How to Add Animations in PowerPoint: Effects, Timing and Order

Animation is the difference between a slide that dumps six bullet points on your audience at once and one that reveals them as you talk. Done lightly, it keeps people with you. Done heavily, it looks like an old greeting card. The skill is knowing where the controls are and using them sparingly.

Below is the route through PowerPoint's animation tools, taken from Microsoft's help page, plus the ordering and timing options that make a sequence feel planned rather than random.

Choosing an animation for text, a picture or a shape in PowerPoint

Microsoft says you can animate text, pictures, shapes, tables, SmartArt graphics and other objects. The core steps are the same everywhere:

1. Select the object or the text you want to animate.
2. Select the Animations tab and choose an animation effect.
3. Select Effect Options and choose how the effect behaves, for example the direction it arrives from.

Effects can make an object appear, disappear or move, and Microsoft adds that they can change an object's size or colour and respond to mouse clicks. For most business slides, a simple appear or fade is plenty.

Setting when each PowerPoint animation starts

The Start option on the Animations tab decides how your animation joins the sequence. Microsoft lists three:

Start option	What happens
On Click	The effect starts when you click the slide
With Previous	Plays at the same time as the animation before it
After Previous	Begins straight after the previous one finishes

Two more controls sit nearby: Duration, which lengthens or shortens an effect, and Delay, which adds time before it runs. For a talk, On Click gives you control, while After Previous suits a self-running deck.

Putting more than one animation on the same PowerPoint object

A picture can arrive, then change, then leave. Microsoft says you can apply more than one animation to a single object. Select the object that already has an animation, choose Add Animation and pick a second effect. It'll join the end of the list.

Reordering PowerPoint animations with the Animation Pane

When a slide has several effects, the order matters. Microsoft says the Animations pane at the right lists every animation on the slide. In the newer layout you can select an animation marker, then choose Move Earlier or Move Later. In PowerPoint for the web, select Animation Pane on the Animations tab, select the object, then choose Add at the top of the pane; the effect is added to the end of the list with a default such as Fade.

The pane has other controls too. Microsoft says you can use Play From to preview, Effect Options to change how an effect works or add a sound, and Timing to change how it starts and how long it lasts. It's also where you remove an effect.

Animating a group of PowerPoint shapes together

If you want a logo, a caption and a line to arrive as one block, group them first. Microsoft's steps are:

1. Hold Ctrl and select each object.
2. Select Shape Format, then Group, then Group.
3. With the group selected, open Animations and choose the effect.

Grouping saves you from three separate animations to keep in step. It's the neatest way to handle a text box sitting on top of a coloured shape.

Animations versus transitions in PowerPoint

People mix these up all the time. An animation acts on things inside one slide, such as a headline or a picture. A transition acts on the move between slides. They live on different tabs, Animations and Transitions. If it's the slide change you're after, that's the Transitions tab, and the Google version of that job is in adding transitions in Google Slides.

Using PowerPoint animation without annoying your audience

• Animate to make a point clearer, not to show off the effect.
• Keep similar objects on the same effect, so the slide feels consistent.
• Reveal bullet points one at a time only when your talk follows that order.
• Leave key numbers and the final slide static, so people can read them.
• Play the whole slide show once from the start, because the preview in the pane doesn't show what your audience sees.

For a bigger picture of how to structure a deck before you animate it, see my guide to creating a great PowerPoint presentation.

If your PowerPoint animation isn't working

1. Check the animation marker. Select the slide and look for the number next to the object, then open the Animations pane to see everything on the slide.
2. Look at the Start setting. An effect set to On Click waits for your click, so it can seem to do nothing.
3. Check the order in the pane and use Move Earlier or Move Later.
4. If a grouped object animates oddly, ungroup it and try the effect on the group again.
5. Menus vary by version, so if your ribbon looks different, search the Animations tab for Add Animation.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add animations in PowerPoint?

Select the object or text, open the Animations tab, choose an effect and then use Effect Options to set how it behaves.

How do I add a second animation to the same object?

Select the animated object and choose Add Animation, then pick another effect. Microsoft says you can apply more than one animation to one object.

What is the difference between With Previous and After Previous?

With Previous plays at the same time as the animation before it, while After Previous starts as soon as that one finishes.

How do I change the order of animations in PowerPoint?

Open the Animations pane, select an animation marker and use Move Earlier or Move Later.

Can I animate several objects at once?

Yes. Hold Ctrl, select them, choose Shape Format, then Group, then Group. Then apply an animation to the group.