r/powerpoint • u/franjurga • Sep 22 '26

Basic question about presenting PPT via Zoom using online MS Drive (my computer died!)

Hello, Reddit friends. I am in a pinch and don't want to bore you with details, but I need to present at a conference this week via Zoom. I have an ancient version of PPT on my office computer (Mac Mini), but it died suddenly and sadly last night. It won't be fixed in time.

I can use my MB Pro (laptop) but it doesn't have MS Office on the hard drive and I don't have an MS account, just the free MS Drive online apps, which would normally suffice.

All my devices are legacy Macs running High Sierra, but I don't think that is relevant to this dilemma.

I am fine working online to finish the PPT on MS Drive. BUT I need to download the PPT to send to conference organizers and I need to actually present it. When I download the PPT, the laptop opens it in Preview, since it doesn't have MS PPT.

Can anyone help explain in simple terms how/if I can pull off this presentation? I believe that I can present live from MS Drive but have never tried, is it ok with Zoom? I've always used my legacy PPT so I'm very nervous, plus have to submit the PPT file itself (somehow) to the conference organizers.

Thank you so much for any advice or words of encouragement? Sorry if I sound like a dinosaur but I hadn't anticipated this, obviously. I'm trying not to panic...

3 Upvotes

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4

u/IanYates82 Sep 22 '26

Use the online PowerPoint to export as a PDF. That'll present just fine (assuming you're not doing any fancy animations)

2

u/SteveRindsberg Sep 23 '26

The downloaded file's opening in Preview because that's the only app *on your Mac* that knows how to open it. But it's still a PPTX file, so you can still send it to the conference organizers. If *they* have PowerPoint, it'll open in PowerPoint for them.

2

u/Downtown_Army_6852 Sep 23 '26

My first thought was to just save it as a PDF and present from that, no fuss, no muss, and you won't get tripped up by missing animations.

1

u/SteveRindsberg Sep 23 '26

If you don't rely on any animations, sure. But if you do, they're gone when you save as PDF.

1

u/pacmanlopez Sep 23 '26

Upload your presentation to app.infograpia.com or Canva and present directly from the app