How to work with text in PowerPoint 2016

If you're new to PowerPoint, you'll need to learn the basics of how to work with text. In this lesson, you will learn how to cut, copy, paste and format text.

How to select text

Before you can move or arrange text, you need to select it.

Click next to the text you want to select, hover over the text, then release the mouse button. The text will be selected.

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Copy and move text

PowerPoint allows you to copy text already on slides and paste text elsewhere, this can save you time. If you want to move text, you can cut and paste or drag and drop text.

How to copy and paste text

1. Select the text you want to copy, then click the Copy command on the Home tab .

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2. Place the cursor where you want the text to appear.

3. Click the Paste command on the Home tab .

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4. The copied text will appear.

How to cut and paste text

1. Select the text you want to move, then click the Cut command .

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2. Place the cursor where you want the text to appear, then click the Paste command .

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3. The text will appear in the new location.

You can access the cut, copy and paste commands using keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl + X to cut, Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste.

How to drag and drop text

1. Select the text you want to move, then click and drag the text to the desired location.

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2. The text will appear in the new location.

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Format and align text

Formatted text can draw audience attention to specific parts of the presentation and emphasize important information. In PowerPoint, you have a number of options to adjust your text, including size and color. You can also adjust and change the way text is aligned to change how they are displayed on the slide.

Click the buttons in the interaction below to learn about the different commands in the Font and Paragraph groups .

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Practice!

1. Open a sample practice presentation.

2. Select slide 4.

3. Use the cut and paste command or drag and drop to move the text ' Lower blood pressure between Companionship and Social opportunities '.

4. Select the list of benefits and add italic effects.

5. Select the text ' Did you Know? ', delete the bolded effect and change the size to 36pt.

6. When you're done, your slide will look like this:

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See more:

1. Create and open presentations in PowerPoint 2016
2. How to save presentations in PowerPoint 2016
3. Basic information about slides in PowerPoint 2016