Have you ever wanted to freeze the last slide in your PowerPoint presentation, so it stays on screen while you talk to your audience? Freezing the final slide is a useful technique that allows you to end your slideshow but still display your closing slide, whether it’s your contact information, a final message, or a “Questions?” slide encouraging the audience to ask questions.
In this article, we’ll show you exactly how to freeze the last slide in PowerPoint in a few simple steps. We’ll cover how to do it using PowerPoint’s built-in settings as well as some alternative methods using hyperlinks or the “end show” command. Let’s get started!
Freeze Last Slide Using PowerPoint Settings
The easiest way to freeze your final PowerPoint slide is by adjusting your slideshow settings:
- Open your PowerPoint presentation
- Click the Slide Show tab in the top ribbon
- Click the Set Up Slide Show button
- Under Show options, check the box next to “Keep slides on screen“
- Under Advance slides, select “Manually“
- Click OK to save the settings
Here’s what these settings do:
- “Keep slides on screen” makes it so your presentation doesn’t automatically end when it reaches the last slide. The final slide will stay displayed until you manually end the show.
- Setting “Advance slides” to “Manually” ensures you control when to advance each slide, rather than having the slides advance automatically after a certain time.
With these settings enabled, when you reach the last slide, it will freeze on screen until you press the Esc key to end the slideshow. You can talk to your audience, answer questions, etc. with your final slide still showing behind you.
Limitations
The main limitation of this method is that all your slides will remain on screen after advancing, not just the last one. So if you go back to a previous slide, that slide will stay frozen too until you press Esc. However, for most presentations this isn’t a major issue.
Freeze Last Slide Using Hyperlinks
Another way to freeze your final slide is by using a hyperlink to create a loop back to that same slide. Essentially, you make the last slide link to itself. Here’s how:
- In PowerPoint, go to your last slide
- Select a shape, image, or text box – anything you can hyperlink. Or insert a shape via the Insert > Shapes menu.
- Right-click the object and select Hyperlink
- In the Insert Hyperlink box, click “Place in This Document” on the left
- Select the same slide you are currently on (the last slide)
- Click OK to create the hyperlink
Now when you reach the end of your slideshow and click the hyperlinked object on your last slide, it will just take you back to that same slide, creating a loop. The slideshow will be effectively frozen on that final slide.
To end the presentation, simply right-click and select “End Show” from the popup menu. Or press the Esc key.
Adding Navigation
You may want to add a “home” button or full navigation to your looping last slide so you can jump to other slides if needed during Q&A. To do this:
- Go to View > Slide Master
- Right-click the first smaller slide thumbnail on the left and select Insert Layout
- Click the big empty box that appears in the new layout and select Insert > Shapes > Action Button (in PowerPoint 2007-2010) or Insert > Links > Action (PowerPoint 2013 and later). Choose “Home” to add a home button.
- Right-click the action button and select Edit Hyperlink
- Under “Place in This Document” choose First Slide
- Close Slide Master (Slide Master > Close)
- In your presentation, go to your last slide
- Go to Home > New Slide > Layout and select the new layout you made with the action button
- Move the action button where you want it
Now your last slide has a home button that will take you back to the start of the presentation. You can use the same process to insert action buttons for “Previous Slide”, “Next Slide”, “Last Slide”, etc. This lets you set up custom navigation on your looping end slide.
Freeze Last Slide Using “End Show” Command
A third way to freeze your last PowerPoint slide is using the little-known “end show” command. This method ends your slideshow but leaves the current slide on screen, effectively freezing it. Here’s how to set it up:
- In PowerPoint, go to your last slide
- Go to Insert > Shapes and select the shape you want to use as the trigger to end your show. I recommend a rectangle shape.
- Right-click the shape and select Hyperlink
- In the Insert Hyperlink box, click “Object Action” on the left
- Select “End Show” from the dropdown menu
- Click OK
Now when you reach your last slide, clicking that shape will end the presentation but leave the final slide on screen, freezing it in place. You can press Esc when you’re ready to fully exit the slideshow.
The nice thing about this method is it keeps your last slide frozen while allowing you to navigate back to previous slides normally if needed (unlike the first method which freezes every slide).
Limitations
The “end show” method works great, but keep in mind a few things:
- The shape you use to trigger the “end show” action will be visible on your slide
- You need to remember to actually click it to freeze the slide – accidentally clicking elsewhere will advance to a blank screen
- There’s no way to set up additional navigation or a “home” button using this method, unless you combine it with the hyperlink method described earlier
For these reasons, I recommend the hyperlink looping method for most users who want to freeze their final slide. But the “end show” trick is a nice option to have in your toolkit as well.
Why Freeze Your Last PowerPoint Slide?
So why bother freezing your last PowerPoint slide anyway? Here are a few reasons:
Reason | Explanation |
---|---|
Q&A Sessions | Freezing your final “Any Questions?” slide gives you a nice background for answering audience questions after your talk. |
Contact Info | Leaving your contact slide up makes it easy for people to jot down your email or website after the presentation. |
Closing Message | Keep your concluding slide on screen to drive home your main point or takeaways while you wrap up. |
Avoid “Black Screen of Death” | Sometimes presenters accidentally advance past their last slide, showing an awkward black screen. Freezing the last slide prevents this. |
Even if your presentation doesn’t require a dedicated Q&A or closing time, it’s generally a good idea to plan on freezing your last slide for at least a minute or two after you finish talking. It provides a more polished, professional ending than abruptly cutting to black.
Summary
Freezing the last slide of a PowerPoint presentation is a simple technique, but one that can make a big impact on the flow and professionalism of your talk. Whether you use PowerPoint’s built-in settings, hyperlinks, or the “end show” command, it only takes a few steps to set up.
To recap, here are the key methods we covered:
- Use the Slide Show settings to freeze all slides (best for simple, linear presentations)
- Use a hyperlink to make the last slide link to itself in a loop (allows custom navigation)
- Use the “end show” command to end the slideshow while freezing the current slide (quick but limited)
FAQs
What does it mean to “freeze” the last slide in PowerPoint?
What is the easiest way to freeze the last slide in PowerPoint?
How can I freeze only the last slide without affecting the rest of my presentation?
Can I add navigation to my frozen last slide?
Is there a quick way to freeze the last slide without using hyperlinks?
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