How To Easily Combine Multiple PowerPoint Files Into One

If you’ve got several PowerPoint files (maybe from different teammates, departments, or projects) and you need to merge them into one clean, cohesive deck, here are the best ways to do it.

In this post, we’ll walk through the most efficient methods to combine multiple PowerPoint files into one polished presentation.

Method 1: Use the “Reuse Slides” Feature in PowerPoint

Believe it or not, PowerPoint has a built-in feature just for this!  It lets you pull slides from one file directly into another, and is particularly handy for common slides that you need to use over and over.

Steps:

1. Open the main presentation you want to use.
2. Go to the Home tab → Slides → New Slide → Reuse Slides.
   ('Reuse Slides' is all the way at the bottom of the menu)
3. Browse to the file you want to import slides from.
4. Click the slides you want, or insert them all.
5. Important: Check "Keep source formatting" if you don’t want the new slides to be updated to match your current deck’s theme, but want them to keep their original theme.

Method 2: Copy + Paste Individual Slides

This simple method is the most common one and works well, but many don't know how to force the pasted slides to keep their original formatting, if that's needed.

Steps:

1. Open both files
2. Select slides in the thumbnail panel from one
3. Copy-paste them into the destination deck

Note: by default, when you paste in the slide, it takes on the theme of your current deck, which can have unintended consequences in the layout and colors. If you want to keep the theme of the original slide, you have to choose 'Keep source formatting,' which is one of the paste options when you right click to insert the slide.

Method 3: Export to PDF and Combine

If you need a single, polished file to share but don’t need to edit it afterwards, exporting presentations as PDFs is a quick solution.  The final presentation often looks more polished as a PDF, is easy to attach in email and send, and will look perfect on the receiving end, even if the recipient doesn't have the original fonts in the presentation.

Steps:

1. Open each PowerPoint file and go to File → Save As → PDF.
   (or Export → Create PDF/XPS)
2. Use a PDF tool (like Adobe Acrobat, Preview on Mac, or an online PDF merger) to combine the files into one PDF.
3. Share the finished document or keep it as a reference.

This is best for sending out a final, locked-down version that looks exactly as intended, no matter what fonts or software your audience has, but it won't be editable.

Make It Even Easier With Templates

If you’re merging files often, chances are that you or your team could benefit from a shared template. Instead of pulling slides from five different decks with five different styles, consider creating a common standard master template that has the most commonly used and reused slides.  Then everyone can start from the same professional template. And when it’s time to combine, everything will fit together visually.

If you need presentation inspiration, browse Linia Presentation’s best selling professional PowerPoint templates to find something for your next project.