How to Add Music to Your PowerPoint Presentation

You can add audio, such as music, narration, or sound bites, to your PowerPoint presentation. To record and hear any audio, your computer must be equipped with a sound card, microphone, and speakers.

Adding music to a PowerPoint presentation can be a great way to enhance your slides, set the mood, and keep your audience engaged. With the right soundtrack, you can transform a regular presentation into something special. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll explain the different ways to add music to PowerPoint, with step-by-step instructions.

Why Add Music to PowerPoint?

Before jumping into the how-to. let’s look at some of the reasons why you might want to add music to your PowerPoint presentation

Set the tone or mood. Music is one of the most powerful ways to influence emotions. By adding the right song you can set a lighthearted, somber, energetic or inspirational mood.
Make your presentation more memorable. Audiences remember presentations with music far better than those without. The combination of visuals and audio makes for a more engaging, multimedia experience.
Fill awkward silences. Music playing softly in the background can prevent awkward silences when transitioning between slides or during quiet moments in your presentation.
Entertain your audience. In situations where you want to entertain as well as inform, such as a marketing keynote, music can help keep your audience tuned in.
Enhance storytelling. For narrative style presentations, music works like a movie soundtrack to highlight important moments and keep people focused on your message.

How to Add Music Files to PowerPoint

PowerPoint makes it easy to add audio files like MP3s and WAVs to your presentation. Here are the steps:

Open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide where you want the music to play.
Click the Insert tab.
Click the Audio button and select Audio on My PC from the drop-down menu.

![Audio on My PC option][]
Find the music file you want to add and click Insert. Supported formats include: – MP3 – WAV – WMA – M4A/MP4 – OGG
An audio icon will appear on the slide. You can click the icon to play the music, adjust the volume, trim the length and more.
Under Playback Options, choose when the music should start playing and if it should loop continuously.

And that’s it! The music file will now play during your presentation exactly how you specified.

Recording Narration or Voiceover

In addition to imported music, you can also record your own narration or voiceover audio directly within PowerPoint. Here’s how:

Navigate to the slide where you want the recording to play.
Click Insert > Audio and select Record Audio. ![Record Audio option][]
Click the red Record button and start speaking into your microphone.
When finished, click the square Stop button.
Preview your recording with the Play button. Re-record if needed.
Insert the recording onto your slide.

Now the recording will play back on that slide during your presentation!

Inserting Audio from YouTube Videos

You may want to add music or audio from YouTube videos. Unfortunately you can’t directly insert YouTube clips into PowerPoint. However, there is a workaround using a free website called ClipConverter.cc.

Follow these steps:

Go to ClipConverter.cc and enter the URL for the YouTube video.
Select “MP3” for the output format.
Click “Convert Video”.
Download the converted MP3 audio file.
Insert this MP3 into your PowerPoint slide just like you would any other music file.

While not as seamless as direct YouTube embedding, this method works quite well for extracting the audio from YouTube videos.

Adding Background Music to Your Slideshow

Up to this point we’ve focused on adding music that plays on a single slide. But you can also add background music that plays across your entire presentation:

Add your music file to the first slide only.
Under Playback Options, select the Play across slides option. ![Play across slides option][]
Ensure Loop until stopped is also checked.

Now your background music will start on slide 1 and continue playing in a loop until the end of the presentation.

Some additional tips for background music:

Adjust the volume so it’s subtle enough not to overpower your voice.
Use instrumental or ambient music without lyrics. Lyrics can be distracting.
Fade the music in and out at the start and end to smooth the transition.

Importing Music from a CD

If you have music CDs, you can import tracks directly into PowerPoint as well. Here’s how:

Insert the CD into your computer’s CD drive.
Open Windows Media Player.
Click the Rip CD button. ![Rip CD button][]
Choose the song(s) you want and click Rip CD. This will save them as MP3 files on your computer.
Switch over to PowerPoint and insert the MP3 tracks from your CD like any other music file.

Ripping tracks from a CD is extremely convenient and avoids having to purchase songs again digitally.

Converting Audio File Formats

PowerPoint supports common formats like MP3, but you may run into a specialized audio file type it can’t play. Fortunately, you can convert any audio file to MP3 using the free software Audacity:

Download and install Audacity.
Open your audio file in Audacity.
Go to File > Export Audio and select MP3 as the output format. ![Export MP3 in Audacity][]
Save the converted MP3 file.
Add the MP3 to PowerPoint.

Audacity provides tons of other advanced audio editing features too in case you need to trim, split, or process your music files.

Avoiding Common Audio Pitfalls

To wrap things up, here are some best practices to keep in mind when adding music to PowerPoint:

Choose instrumental music – Songs with lyrics can be distracting for audiences trying to focus on your presentation. Wordless ambient or instrumental music works best.
Keep volume low – Background music should complement your voice, not drown you out. Find the right balance.
Use royalty-free music – Avoid copyright issues by using music from royalty-free sites like Bensound or Free Music Archive. Or record your own!
Test on multiple devices – Make sure your music plays reliably on the presentation computer, your laptop, tablets or anything else it’ll be played on.
Have backups ready – Bring extra copies of your music files on a USB drive as a precaution to avoid any playback issues.
Check with event organizers – If presenting at a conference or event, confirm with the organizers ahead of time if playing music is allowed.

And that covers everything you need to know to add music and audio tracks seamlessly into your next PowerPoint presentation! With the right soundtrack your slides are sure to impress any audience.

how to add music to powerpoint

Hide the Audio icon

Select the audio clip icon on the slide.
On the ribbon, on the Playback tab, select the Hide During Show check box. Use this option only if you set the audio clip to play automatically. Note that, in Normal view, the audio icon is always visible unless you drag it off the slide.

Select the audio icon and then select the Playback tab. Then select which options youd like to use:

To trim the audio, select Trim and then use the red and green sliders to trim the audio file accordingly.
To fade in or fade out audio, change the number in the Fade Duration boxes.
To adjust volume, select Volume and select the setting you prefer.
To choose how the audio file starts, select the dropdown arrow next to Start, then select an option:
- In Click Sequence: Plays the audio file automatically with a click.
- Automatically: Plays automatically once you advance to the slide that the audio file is on.
- When Clicked On: Plays audio only when the icon is clicked on.
To choose how the audio plays in your presentation, select an option:
- Play Across Slides: Plays one audio file across all slides.
- Loop until Stopped: Plays an audio file on loop until it’s stopped manually by clicking the Play/Pause button.
To have the audio play continuously across all slides in the background, select Play in Background.

To delete an audio clip, select the audio icon on the slide and press Delete.

You can add audio, such as music, narration, or sound bites, to your PowerPoint presentation. To record and hear any audio, your computer must be equipped with a sound card, microphone, and speakers.

how to add music to powerpoint

2:00

To add music or other audio clip to your slide show, select the slide you want and click Insert > Audio. You can add audio to a single slide, play audio automatically when a slide appears, or add a song that plays as background music during your entire presentation.

You can add your own narration or commentary to an entire presentation by recording it on the Slide Show tab. See Record your slide show for more information.

Add audio from your PC

Select Insert > Audio.
Select Audio on My PC.
In the Insert Audio dialog box, select the audio file you want to add.
Select Insert.

Select Insert > Audio.
Select Record Audio.
Type in a name for your audio file, select Record, and then speak. Note: Your device must have a microphone enabled in order to record audio.
To review your recording, select Stop and then select Play.
Select Record to re-record your clip, or select OK if youre satisfied.
To move your clip, select and drag the audio icon to where you want it on the slide. If you’re using more than one audio file per slide, we recommend putting the audio icon in the same spot on a slide to find it easily.
Select Play.

How to add Background Music for all slides in PowerPoint

How do I Play Music in a slide show?

In the file explorer, browse to the music file you want to use, and then select Insert. With the audio icon selected on the slide, on the Playback tab, select Play in Background. Play in Background makes the audio file start automatically during a slide show and also makes the audio play across multiple slides.

How do I add music to a PowerPoint presentation?

On the Insert tab, select Audio, and then Audio on My PC. In the file explorer, browse to the music file you want to use, and then select Insert. With the audio icon selected on the slide, on the Playback tab, select Play in Background.

How do I add audio to a PowerPoint presentation?

You can add audio, such as music, narration, or sound bites, to your PowerPoint presentation. To record and hear any audio, your computer must be equipped with a sound card, microphone, and speakers. 2:00 Select Insert > Audio. Select Audio on My PC. In the Insert Audio dialog box, select the audio file you want to add. Select Insert.

What music should you put on a PowerPoint presentation?

Depending on the type of slideshow you’re creating in Microsoft PowerPoint, music might be the perfect addition to the show. You may want a fun upbeat song on a slide or a soft subtle melody throughout the presentation.