Text Basics

Introduction

 

It is important to know how to perform basic tasks with text when working in PowerPoint. In this lesson, you will learn the basics of working with text including how to insert, delete, and move text; how to work with text boxes; how toformat text; and more.

To Insert Text:

1. Click the placeholder or text box where you want to insert text.
2. The insertion point appears.
Text insertion point
3. Type directly into the placeholder or text box.
Typing in a placeholder or text box

Some placeholders automatically format your text in a bulleted list. This is because bulleted lists are so frequently used in PowerPoint. To remove the bullets, deselect the Bullets command in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

To Delete Text:

1. Place the insertion point next to the text you wish to delete.
2. Press the Backspace key on your keyboard to delete text to the left of the insertion point.
3. Press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete text to the right of the insertion point.

To Select Text:

1. Place the insertion point next to the text you wish to select.
2. Click the mouse button, and, while holding it down, drag the mouse over the text.
3. Release the mouse. The text will be selected. A highlighted box will appear over the selected text.
Selected text

When you select text in PowerPoint, a hover toolbar with formatting options appears. This makes formatting commands easily accessible, which may save you time. If the toolbar does not appear at first, try moving the mouse over the selection.

Hover toolbar To Copy and Paste Text:
1. Select the text you wish to copy.
2. Click the Copy command on the Home tab. You can also right-click your selection and choose Copy.
Copy command
3. Place your insertion point where you wish the text to appear.
4. Click the Paste command on the Home tab. The text will appear.
Paste command
To Cut and Paste Text:
1. Select the text you wish to cut.
2. Click the Cut command on the Home tab. You can also right-click your selection and choose Cut.
Cut command
3. Place your insertion point where you wish the text to appear.
4. Click the Paste command on the Home tab. The text will reappear.
You can also cut, copy, and paste by right-clicking your slide and choosing the desired action from the drop-down menu. When you use this method to paste, you can choose from four options that determine how the text will be formatted: Use Destination Theme, Keep Source Formatting, Picture and Keep Text Only. You can hover the mouse over each icon to see what it will look like before you click it.
Right-click Paste Options
To Drag and Drop Text:
1. Select the text you wish to copy.
2. Click, hold, and drag your mouse to the location where you want the text to appear. The cursor will have a rectangle under it to indicate that you are moving text.
Moving text
3. Release the mouse button, and the text will appear.
If text does not appear in the exact location you wish, you can press the Enter key on your keyboard to move the text to a new line.
Find and Replace
Find and Replace is another technique that can be used to edit text. Find and Replace allows you to search all of your slides for a specific word or phrase (for example, "English"), then replace it with another word or phrase (for example, "British"). To learn more, visit the lesson in our Word 2010 tutorial that demonstrates Find and Replace.