By default, when you launch a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint (by pressing F5 or clicking the Slide Show button), the presentation takes over your entire computer screen. While this is perfect for projecting onto a large wall in a conference room, it is highly problematic when you are sharing your screen during a Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting on a single monitor. Because the presentation occupies the entire display, you cannot see your meeting chat, your attendees’ faces, or your speaker notes. The solution is to use PowerPoint’s “Reading View,” which runs the presentation inside a resizable, standard Windows window.
What is Reading View?
Reading View was originally designed to allow users to review a presentation on their own computer without entering full-screen mode. However, it functions exactly like the standard Slide Show mode. All of your custom slide transitions, object animations, embedded videos, and audio files will play perfectly. The only difference is that the presentation is confined within a window that has a standard title bar and minimize/maximize buttons, allowing you to snap it to one half of your screen while keeping your video conferencing app open on the other half.
How to Launch Reading View Quickly
If you just need to start a presentation in a window immediately without changing any global settings, the fastest method is using the status bar shortcut.
- Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
- Look at the bottom-right corner of the PowerPoint window, near the zoom slider.
- You will see a row of four small icons (Normal, Slide Sorter, Reading View, and Slide Show).
- Click the third icon, Reading View (it looks like an open book).
The presentation will immediately start playing within the current PowerPoint window bounds. You can now grab the edges of the window with your mouse and resize it to fit perfectly alongside your other applications.
How to Permanently Set the Presentation to Windowed Mode
If you are sharing a specific presentation file that is only meant to be viewed in windowed mode (for example, an interactive kiosk file or a self-guided training deck), you can change the presentation setup so that pressing F5 defaults to windowed mode rather than full screen.
- Open your presentation.
- Click the Slide Show tab on the top ribbon.
- In the Set Up group, click Set Up Slide Show.
- A new dialogue box will appear. Under the “Show type” section, you will see that “Presented by a speaker (full screen)” is selected by default.
- Change the selection to Browsed by an individual (window).
- Click OK.
Now, whenever anyone presses the standard Play button or the F5 keyboard shortcut, the presentation will launch in a window with a title bar, rather than seizing control of the entire monitor.
Navigating During Reading View
When you are in Reading View, you advance the slides exactly as you normally would: by pressing the spacebar, the right arrow key, or clicking the mouse. However, because you have a standard window interface, you also gain a small navigation bar at the very bottom right of the window. This bar includes simple Next and Previous arrows, as well as a Menu icon (three dots) that allows you to quickly jump to a specific slide number without exiting the presentation view.