How to add sound to powerpoint animation

Have you tried to make the sound on a PowerPoint slide play at the same time as an animation, but it won't work? It's all about PowerPoint audio timing. Applying the right timing setting to the audio file enables the sound and animation to play in sync.

Instructions in this article apply to PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2019, PowerPoint 2016, PowerPoint 2013, and PowerPoint 2010.

Play Sound at Same Time as Animation

Save time by going directly to the Timing dialog box after adding the sound file.

1. Add an animation to the object on the slide (such as a text box, picture, or Excel chart).

   

2. Insert the sound file onto the slide.

   

3. Select the Animations tab of the ribbon.

   
   

4. Towards the right side of the ribbon, in the Advanced Animation section, select Animation Pane. The Animation Pane opens on the right side of the screen.

   
   

5. In the Animation Pane, select the drop-down arrow beside the sound file and choose Timing. The Play Audio dialog box opens.

   
   

6. Select the Timing tab of the dialog box and choose Triggers.

   
   

7. Select Animate as part of click sequence and select OK.

   

Test the slideshow by pressing the F5 key to start the show from the beginning. Or, press the shortcut key combination Shift+F5 to start the show from the current slide, if the slide in question is not the first slide.

The Animation pane in PowerPoint is a task pane that appears to the right of the slide and displays important information pertaining to the animations you have added to your slides. If you have not added an animation effect to your object, head to the Animations tab, and choose your desired effect in the Animation box. You may refer to our previous post on how to add animation in PowerPoint. Doing so will allow you to add sound effects to your slides. So, launch PowerPoint, and open the document that you want to edit.

Assuming you have now added animation to the object let’s proceed further and add sound effects to PowerPoint animations and slides.

Add Sound Effects to PowerPoint animation

On the slide, select the text or object you want to add an additional effect to.

From the ‘Advanced Animation’ section select, ‘Animation Pane’ option.

Then from the right-hand column of ‘Animation Pane’, click the drop-down arrow and select the ‘Effects’ option.

On the Effect tab, under Enhancements, click the arrow in the Sound list, and do one of the following:

• If you want to add a sound from the list, click an option.
• If you want to add a sound from a file, click ‘Other sound, and then navigate to the file.

If the pathname of a linked file exceeds 128 characters, Microsoft Office PowerPoint will fail to search and play that linked file. As such, it is advisable to either rename the linked file, or shorten the path name by copying the linked file into the folder where your presentation is located. Then, update them manually by removing the sounds from the presentation and then adding them again.

Add Sound Effects to Transition Pages

Transition pages are the pages that occur when you advance from slide to slide within the presentation In PowerPoint. You can add sound effects to complement the slide transition animation if desired.

To add a transition effect, choose your page, go to the Transitions tab, and choose one of the available effects in the box.

When the transition is added, find the Sound option in the ‘Timing’ section, and choose one of the available sound effects from the menu. The added sound can be previewed during the transition of pages.

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