Can You Put Music on Microsoft PowerPoint?

Can You Put Music on Microsoft PowerPoint?
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A Note About Different Audio Types

Are you asking, “Can you put music on Microsoft PowerPoint?”

First and foremost, depending on the audio file type you are using, you can add and embed the music into your presentation or only add and link to your music in PowerPoint.

So what does that mean, what is the difference between adding by embedding and adding by linking in PowerPoint?

When you add by embedding your audio file into a PowerPoint presentation , the audio file is inside your presentation. Therefore, when you move your presentation from computer to computer or send it to a colleague, the audio file remains inside the presentation. When you add by linking your audio file into a PowerPoint presentation, the audio file resides outside of your presentation. Which means when you move your presentation from computer to computer or send it to a colleague, you must send the audio file along with the presentation.

Which audio file is added by embedding and which is added by linking?

The two audio file types are .wav files and .mp3 files, both familiar audio files. The audio files that can be added by embedding are .wav files, while .mp3 files can only be added by linking them into the PowerPoint presentation.

Keep this important fact in mind, as the steps for adding the music are the same, however when it comes to moving the presentation, if you’re using .mp3 files, you’ll need to remember to move the audio file with the presentation.

Now that we’ve got the differences cleared up, let’s start this step by step tutorial on adding and using music in your PowerPoint presentations. If you feel like you’re getting lost in the text, then click on the screenshot to help guide you through.

Adding Music To Your Presentation

Step One - Opening Your PowerPoint Presentation

  • Select the PowerPoint presentation that you want to add music to, or just open a new presentation. For this example, I will be using my Test PowerPoint presentation.

Step Two - Adding the Music

  • In the Windows Ribbon, head over to the Insert tab and click it to see the inserting options for your presentation.
  • On the far right, click on the button labeled Sound to get a drop down menu.
  • From the drop down menu, click the Sound from file… option.
  • When the dialog menu pops up, go to the directory where your music is, select your music, then hit Open. In my example, I am going to be using Test Audio.mp3 and adding it as a link into my PowerPoint. If your file is a .wav file, then nothing will be different, except for when you move your presentation.

Step 2 - Opening Your Audio File to Add into Powerpoint

  • Once the dialog box disappears, a pop up menu shows up, asking How do you want the sound to start in the slide show?
  • I’m more of a fan of automatically starting but you can change the option at any time. For this example, I clicked Automatically. Automatically means the sound will play automatically after you have configured on when it will play. When Clicked means the sound will play after clicking the sound icon that appears after you’ve added the music file.

Step 2 - Selecting between automatically playing or playing when clicked.

  • Once the audio file has been added to the slide, a horn icon will appear on the slide. To test if your audio file has been added correctly, start your slide show and head to the slide to which you added the file.
  • If you selected Automatically, then the music will start when you arrive at your slide with music.
  • If you selected When Clicked, then the music will start when you reach your slide and click on the horn icon.

Complete - You’ve now added music to your presentation!

Adding Music to Powerpoint 2007 - Complete!

Now you know the answer to the question, “Can you put music on Microsoft PowerPoint?” You have successfully completed all steps to add music to your Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 presentation. Now you can wow the crowds with music in your presentations or if you forget how to add music, you can always follow through the tutorial again.

Follow Up Note

Remember that if you added an .mp3 music file that when you transfer the PowerPoint presentation, you must also transfer the .mp3 file with it. I suggest any .mp3 files you add be left in the same folder as your presentation, so that when you do need to move your presentation, you can move the whole folder. This does not apply if you added a .wav file as they are embedded into the presentation. You will notice a large difference in size if you embed a music file as opposed to linking to one.

This post is part of the series: Creating Music Magic in Microsoft Powerpoint 2007

Tutorials on how to add and use music in your Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 presentations. Each tutorial includes step by step instructions with clear screenshots to guide you on your way.

  1. Tutorial on How to Add Music on Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Presentations
  2. Tutorial on Using Music in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Presentations