How to add music to powerpoint presentation for all slides

By default, audio that you add to a PowerPoint slide begins playing when you click the mouse. The audio plays until the clip ends or until the next slide loads, whichever comes first. This works fine when, for example, brief sound effects punctuate each heading of a business plan. But full songs usually run a few minutes in length, and presentations rarely spend that long on a single slide. To extend a song across multiple slides, edit its playback settings.

1. Click the song's icon on your slide. This icon takes the form of a gray loudspeaker and may appear anywhere on the slide. Even if you have dragged another object over it, the icon will remain visible.

2. Click Playback at the top of the PowerPoint window under the Audio Tools tab.

3. Click the drop-down box labeled "Start:" in the ribbon's Audio Options tab. By default, this box shows the option "On Click." A new menu will open.

4. Click "Play across slides" from the drop-down menu. The song will now continue to play even when the slide changes.

• You can easily add music to a PowerPoint slideshow if you want to make your next presentation more engaging.
• You can add any MP3, MP4, WAV, or AAC file on your computer to your PowerPoint presentation, and adjust the settings so that it plays across slides if you want to.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

It's true that Microsoft PowerPoint is a business program made for creating official-looking presentations  for school or office settings — but that doesn't mean you can't use it to make your presentations fun, too. 

One way to spice up a presentation is to add music — in a business setting, it'll be unexpected, and the fun surprise may just make your colleagues sit up straighter, pay attention, and maybe even enjoy the meeting. 

This feature can also give a little extra umph to a school presentation — for example, a presentation on America in the '60s could be enhanced by the addition of some Motown music in the background.

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How to add music to a PowerPoint presentation

1. At the top of the PowerPoint screen, on the toolbar, click the "Insert" tab.

2. Under "Insert, on the right side of the screen, click "Audio."

3. If you're using a PC, click the option for "Audio on My PC." If you're using a Mac, click the option for "Audio from File" or "Audio Browser."

Note: You can also record your own sound if you select "Record Audio."

4. Locate the file you'd like to use, then click "Insert" in the dialog box. You can use MP3, MP4, WAV, or AAC files.

5. The file will appear on your PowerPoint as a little playback bar. You can use this to control the song. Move it to a part of your slide where it won't be in the way.

6. If you want the sound to play throughout the presentation, rather than just on the slide that the audio file is located on, click on the file to bring up the "Playback" tab on the toolbar at the top of your screen, and click on it.

7. Directly underneath the "Playback" tab, click the option for "Play in Background" to play the sound throughout. 

Adjust any other options you want in this tab, like volume, fade in and out, and looping. When you're finished, return to the home tab to continue working on your presentation, or click save to finish. 

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• How to change and format the background of your PowerPoint slides to custom designs

• How to add a border to slides in PowerPoint, and give your slideshow a sleek design

• How to change your language settings in Microsoft PowerPoint in 3 different ways

• How to copy or duplicate a PowerPoint slide and put it anywhere in your slideshow

• How to download and access Microsoft PowerPoint on your Mac computer

Melanie Weir

Freelance author

Melanie Weir is a freelance author for Insider, mainly focusing on the Tech Reference section, but occasionally contributing to Lifestyle and Entertainment topics as well. She is also a freelance writer for ScreenRant, and is the Lead Weekend News Editor at TheThings.com. In her spare time she writes plays for both stage and screen. She can be reached at , or through LinkedIn.

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