What is a PPT file?
PPT stands for PowerPoint 97 to 2003 presentation. It was created by Microsoft and first released in 1997. PPT is the binary PowerPoint format used before 2007. Current versions of PowerPoint still open it, but save new presentations as PPTX.
| Type | presentation |
|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless |
| In a browser | opens in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote and LibreOffice Impress |
| Common uses | older presentations and slide decks from legacy systems |
| MIME type | application/vnd.ms-powerpoint |
How to open a PPT file
Whether a PPT file opens with a double click depends on the device. Here is what works on each, without buying software:
| Windows | PowerPoint or the free LibreOffice Impress opens PPT, PPTX and ODP. |
|---|---|
| Mac | Keynote opens PPT and PPTX; LibreOffice Impress opens ODP. |
| iPhone and iPad | Keynote and the PowerPoint app open PPT and PPTX; ODP needs an app such as Collabora Office. |
| Android | Google Slides and the PowerPoint app open PPT and PPTX; ODP needs an app such as Collabora Office. |
| Web browser | PPT opens in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote and LibreOffice Impress. |
Want the technical details? See what a .ppt file is, with its MIME type, file signature and a viewer.
PPT compared with other presentation formats
How PPT stacks up against the formats people most often convert it to or from:
| Format | Compression | Usually contains | Released | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPT | Lossless | slides with text, images and animations in a binary file | 1997 | older presentations and slide decks from legacy systems |
| PPTX | Lossless | slides with text, images, charts, animations and speaker notes | 2007 | presentations for work, school and conferences |
| ODP | Lossless | slides with text, images and transitions in a ZIP of XML files | 2005 | presentations made in LibreOffice and OpenOffice |
| Either | 1993 | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
How to use the PPT converter
- Choose the format you want in the Convert to menu.
- Drop your PPT files on the box, or press Choose PPT files. Several files can go in at once.
- Adjust the settings if you need to; the defaults suit most people.
- Press Convert and save each file with its Download button. The file is converted on our server and deleted as soon as the result is sent back.
Tips for converting PPT files
Converting a PPT file keeps every slide and its text: what can change is fonts, effects and animations, where formats do not match feature for feature. A few habits keep the result close to the original.
- Keep the original presentation; a PDF cannot play animations, transitions or video.
- Unhide the slides you want included; hidden slides are left out, as they are when you present.
- Embed fonts in PowerPoint so unusual typefaces look the same in the PDF.
- Compress large photos in the deck to keep the file under the size limit and the PDF easy to email.
- Speaker notes are not included in a PDF of the slides; export notes separately if you need them.
Convert PPT files from the command line
LibreOffice and Ghostscript do the same on your own computer:
soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.ppt
gs -dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=eps2write -dFirstPage=1 -dLastPage=1 -sOutputFile=output.eps input.pdfConverting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.
PPT converter FAQ
What is a PPT file?
PPT stands for PowerPoint 97 to 2003 presentation, a presentation format created by Microsoft in 1997. PPT is the binary PowerPoint format used before 2007. Current versions of PowerPoint still open it, but save new presentations as PPTX.
How do I open a PPT file?
PPT opens in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote and LibreOffice Impress. If the program you need will not open it, convert it to a more widely supported format above.
What is the most common PPT conversion?
PPT to EPS is the conversion people search for most. The PPT is opened by LibreOffice, the open-source office suite, on our conversion server and exported to PDF, and Ghostscript, the standard PostScript interpreter, writes the first slide as an EPS.
Does converting PPT files here upload them?
Yes. PPT conversions need LibreOffice, Ghostscript and MuPDF, open-source programs that cannot run in a browser, so they run on our conversion server. The file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept.
Is the PPT converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Conversions that use our server accept files up to 25 MB, with a fair-use limit per hour. The site is supported by advertising.
Can I convert PPT files on iPhone or Android?
Yes. Open this page in Safari on iPhone and iPad, or in Chrome on Android, choose your PPT files and download the results to your Downloads folder.
Can I convert several PPT files at once?
Yes. Drop as many as you like; they are converted one after another, each with its own download button.