Automatically Advance to the Next Slide After Animation in PowerPoint

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Have you ever wanted your PowerPoint presentation to automatically move to the next slide after an animation finishes playing? You can easily set up your slides to advance automatically after an animated object completes its motion path or effect. This allows you to create more engaging, self-running presentations that don’t require you to manually click to the next slide. Here’s how to make PowerPoint go to the next slide after an animation.

Setting Up Animations in PowerPoint

Before you can have your presentation automatically advance after an animation, you first need to add animations to the objects on your slide.

To animate an object:

  1. Select the object you want to animate
  2. Go to the “Animations” tab in the PowerPoint ribbon
  3. Choose an animation effect from the gallery, such as “Appear”, “Fade”, “Fly In”, etc.
  4. Adjust the effect options if desired, such as the direction, speed, or timing

You can add multiple animation effects to an object by clicking “Add Animation” and choosing additional effects. The animations will play in the order they are listed in the Animation Pane.

Using the Animation Pane

The Animation Pane is a helpful tool that allows you to view and manage all the animated objects on a slide. To open it:

  • Click on an object that has an animation
  • Go to the Animations tab
  • Click on “Animation Pane”

In the Animation Pane, you’ll see a list of all animated objects on the slide, in the order the animations will play. You can reorder, rename, preview, and modify the animations here.

Setting Slides to Automatically Advance After Animations

Once you have animations set up on a slide, you can configure that slide to automatically advance to the next one after the last animation finishes playing.

Here’s how:

  1. Click on the slide you want to auto-advance in the slide thumbnails on the left
  2. Go to the “Transitions” tab in the PowerPoint ribbon
  3. Check the box next to “After:” in the Timing group
  4. To the right of “After:”, choose the animation event you want the slide to advance after, such as “By 1 animation” or “By 2 animations”
  5. The number in the dropdown corresponds to the total number of animation effects on the slide (which you can see in the Animation Pane)

Now, when you play your slideshow, that slide will automatically go to the next one after the specified number of animations finish.

Setting Timings Between Animations

In the Animation Pane, you can also specify how much time to wait between each animation effect on a slide before automatically starting the next one. This allows you to time out animations so there is a slight delay between each one.

To add timings:

  1. Open the Animation Pane
  2. Select an animation effect
  3. Go to the “Timing” section in the ribbon
  4. Put a check mark next to “Start After Previous” if it isn’t already selected
  5. Input a time value or use the up/down arrows to set the delay

The animation will now wait that amount of time after the previous effect before it starts automatically. Repeat this for each animated object to add timings between them.

Making the Entire Presentation Self-Running

You can use the auto-advance and timing techniques covered above to make your entire presentation play automatically without needing to click the mouse or press any keys. This turns your slide deck into a self-running presentation.

To do this:

  1. Put the slides in the order you want them to appear
  2. Add and sequence animations on each slide as desired
  3. Set each slide to automatically advance to the next one after its last animation
  4. Specify timings between animations on each slide if needed
  5. Go to the Slide Show tab and click “Set Up Slide Show”
  6. Under “Show type”, choose “Browsed at a kiosk (full screen)”
  7. Click “OK”

Now when you start the slide show, it will play all the way through on its own, advancing slides automatically after the animations based on the settings you configured. The audience can just sit back and watch without you needing to do anything!

Enabling Looping and User Control

You can also set up your self-running presentation to loop continuously until someone hits Esc. To do this:

  1. Go to the Set Up Show dialog from the Slide Show tab again
  2. Check the box for “Loop continuously until ‘Esc’”
  3. You can also allow the viewer to navigate slides if you want by choosing “Manually” under “Advance slides” and “Using timings…” under “Show options.”
  4. Click “Ok”

This creates a looping kiosk-style presentation that runs by itself and allows audience control when needed.

Timed Animations Without Changing Slides

What if you want animations to run automatically but you don’t necessarily want the slide to advance yet when they’re done? You can set each animation to start automatically after the previous one finishes without auto-advancing the slide.

Here’s how:

  1. Select the first animation in the Animation Pane
  2. In the “Timing” section of the ribbon, set it to “Start After Previous”
  3. Set the “Delay” to the number of seconds you want to wait after the slide loads before starting that first animation
  4. Select each remaining animation, one at a time
  5. Set each of them to “Start After Previous”
  6. Specify the number of seconds to wait between each animation in the “Delay” field

Now the animations will run automatically in sequence with the timings you specified between them. The slide won’t advance to the next one until you manually click the mouse or use the navigation controls.

MethodSlide AdvancesAnimation Timing
Auto-advanceAutomatically after last animationAnimations play in sequence based on order
Animation timings onlyManually (on click)Animations auto-start after specified delay between each
Kiosk modeAutomatically after animations on each slideSet timings between animations or use default sequence

Final Thoughts

As you can see, PowerPoint provides many options for making your slides automatically advance and your animations play on their own. Whether you want to auto-advance to the next slide after animations, create a self-running looping presentation, or just have animations play automatically without changing slides yet, you can accomplish it with the built-in tools and settings.

Use these techniques to create more engaging, interactive, and professional presentations that hold your audience’s attention without needing constant input from you.

FAQs

How do I add animations to objects in PowerPoint?

To add animations to objects in PowerPoint, select the object, go to the “Animations” tab in the ribbon, and choose an animation effect from the gallery. You can add multiple animation effects to an object by clicking “Add Animation” and choosing additional effects.

How can I make a slide automatically advance to the next one after animations finish playing?

To make a slide automatically advance to the next one after animations finish playing, go to the “Transitions” tab in the PowerPoint ribbon, check the box next to “After:” in the Timing group, and choose the animation event you want the slide to advance after, such as “By 1 animation” or “By 2 animations”.

Can I set timings between animations on a slide?

Yes, you can set timings between animations on a slide. Open the Animation Pane, select an animation effect, go to the “Timing” section in the ribbon, put a check mark next to “Start After Previous” if it isn’t already selected, and input a time value or use the up/down arrows to set the delay.

How do I create a self-running presentation that loops continuously?

To create a self-running presentation that loops continuously, set up your slides with animations and auto-advances, then go to the Slide Show tab, click “Set Up Slide Show”, choose “Browsed at a kiosk (full screen)” under “Show type”, and check the box for “Loop continuously until ‘Esc’”.

Can I have animations play automatically without advancing the slide?

Yes, you can have animations play automatically without advancing the slide. In the Animation Pane, select each animation, set it to “Start After Previous”, and specify the number of seconds to wait between each animation in the “Delay” field. The slide won’t advance until you manually click or use navigation controls.

Trish Dixon
See also  How to Move Objects with PowerPoint Animation: Expert Guide

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