How to Convert Powerpoint to Word

Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word both belong to the Microsoft Office product suite and, as such, there are ways in which they can share files. This relationship may be used to create handouts or slide notes for presentations, but not every version of PowerPoint shares files with Word the same way. Different versions of the PowerPoint software give different conversion results.

PowerPoint for Macintosh

Step 1 Open your presentation file in PowerPoint.

Step 2 Click open the "File" menu. Click "Send To" and "Microsoft Word." Microsoft Word automatically opens with the converted file.

Step 3 Click Word's "File" menu and select "Save" to save the file as a Word document.
In PowerPoint 2008, only the slide titles will be converted over to Word in outline form.
In PowerPoint 2004, the entire text content of each slide is converted over to Word, but no graphics are included.

Step 4 Click the "File" menu in PowerPoint, then click "Print" and choose "Handouts" or "Notes" from the "Print What:" drop-down menu to print these items instead of converting the presentation to Word first.

PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

Step 1 Open your presentation file in PowerPoint.

Step 2 Click the "Office" button in the upper left of the screen and choose "Publish."

Step 3 Click "Create Handouts" in Microsoft Word.

Step 4 Choose a layout for the slides and notes, then click "OK." This automatically launches Microsoft Word. A new document will open that contains slide thumbnails, slide notes or the outline layout you selected.

Step 5 Click the "Office" menu in Word, then click "Save" to save the information from PowerPoint as a Word document.

Earlier Versions of PowerPoint for Windows

Step 1 Open the presentation file in PowerPoint.

Step 2 Click the "File" menu, then "Send to," then "Microsoft Office Word" in the sub-menu.

Step 3 Choose the format for your exported file in the "Send to Microsoft Office Word" dialog box. You can place slide notes next to the slide, below the slide or not show them at all. You can also omit the slide graphics and include just an outline of the text on the slides. Click "OK" when you've made your selection. Microsoft Word will open with the resulting file.

Step 4 Click the "File" menu in Word, then click "Save" to save the contents from the presentation as a Word document.