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Insert Progress Bar into PowerPoint Presentation

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Added visual components such as a progress bar can make your PowerPoint presentations much more appealing to viewers. A progress bar will show the status of the current slide in relation to the total number of slides in a presentation.

Inserting a progress bar must be done via macro. Using a VBE, or visual basic editor, you may write specific code to insert the bar into your PowerPoint and configure your desired color, height and width of the bar. This article will explain how.

Add Progress Bar to PowerPoint Presentation

A progress bar is usually placed at the bottom of your PowerPoint slide, keeping it subtle in regards to the rest of your content. To insert the bar, head over to Tools > Macro > Visual Basic Editor.

In the window that opens, select Insert > Module, and then insert this text into the blank page: 

  Sub AddProgressBar()        
    On Error Resume Next        
        With ActivePresentation        
              For X = 1 To .Slides.Count        
              .Slides(X).Shapes("PB").Delete        
              Set s = .Slides(X).Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, _        
              0, .PageSetup.SlideHeight - 12, _        
              X * .PageSetup.SlideWidth / .Slides.Count, 12)        
              s.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(127, 0, 0)        
              s.Name = "PB"        
              Next X:        
        End With        
End Sub

Next go to File > Close > Return to PowerPoint. You will be brought back to your presentation.

Now head to Tools > Macro > Macros. Select AddProcessBar and press Execute. A progress bar should now be displayed:

Remove Progress Bar from PowerPoint

If you'd like to remove your progress bar from your PowerPoint presentation, simply head back to your module and replace this code: 
Set s = .Slides(X).Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, _ 0, .PageSetup.SlideHeight - 12, _ X * .PageSetup.SlideWidth / .Slides.Count, 12)

with the following: 
Set s = .Slides(X).Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 0, 0, 0, 0)

Run the macro to remove your progress bar.
Jean-François Pillou

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