Convert PowerPoint to Word Using One of Three Simple Methods

If you’ve got a really killer PowerPoint presentation but would like to extract all the information to Microsoft Word – you can. Sometimes this is necessary because the size of your PowerPoint presentation is rather large and you would like to share it with others over email or an intranet. Converting it to Word will help reduce the size and make it easier to view for everyone involved.  It’s also possible that you would like your slides presented as thumbnails, with or without speaker notes included, for easier reviewing, editing, or handing out during the presentation itself. You can convert your presentation in one of three ways. The directions for converting on a Mac OS and a Windows OS are as follows. If you’re feeling a bit ambitious, why not become a PowerPoint Ninja?

1. Convert Presentation to Word (PowerPoint 2007, 2010, 2013)

Convert using PowerPoint 2007

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint 2007. If you’re still using PowerPoint 2007, a few tricks of the trade could help make your presentation building experience even easier.

2. Go to the Office button located in the upper right corner. When you click that you will see a menu appear.

3. Now click on Publish > Create Handouts in Microsoft Office Word

4. Now you will have a few options as to how you would like to send the presentation to Word. Choose the option the best suits you and then click on Paste or Paste Link. Paste will create the Word document from the PowerPoint presentation you have open. Paste link will create a Word document from the presentation you have open that will be automatically updated whenever the presentation is updated in PowerPoint (really nice). Choose your options and then click OK.

5. Make sure you save the new Word document by going to File > Save.

Convert using PowerPoint 2010

This process is much like the one used for PowerPoint 2007. Become more acquainted with all of the great things that PowerPoint can do in PowerPoint 2010 made easy.

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint 2010

2. Go to File > Save & Send > Create Handouts and then click on the Create Handouts button to insert your slides into pages in a new Word document

3. You should see a box pop up that asks you which way you would like PowerPoint to send the slides to Microsoft Word. Choose one of the five options.

4. Choose Paste or Paste link. Paste link will create a Word document from the presentation you have open that will be automatically updated whenever the presentation is updated in PowerPoint (really nice). Choose your options and then click OK.

5. Make sure you save the new Word document by going to File > Save.

Convert Using PowerPoint 2013

PowerPoint 2013 is already pretty easy to use, but if you’re not familiar with the program learn the PowerPoint 2013 basics. In the meantime, I’ll show you how simple it is to convert to Word in 2013.

1. Open PowerPoint and then open the presentation you would like to convert by going to File > Open.

2. With your presentation open, click on File > Export > Create Handouts. Then click on the Create Handouts button.

3. You will be prompted to select one of five conversion options. Choose which one applies to you best. Choose Paste or Paste link. Paste link will create a Word document from the presentation you have open that will be automatically updated whenever the presentation is updated in PowerPoint (really nice). Choose your options and then click OK.

4. Your new Word document will open. Make sure you save it by going to File > Save.

Convert Presentation to Word on a Mac

Even if you have a Mac, you can convert a PowerPoint presentation to a Microsoft Word document – but you have to have Microsoft Word on your computer.

1. Open PowerPoint and then open the presentation you would like to convert.

2. Click on File > Send To > Microsoft Word.

3. Microsoft word should open and show the converted slideshow in the new document.

4. Save the new file by clicking on File > Save.

5. If you want to skip the conversion process all together, you can just print the slides for a hand out by going to File > Print and then select Handouts or Notes from the Print What drop down list.

2. Save PowerPoint Outline in Word

Use this method if you want to transfer the contents of your outline to Word.

1. Open PowerPoint and find the presentation you would like to move to Word by going to File > Open.

2. Look at the outline of the PowerPoint on the left-hand side. You may just see the slides at first glance, but make sure that the Outline tab is clicked.

3. Click on the Office button in the top right corner of the screen to find Save As. When you choose Save As you can then choose Outline/RTF and click save.

4. Now you should be able to view your Word document and see the contents of your outline.

3. Convert Using a Third Party: Website

There are websites out there that do all the dirty work for you. All you have to do is find them, sign up (usually) and then upload the file you want converted. We will use the site Zamzar for the purpose of this example. Here’s what to do.

1. Go to www.zamzar.com. You’ll see some pretty self-explanatory steps on the landing page to guide you through this process. Just in case you need a little more explaining, keep reading.

2. In Step 1, choose a .PPT file from your computer, or you can drag and drop a file.

3. In Step 2, choose either the doc or docx format to convert the PowerPoint to a Word document.

4. In Step 3, enter your email address. The only reason you’re doing this is to receive your converted file. They won’t bombard you with mail and your information won’t be sold. So don’t worry.

5. Click Convert.

It’s that easy. You can also use this option to convert a multitude of other files to your preferred file type. This kind of service really takes the trouble out of your hands. How can you argue that?