PowerPoint is so famous for making powerful presentations that it’s almost impossible to come across a corporate presentation that isn’t made with the application. It’s easy to use and can handle almost any type of media available. It’s so versatile that you can create any presentation without worrying about the size. However, many people have wondered whether PowerPoint has a size limit and what would happen if you went over the limit.

If you’re using PowerPoint 2007 and above, you’re only limited by your computer’s capabilities, including the RAM and operating system. This means you can create larger files without worrying about the application crashing. However, PowerPoint 97-2003 has a file size limit of 2GB.

That’s not all, as you still need to know the maximum size of a PowerPoint file before it starts lagging, how to send huge PowerPoint files, and how to reduce the size, which you will learn if you read on.

Does PowerPoint Have a File Size Limit?

PowerPoint underwent significant upgrades when it released the 2007 version, and one of the changes was to eliminate the file size limit. Previously, you could not go above the 2GB mark without running into problems. However, the current PowerPoint versions don’t have such limitations, and you’re only limited by the computer’s capabilities like:

• RAM – Computers with more RAM capability can handle any PowerPoint file size, and the opposite is true.
• Operating system – PCs running on Windows 8 and above tend to handle any PowerPoint file size without experiencing glitches and lags.

Even with such unlimited file capabilities, it’s always best to create smaller PowerPoint file sizes due to the following reasons:

• If a file gets corrupted, you stand to lose all your work.
• Larger files might take longer to load.
• Sending a larger file through email could prove problematic.
• Backing up such a large file to the cloud could ‘eat’ up the resources and add to the cost.

How Big is Too Big in PowerPoint?

Although PowerPoint doesn’t have file size limitations, you still need to be cautious of how big you make a presentation file. Any PowerPoint presentation larger than 100 MB is considered oversized and may experience loading problems. However, if you have powerful RAM, you can comfortably work on a PowerPoint presentation of around 1 GB.

Any RAM below 4GB can easily handle a 40 MB presentation, but if the file size exceeds this limit, you may start to experience extended loading times. If you want to work on a presentation file size of 100 MB and above, you need a computer with at least 8GB of RAM. Any PowerPoint presentation above 2 GB is considered too big to edit, send, or present without experiencing load-time problems.

How to Send a PowerPoint When the File is too Big

Due to size limitations, sending huge files via email is no longer practical. However, you can use file-sharing platforms like DropSend, TransferBigFiles, RapidShare, and MediaFire to share your presentation with other people. You can also use Presentation Sharing Services like SlideOnline to share huge files instantly.

You can also share the files through your website by uploading them and sharing a link to the document. Make sure you remove any crucial details you don’t want anyone else to see before sharing.

What Causes a PowerPoint File to be Big?

Using too many high-resolution pictures and media is the main reason for larger presentation files. Embedding an audio file also contributes to the overall size, and so is attaching a video file. Too many detailed slides also contribute to file size.

How to Reduce the Size of a PowerPoint File

Working with larger PowerPoint files is not advisable, given how it’s easy to lose your work if that file gets corrupted. You can reduce the file size by compressing the images and any media in the presentation. Also, try zipping the file before sharing it, as doing so will shave off a few megabytes from the file.

To combat high resolution images, consider uploading your images to Compressor.io, compressing them, downloading the new images, and using the new (smaller) images for your Powerpoint.

Compressing an entire PowerPoint file at once is also very easy, and you can do so by following these steps:

Open FILE on the top right of the screen and navigate to INFO. Select COMPRESS MEDIA and choose the desired pixels. If you want to send the file over email, it’s advisable to choose the 480p settings.

Outro

PowerPoint presentations are a perfect way of sharing your presentation with others. Although the current PowerPoint versions don’t have file size limits, it’s advisable to keep the file lower than 100 MB to allow quicker sharing, loading, and editing. It’s also better to work on smaller PowerPoint files to avoid losing crucial work if the file gets corrupted. You can send larger PowerPoint files through file-sharing services or by compressing the media to make the file smaller to attach to an email.