Managing edits between versions in PowerPoint is a major pain point for professionals, especially when multiple people are working on a presentation. Hearing, “what changed in this version?” can send employees scrambling to manually compare old files for edits and minor tweaks. Fortunately, much like Word, PowerPoint also offers a user friendly way to compare document versions.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to compare documents in PowerPoint and track changes. Note: The below images are from PowerPoint 2016, the location of the images may vary slightly between versions.

1. Open Track the Changes to a Presentations:

1. Open the original presentation.
2. Click on the Review tab and select Compare.
3. Open the updated presentation.

A sidebar will appear detailing all the Comments and Revisions between the original file and the updated presentation. Users can view all the proposed changes in the original presentation and accept/reject the changes identified in the new presentation.

2. Track and Accept/Reject Slide Changes:

In the Revisions tab, users can manage their review by entire Slides or viewing Details of the Slide Changes or Presentation Changes.

1. To locate a change, users can (i) click on identified changes in the sidebar to locate the change or (ii) click on the edit icons located throughout the slides.
2. To see/accept a change, click on the edit icon within the presentation and pop-up will appear to show the proposed changes on the slide.
3. Click the “all changes…” or select individual line items to view and accept the changes made in the updated document.
4. To undo/reject the change, simply uncheck the boxes on the slide or use the Reject button in the toolbar. Users can reject an individual change, all changes on a slide, or all changes to the presentation in the toolbar.

3. Track and Accept/Reject Presentation Changes:

Accept presentation changes by navigating the slide view on the left of the screen and following the same accept and reject process as when navigating Slide Changes.

4. End Review:

When you are done comparing the versions, select End Review within the review tab. Before you close the presentation, be sure to save the file over the original version or under a new name. Even the PowerPoint masters need help sometime—check out Astute Review, the most powerful PowerPoint review and formatting tool on the planet. With one click you can review and format entire PowerPoint presentations for consistency and save time, money and most importantly, your sanity. Want to learn more about how one click can save your day? Sign-up for a free hands-on look at Astute Review.