. Here’s a TOC field that uses three custom heading styles:
Select the Table of Contents, plus the paragraph mark immediately below it. Then right-click on the selection and choose Toggle Field Codes. Or just press the combination of Shift + F9. This shows the field codes for the selected area instead of the whole document. If you see a field code for a Hyperlink instead of a TOC, it means you forgot to select the paragraph mark below the Table of Contents.
Word for Windows Insertable Custom Table of Contents
If the TOC is not to appear in the template as a sample, then the user must have a way to insert it when needed. The simplest way to do this is to add the TOC to the template as AutoText. AutoText entries travel with the template, so they are always available in any document created from that template.
The first wrinkle to overcome is that if you simply select the TOC and add it to AutoText, it can be stored with all of the current displayed text. This will be misleading to the user. To prevent this, switch the document or the selected TOC to show the field codes first. Then select the field code and add that to AutoText.
In Word for Windows, follow these steps:
Select the TOC heading, plus the TOC field code and the paragraph mark immediately following.
Choose Insert>Quick Parts>AutoText>Save Selection to AutoText Gallery.
In the Create New Building Block dialog, edit the Name field. It’s usually a good idea to include the client name, so their users know this is the TOC they should pick.
Change the Gallery dropdown to Table of Contents.
In the Category dropdown, choose Create New Category.
In the Create New Category dialog, type in a name like _Client Name. The underscore preceding the name makes the entry pop to the top of the list
.
Double check that the Save in dropdown is the name of the template to which you’re adding this TOC. OK out and save the template.
On the References tab, click on the Table of Contents dropdown and you should see something like this:
Word for Mac Insertable Custom Table of Contents
You can achieve the same result with Word for Mac, but Microsoft makes it more difficult, since they omitted the Create New Building Block dialog. I’ve written previously about hacking AutoText entries to place them in the correct AutoText Gallery. But here’s an easier way, using a VBA macro.
Here’s the macro listing:
Sub AddTOC2Gallery()
Dim oTemplate As Template
Dim oBlock As BuildingBlock
Set oTemplate = ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate
Set oBlock = oTemplate.BuildingBlockEntries.Add( _
Name:="Client Name TOC", _
Type:=wdTypeTableOfContents, _
Category:="_Client Name", _
Range:=Selection.Range)
End Sub
This macro will work with the template that will contain the TOC, or a document attached to that template. Yes, we did test this in macOS and Windows, so if you have problems running it, the issues are at your end.
Switch the document or the selected TOC to show the field codes first. Then in Word for Mac, follow these steps:
Edit the macro, changing the text in double quotes to suit your client.
Select the TOC heading, plus the TOC field code and the paragraph mark immediately following.
Run the macro.
Save the template.
On the References tab, click on the Table of Contents dropdown and you should see something like this:
Further Reading
For more detailed pages about Word TOCs, please see Generating Table of Contents in Word. It’s also worth reading Susan Barnhill’s TOC Tips and Tricks and TOC Switches. Though the Barnhill articles are old, they contain obscure information that is still relevant, like how to set up a TOC that doesn’t depend on styles or outline levels.
Back at the dawn of time, when PowerPoint was first being programmed, a fateful and incorrect decision was made. Placeholder content would always appear in front of static content, regardless of how placeholders and other content were stacked on the layout. This has led to countless bald designers, from them tearing out their hair because there’s no way to place static graphics over placeholders. Here are 5 ways to work around this problem.
The Locked Graphics Graphics Over Placeholders Workaround
One way to circumvent this design flaw is to create a placeholder on the layout as usual. Then create a sample slide from it. Place the logo over the photo and lock its position in the XML. Here’s my article on how to do that: OOXML Hacking: Locking Graphics. This allows the user to replace the placeholder content while keeping the logo in front.
The disadvantage is that you can’t create a new slide from the layout. Instead, the user must copy and paste the sample slide to create another one.
The Background Picture Fill Workaround
If you’re trying to create replaceable background photos, there’s another method. Don’t place a picture placeholder on the layout. Instead, just place the graphic there. In use, the user right-clicks on the background and chooses Format Background. On the Format Background task pane, choose Picture or texture fill, then click on the File button and choose the background photo. The logo will stay on top.
The disadvantage to this technique is you have to include instructions to the end user, who may never have used a picture fill previously. My thanks to Jaakko Tuomivaara of Supergroup Studios in the UK for this tip.
Graphics Over Placeholders: The Placeholder Picture Fill Workaround
This works with any size photo, it doesn’t have to be full-frame like the previous hack. No copy and paste, no instructions required. I heard about this one from Joshua Finto (Make It So Studio in Austin, TX).
On the layout, insert a picture placeholder to hold the photo. Then add another placeholder on top, sized to exactly the same size as the logo. I use Online Image placeholders because they are rarely used, using a common placeholder type risks content being placed in it if you change layout types. Remove bullets, if there are any, and type a space character so no placeholder text appears.
In the Format Picture task pane, click on Picture or texture fill, then on the File button and fill the placeholder with the logo. Create a slide, place a photo and voila! The logo appears over top of the photo! After creating this, it’s wise to lock the placeholder in XML on that layout, to prevent distortion by the user playing with it. OOXML Hacking: Locking Graphics. EMF, SVG and transparent PNGs are all good logo formats for this application.
The Holey Placeholder (Windows)
For simple graphics, or logos contained in a simple shape like a circle or square, create a logo-shaped hole in the placeholder. Here’s how to do this in Windows:
On the layout, create the picture placeholder.
Insert the logo as an EMF vector file, then ungroup it twice, confirming with PowerPoint that you want to do this. This changes it from a placed picture to a set of vectors embedded on the layout.
With the logo parts selected, hold the Shift key and click on the placeholder.
Fill the background, or a shape placed behind the logo hole, with the logo color.
2024 Edit: I don’t know if this is a temporary bug, or a permanent change, but we’ve been seeing that using Merge Shapes on a placeholder changes it to a freeform shape instead remaining a placeholder. If you see that happen, you have to fix it with an OOXML hack. Find the shape on the slide layout and look for this line:
Make sure the idx number dosn’t conflict with any other shapes.
The Holey Placeholder (macOS)
If the logo is in a rectangle or circle, use this method in macOS. (It will work in Windows as well.) Place the logo over the placeholder, then draw a PowerPoint shape exactly the same size as the logo, placed over the logo precisely. Select the shape and the placeholder, then use Shape Format>Merge Shapes>Fragment, then delete the shape to reveal the logo-sized hole in the placeholder. For some reason, Merge Shapes>Subtract works differently on a Mac, deleting both the shape and the placeholder, but Fragment still get the job done. Thanks to Ute Simon for suggesting this method in the comments.
A variation on this that can be more detailed is to place a copy of the logo above the placeholder. Then, shape-by-shape, use the logo over the placeholder with the Combine variant of Merge Shapes to knock holes in the placeholder. Then add colored shapes below the placeholder to “fill” the holes. If you have compound shapes (like the letter O or A), you’ll have to release the compound shapes, then connect the inner shape with the outer one. Here’s what the end result looks like in Illustrator.
Outside line connected to inside to simulate a compound shape
If you see the placeholder change to a freeform shape, use the OOXML hack in the previous section to fix it.
Graphics Over Placeholders: The ActiveX Hack
I’m including this for completeness, but it’s the least desirable workaround, as it only can be created in PowerPoint for Windows.
Choose View>Slide Master and choose the master or the layout to which you want to add a graphic.
On the Developer tab, choose the Image control from the Controls group.
Click on the Enable ActiveX button when the Microsoft warning appears.
Draw the Image control to the size and postion the graphic will be.
Right-click on the control and choose Property Sheet.
Set the PictureSizeMode property to 3 – fmPictureSizeModeZoom.
Beside the Picture property, click on None, then click on the three-dot button that appears.
Select the graphic. The primary format choices are EMF, WMF, JPG, GIF and BMP. You cannot use a PNG file.
This process will fill the control with the chosen graphic, and the control will float above a placeholder in Slideshow mode.
There are several down-sides to this method:
If the graphic doesn’t fill the rectangle of the control, a light gray background will display in the unfilled area in PowerPoint for Windows
In PowerPoint for Mac, an ActiveX warning pops up every time you open the deck.
The graphics still fall behind the placeholders in Edit (Normal) mode. They only pop to the front in Slideshow mode.
In PowerPoint for Mac and PowerPoint for the web, some opaque white EMF shapes become transparent.
Thanks to my readers who have added some useful suggestions!
Font embedding in PowerPoint is great, when it works. But macOS users can have mysterious problems that are hard to diagnose and even harder to fix. This article sorts out the most common PowerPoint for Mac font embedding issues and how to prevent them.
Some of Your Fonts Cannot Be Saved
The client has asked that the presentation be saved with the corporate fonts, to make distribution easier. On your Mac, you choose PowerPoint>Preferences>Save and check the Embed fonts in the file option, along with the Embed all characters sub-option, so the deck can be edited. Then you choose File>Save As to get the fonts embedded. But when you click the Save button, you get a dialog that reads: Some of your fonts cannot be saved with the presentation. Save the presentation anyway?
First, trying fixing this with PowerPoint’s Edit>Find>Replace Fonts utility. If that works, you’re good to go. But if it doesn’t, you’re probably dealing with a bullet font problem.
When you create a custom bullet in PowerPoint for Mac, PowerPoint uses the macOS Emojis & Symbols utility for picking the bullet. But the Emojis & Symbols dialog doesn’t immediately tell you which font is being used. You have to click on a sample in the Font Variation area to check the typeface. If you don’t choose a font variation, the Emojis dialog will give you a symbol from one the system fonts.
System Font Regular Can’t Be Embedded
When you first try to enter a custom bullet, the Emojis & Symbols dialog appears in condensed form:
It’s nearly impossible to insert an embeddable bullet from this dialog, as only macOS system fonts are displayed. Instead, click on the expander icon in the upper right corner (circled in red) to view the large form of the dialog:
A bullet is selected, and the preview in the upper right corner is labelled BULLET. When the font name is not displaying here, you are inserting a non-embeddable bullet from an Apple system font. Saving the file displays this dialog:
System Font Regular isn’t an actual font. It’s a pointer to whatever font macOS is currently using to display operating system text. The font can change between releases of macOS, but the pointer retains the same name.
Unsupported Font File Format
The key to choosing an embeddable bullet is to always choose one from the Font Variation panel in the lower right side of the dialog. But not all of those variations will work! Any font with Apple in the name is formatted as an AAT (Apple Advanced Typography) font. Here, I’ve chosen Apple SD Gothic Neo Regular as the bullet font:
But when I save, I see this:
AAT fonts can’t be embedded in PowerPoint files!
PowerPoint Font Embedding – What Works
All the other fonts that I’ve tried in the Font Variations panel can be embedded. Here, I’ve chosen Arial:
The file saves! No errors!
Here’s your working procedure for custom bullets in macOS:
Always expand the Emojis & Symbols dialog to full size.
Always choose a bullet from the Font Variations panel.
Never choose a bullet from a font that has Apple in the name, nor one that is called System Font Regular
I haven’t tested every font, so there could other than cause issues. If you find one, please write to me and I’ll update this article.
Keep in mind that fonts can also have embedding permissions set by the foundry that prohibit embedding, so these would be a poor choice for use with Office. But that’s an issue in Windows as well as macOS
PowerPoint Font Embedding – Fixing a Problem
You got the dreaded Save with Fonts dialog, and you’ve tried Edit>Find>Replace Fonts. The dialog still appears. What do you do now? That’s a real problem in PowerPoint for macOS.
In Windows, I fix these issues with the following steps:
Open the file in PowerPoint, choose Save As and set the Save as type dropdown to PowerPoint XML Presentation (*.xml) and click on Save. This saves the deck as one giant XML file instead of the usual format of many small XML files tucked into a Zip archive.
Open the XML file in a text editor. NotePad will work but a real coding editor like NotePad++ or Microsoft Code is better.
Do a Find and Replace, finding typeface=”System Font Regular” (substitute the problem font name) and replacing it with typeface=”Arial” (substitute a known embeddable font name).
Save the file, open it in PowerPoint, then resave in normal .pptx or .potx format.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not given PowerPoint for Mac the XML single-file format. So the fix requires that you check each bullet in the slide master, slide layouts and slides. PowerPoint does not have a way of seeing what the font is for existing bullets, so you have to slog through and replace every damn one! Yuck!
Out of time and no access to PowerPoint for Windows? Send the file to us, and we’ll do the fix for you.
As Apple and Microsoft release new operating systems, it’s no longer possible to install the latest version of Office on your old computer. Here’s is a list of the most recent Office you can run for the operating system you have, plus where to find it.
Most Recent Office You Can Run on macOS (Updated for 2024)
Rant alert! Microsoft supports the last three operating systems in both Windows and Mac. Unfortunately, Apple has a policy of releasing a new operating system every year, whether we need it or not. The result of these two business decisions is that there are rafts of perfectly serviceable Macs out there that can no longer install the current version of Office. It looks like Apple intends us to toss them and buy new ones. Another case of lip service to environmental sustainability. Rant over
If you buy or subscribe to Office for Mac today, you’ll only find the current versions of Microsoft 365 (the subscription version) and Office 2024 (the retail edition) to be easily available. But Microsoft maintains a page of older installers at Update history for Office for Mac. All of them can be activated under a current Microsoft 365 subscription or Office 2024 license.
Please note that all of these are final releases: there will be no security updates to follow. Be careful when downloading Office files from the interweb.
As of October 2024, the current crop of obsolete Macs are those that can only run Monterey (macOS 12). These are machines that are around 10 years old, but are completely useable for applications like Office. The last Office version that Monterey can run is 16.89.1. At the History page, look for the Office Suite Installer, with or without Teams, dated September 17, 2024. Do not download the updaters for individual programs! Download the Office Suite installer!
Then run the downloaded installer. After installing, normally Microsoft AutoUpdate fires up and installs the final 16.89.2 version for Outlook. Wait until it finishes, then open Applications and run one of the Office apps.
You’ll see a dialog prompting you to sign into your account. Enter your name and password.
If you’re a Microsoft 365 subscriber, that should be the end of the process. Your software will be activated and you’re good to go.
If you have purchased multiple permanent license editions, you’ll see a dialog asking to to choose which license to apply. Office 2019, 2021 and 2024 no longer have separate licenses for Mac and Windows, so at this point it possible to switch Office 2021 (for example) from Windows to macOS or vice versa.
Older Editions of macOS
Big Sur (macOS 11) can run Office 16.77. At the History page, look for the Office Suite Installer, with or without Teams, dated September 12, 2023. Reminder: Do not download the updaters for individual programs! Download the Office Suite installer!
Catalina (macOS 10.15) can run Office 16.66. At the History page, look for the Office Suite Installer, with or without Teams, dated October 11, 2022. Reminder: Do not download the updaters for individual programs! Download the Office Suite installer!
Catalina was the first OS to require 64-bit software. This requirement made Office 2011 obsolete, since it’s 32-bit. But Office 2011 is still a useful edition in macOS. It can still do things that were permanently removed from later versions of Office. So you might want to stick with Mojave and install the newer Office that goes with it. (There’s no problem in having Office 2011 and a later version installed on the same computer.) In this scenario, download and install the 16.54 version dated October 12, 2021.
One of my favorite Macs is my 17″ MacBook Pro. It’s the machine that travels with me, but it’s 12 years old and can run only High Sierra. The most recent Office you can run on this computer is 16.43, dated November 10, 2020.
There’s a pattern here: Apple releases new operating systems in the fall, usually in September or October. The Office version that Microsoft releases the same month is the last one for the fourth-oldest macOS. I don’t have any machines running Sierra, but if I did, I would try the October 15, 2019 edition of Office 16.30.
As I mentioned earlier, you can run an older version of Office on an older computer. Since Office 2008, the file format has remained pretty constant, so the software can still be useful. You can install Office 2011 under Mojave or earlier, while Office 2008 can be installed under El Capitan and earlier. These versions can co-exist on a Mac with a newer version (or with each other), though Microsoft’s History page only goes back to 16.27 from July, 2019.
Updating macOS on Older Machines
As an alternative to instaling an old version of Office, you might consider updating macOS. Here at Brandwares we’re testing Open Core Legacy Patcher. This open-source project allows new versions of macOS to run on old Macs that Apple no longer supports. So far, the results are quite encouraging and we haven’t seen many problems. Our suggestion is to install the next-to-newest version, as each new edition of macOS causes issues that take time for the Open Core project contributors to patch. As an example, at the time of writing, Sequoia has been released, but we installed Sonoma on our test machines. This has allowed us to update these computers to the current version of Office.
Most Recent Office You Can Run on Windows
Under Windows, the situation is easier, as Microsoft waits about 3 years between operating systems. Plus Windows isn’t as finicky about the hardware it runs on. I have an old Mac Pro from 2006 that can only run OS X Lion and Office 2011, but under Boot Camp it does either Windows Vista and Office 2010, or Windows 7 and Office 2016. Windows 8 is likewise limited to Office 2016, while Windows 10 (now 9 years old!) can run the current version of Office 2021 and Microsoft 365. You have to have a really old Windows computer to be unable to run a useable copy of Office.
Chart Templates allow you to capture and reproduce the appearance of sample charts. This avoids having to include sample charts for users to copy and paste. Here’s how to use them:
Installing
Chart templates must installed to a particular folder so Office can find them.
Windows Installation
Open a File Explorer window.
In the address field, paste in: %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates.
If there isn’t a Charts folder there, create one.
Copy the chart template(s) into it.
macOS Installation
While holding down the Option key, click on the macOS menu bar. Choose Go, then Library. The hidden user Library folder opens.
Open ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Chart Templates.
Copy the chart template(s) into it.
Using Chart Templates
Chart templates can be used in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Here’s how to access them:
Windows Usage
In the Office program, choose Insert>Chart.
In the Insert Chart dialog, click on the Templates icon.
Select the chart template in the right-hand pane, then click on OK. A chart is inserted in your document.
macOS Usage
On the Insert tab, choose Charts>Templates and select the template from the pop-up list. A chart is inserted in your document.
Brandwares provides top-quality, bulletproof templates to a world-wide clientele. We have the Client List to prove it. But you can get your Office questions answered for free (or cheap)!
I also answer questions at Experts Exchange, where I’ve been awarded a Distinguished Expert award for 2021.
This site isn’t free, but it is jam-packed with expertise. There’s a 7-day free trial, if you want to check it out. Tag your post with Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, VBA and/or Fonts Typography to ensure your Office questions are answered.
