How To Create A Title Slide In Powerpoint

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, Accessibility Checker helps you locate missing slide titles and add them.

With your presentation open, select Review > Check Accessibility.

The Accessibility Checker inspects the file and opens in a pane on the right side of the window with results of the inspection.
Select the Missing slide title category to open the list.

Point at a slide number in the list, then select the adjoining drop-down arrow. A menu appears, giving you one or more options appropriate to your situation:

Option	Description
Edit Slide Title	The cursor appears in the empty Title placeholder so you can type a title.
Add Slide Title	PowerPoint adds a Title placeholder to the slide and puts the cursor there so you can type a title.
Add Hidden Slide Title	PowerPoint adds an off-slide Title placeholder to the slide and puts the cursor there so you can type a title. Because the Title is positioned off-slide, it will be invisible during a slide show, but the title is available to help users navigate or select the slide.
Set as Slide Title	No Title placeholder exists on the slide, but Accessibility Checker selects the text box or shape that seems most like a title. To make the selected object your slide title, choose this command. Or, if there is a different text box or shape you want to use as the title, select it and then choose this command. Only objects with text that aren't in groups can be made into a title.

Type a title for the slide.

You can name or rename a slide by using a slide layout that has a title placeholder.

Select the slide whose layout you will change so that it can have a title.
Click Home > Layout.
Select Title Slide for a standalone title page or select Title and Content for a slide that contains a title and a full slide text box. Many other layout options include titles, too. Pick the one that's best suited for your presentation.
Select the Click to add title text box. Enter your title for that slide.

You can also create a slide title in Outline view. This view also shows the titles for any other slides in your presentation.

Click View > Outline View.
- A slide without a title will have no text to the right of the slide number.
- If your slide already has a title, it appears next to the slide number.
Click to the right of the slide number.
Type your new title here, or update an existing slide title. Your text will appear on the slide as you enter it.

Tip:You can use Outline view as your notes when you give a presentation.

You can position a title off the slide. That way, the slide has a title for accessibility or sorting reasons, but you save space on the slide for other content.

On the View tab, select Zoom and then lower the zoom percentage to about 50% so that the margins outside the slide are visible.
Type a title in the Title placeholder box.
Point the mouse at the border of the Title placeholder box so that the pointer becomes a four-headed move pointer.
Drag the Title placeholder upward or downward and then drop it outside the slide boundary.

You can confirm that the title will be invisible during a slide show by selecting Slide Show > From Current Slide.

If you want all or many of your slide titles to be hidden, use Slide Master view to achieve it. Duplicate the slide layout for which you want to have hidden titles. Then on the duplicate layout, move the title placeholder off-slide. Then apply the new layout to the appropriate slides.

For example:

On the View tab of the ribbon, in the Master Views group, select Slide Master.
In the slide thumbnail pane on the left side of the PowerPoint window, right-click a slide layout (such as Title and Content Layout) that you want to alter, and choose Duplicate Layout.
Select the duplicated layout.
Select the title placeholder, drag it upward, and drop it outside the boundary of the visible slide.

If PowerPoint doesn't allow you to drag the placeholder that far, use View > Zoom to make the slide surface area appear smaller so that there is adequate room to move the placeholder fully off-slide.
Close Master view and return to Normal view.
Select a slide whose title you want to hide. Right-click it, and apply the "hidden-title" slide layout that you just created.

The title moves to an off-slide position, but it still exists. You can see the title of the slide by switching to Outline view.

Having slide titles is valuable for:

Accessibility A visually impaired person that uses a screen reader relies on the slide titles to know which slide is which.
Helping various PowerPoint features work correctly Design Ideas, Apply Layout, and Reset Slide work better on slides that have titles. Insert Hyperlink, Insert Zoom, and custom shows all refer to slides by their titles.

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

You can name or rename a slide by using a slide layout that has a title placeholder

Select the slide whose layout you will change so that it can have a title.
Click Home > Layout.
Select Title Slide for a standalone title page or select Title and Content for a slide that contains a title and a full slide text box. Many other layout options include titles, too. Pick the one that's best suited for your presentation.
Select the Click to add title text box. Enter your title for that slide.

You can also create a slide title in Outline view. This view also shows the titles for any other slides in your presentation.

Click View > Outline View.
- A slide without a title will have no text to the right of the slide number.
- If your slide already has a title, it appears next to the slide number.
Click to the right of the slide number.
Type your new title here, or update an existing slide title. Your text will appear on the slide as you enter it.

Tip:You can use Outline view as your notes when you give a presentation.

You can position a title off the slide. That way, the slide has a title for accessibility or sorting reasons, but you save space on the slide for other content.

On the View tab, select Zoom and then lower the zoom percentage to about 50% so that the margins outside the slide are visible.
Type a title in the Title placeholder box.
Point the mouse at the border of the Title placeholder box so that the pointer becomes a four-headed move pointer.
Drag the Title placeholder upward or downward and then drop it outside the slide boundary.

You can confirm that the title will be invisible during a slide show by selecting Slide Show > From Current Slide.

For example:

On the View tab of the ribbon, in the Master Views group, select Slide Master.
In the slide thumbnail pane on the left side of the PowerPoint window, right-click a slide layout (such as Title and Content Layout) that you want to alter, and choose Duplicate Layout.
Select the duplicated layout.
Select the title placeholder, drag it upward, and drop it outside the boundary of the visible slide.

If PowerPoint doesn't allow you to drag the placeholder that far, use View > Zoom to make the slide surface area appear smaller so that there is adequate room to move the placeholder fully off-slide.
Close Master view and return to Normal view.
Select a slide whose title you want to hide. Right-click it, and apply the "hidden-title" slide layout that you just created.

The title moves to an off-slide position, but it still exists. You can see the title of the slide by switching to Outline view.

Having slide titles is valuable for:

Accessibility A visually impaired person that uses a screen reader relies on the slide titles to know which slide is which.
Helping various PowerPoint features work correctly Design Ideas, Apply Layout, and Reset Slide work better on slides that have titles. Insert Hyperlink, Insert Zoom, and custom shows all refer to slides by their titles.

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

You can name or rename a slide by using a slide layout that has a title placeholder.

Select the slide whose layout you will change so that it can have a title.
Click Home > Layout.
Select Title Slide for a standalone title page or select Title and Content for a slide that contains a title and a full slide text box. Many other layout options include titles, too. Pick the one that's best suited for your presentation.
Select the Click to add title text box. Enter your title for that slide.

You can also create a slide title in Outline view. This view also shows the titles for any other slides in your presentation.

Click View > Outline View.
- A slide without a title will have no text to the right of the slide number.
- If your slide already has a title, it appears next to the slide number.
Click to the right of the slide number.
Type your new title here, or update an existing slide title. Your text will appear on the slide as you enter it.

Tip:You can use Outline view as your notes when you give a presentation.

You can position a title off the slide. That way, the slide has a title for accessibility or sorting reasons, but you save space on the slide for other content.

On the View tab, select Zoom and then lower the zoom percentage to about 50% so that the margins outside the slide are visible.
Type a title in the Title placeholder box.
Point the mouse at the border of the Title placeholder box so that the pointer becomes a four-headed move pointer.
Drag the Title placeholder upward or downward and then drop it outside the slide boundary.

You can confirm that the title will be invisible during a slide show by selecting Slide Show > From Current Slide.

For example:

On the View tab of the ribbon, in the Master Views group, select Slide Master.
In the slide thumbnail pane on the left side of the PowerPoint window, right-click a slide layout (such as Title and Content Layout) that you want to alter, and choose Duplicate Layout.
Select the duplicated layout.
Select the title placeholder, drag it upward, and drop it outside the boundary of the visible slide.

If PowerPoint doesn't allow you to drag the placeholder that far, use View > Zoom to make the slide surface area appear smaller so that there is adequate room to move the placeholder fully off-slide.
Close Master view and return to Normal view.
Select a slide whose title you want to hide. Right-click it, and apply the "hidden-title" slide layout that you just created.

The title moves to an off-slide position, but it still exists. You can see the title of the slide by switching to Outline view.

Having slide titles is valuable for:

Accessibility A visually impaired person that uses a screen reader relies on the slide titles to know which slide is which.
Helping various PowerPoint features work correctly Design Ideas, Apply Layout, and Reset Slide work better on slides that have titles. Insert Hyperlink, Insert Zoom, and custom shows all refer to slides by their titles.

Use the Layout option to title a slide

You can name or rename a slide by using a slide layout that has a title placeholder.

Select the slide whose layout you will change so that it can have a title.
Click Home > Layout.
Select Title Slide for a standalone title page or select Title and Content for a slide that contains a title and a full slide text box. Many other layout options include titles, too. Pick the one that's best suited for your presentation.
Select the Click to add title text box. Enter your title for that slide.

Put a title on a slide, but make the title invisible

You can position a title off the slide. That way, the slide has a title for accessibility or sorting reasons, but you save space on the slide for other content.

On the View tab, select Zoom and then lower the zoom percentage to about 50% so that the margins outside the slide are visible.
Type a title in the Title placeholder box.
Point the mouse at the border of the Title placeholder box so that the pointer becomes a four-headed move pointer.
Drag the Title placeholder upward or downward and then drop it outside the slide boundary.