How to convert powerpoint presentations to keynote

Elise Williams

2020-12-28 17:33:12 • Filed to: Compare of Mac Software • Proven solutions

When it comes to presentations, PowerPoint is the industry standard for a lot of people. That is, for those using Windows products. Apple users will tell you that Keynote is the standard for them. We live in a world where Windows and Mac users have to coexist, which is why you need to learn how to convert PowerPoint to Keynote. After all, you need to collaborate with PowerPoint users every now and then.

How to Convert PowerPoint to Keynote on Mac

Jumping back and forth between PowerPoint and Keynote presentations can be quite easy if you know how to turn PPT to Keynote files. And we will help with a guide anyone can understand. This conversion is easier than you think.

Step 1. Launch Keynote on your Mac, and then click “File” > “Open” from the drop-down menu. Select “On My Mac”, and then browse to find the PPTX or PPT file. The good news is Apple lets you open these files in Keynote. Once you open it, you will see Keynote will process the file. It might take a while, but in the end, you will see the presentation in Keynote.

Step 2. Once you open the presentation, there will be a couple of warnings. This is because Keynote and PowerPoint look and work differently. Keynote will note all of the issues, and then you have to make changes to handle the warnings.

Step 3. One of the common issues is fonts, and you will have to click the “replace fonts” button on the pop-up window. For replacing charts, sadly, there is no quick option. PowerPoint has advanced charting features, meaning you will have to re-create new charts. It is the only content that doesn’t convert smoothly.

Step 4. Run the presentation, and review if there is any difference between the one in PowerPoint and your new one in Keynote. If there are changes, make the necessary adjustments. If not, save the presentation as a Keynote file. There you go, you have successfully learnt how to convert PowerPoint to Keynote.

How to Convert PowerPoint to Keynote on iPad

Your iPad cannot open PPTX files directly. However, you can convert them to a format compatible with the iPad, or use Keynote to open the presentation and then run it on the iPad. So, let’s take a look at how to convert PowerPoint to Keynote on iPad.

• 1. Start by emailing the presentation to yourself. You can email the presentation, but cannot open directly in iPad.
• 2. Go to the attachment, and open the file by clicking “Open In”. Select Keynote as the app to open the PPTX/PPT file.
• 3. The presentation will not look the same, since Keynote and PowerPoint work differently. You will have to make the necessary changes, the same as with opening PPT on your Mac in Keynote.
• 4. Review the presentation, and see if there are any differences with the original presentation. If there are no differences, save the presentation.

Tips for Converting PowerPoint to Keynote

Now that we know how to convert PowerPoint to Keynote, let’s talk about how to maximize your results. In other words, how to best utilize files.

One of the advantages of converting PPT to keynote is that you can now use the files and integrate them in your iCloud. All of Apple’s applications like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are integrated within the iCloud.

As we are becoming more and more dependent upon cloud service for sharing, viewing, and editing files, iCloud is becoming more helpful. Simply tap iCloud integration in your Keynote application, and you will be able to share files with all iCloud users. That includes PC users who use PowerPoint. You can set permission in the iCloud so users can access, or edit Keynote files.

The Best PDF Tool You Must Have on Mac

PDF is a huge part of using Apple products. Yes, PowerPoint and Keynote have a number of features that make the presentation neat, smooth, and professional looking. But to make it more memorable, you can also use PDF tools. PDF tools add a few nifty features to your presentation, like Full View mode. The most important aspect PDF helps with presentation is structuring your presentation.

With that in mind, you need a comprehensive PDF tool to help you make the presentation more professional looking, and that is PDFelement. What are the benefits? Here are some nifty features you might like to use:

If someone sends you a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, but you’d rather use Apple’s presentation software, Keynote, you’re in luck! Apple’s done all the hard work for you. Here’s how to convert a PowerPoint presentation to Keynote.

Apple created Keynote knowing that nearly everyone using it would be coming from PowerPoint. This is no surprise, as PowerPoint has 16 years on Keynote and basically owned the presentation software market before Keynote came along.

Knowing this, Apple made it incredibly simple to move from PowerPoint to Keynote by allowing you to open PPTX files directly in Keynote.

To do so, just open Keynote on your Mac, and then click “File” in the taskbar.

In the drop-down menu, click “Open.”

In Finder, navigate to the PowerPoint presentation you want to open, select it, and then click “Open.”

The PowerPoint file will open in Keynote, with some caveats. Unless you’re unusually lucky, you’ll likely see a warning appear. In our example, the source files for some fonts Keynote doesn’t support are missing. We click “Show” to get more information.

A dialog box appears that will allow you to resolve any issue(s).

In our example, the fonts that have a Warning icon next to them need to be replaced. We click the arrows to the right of each font to select a replacement.

When you’re satisfied with your selections, click “Replace Fonts.”

Note that this could change some formatting within the presentation, so it’s best to give it a quick once-over after you replace any fonts.

To convert a PPTX file to a KEY file, save it, click “File” in the taskbar, and then click “Save.”

Give your presentation a name, choose where you want to save it, and then click “Save.”

There are multiple ways to convert PowerPoint presentations to iWork Keynote. Here we will explain an easy way to achieve this task.

First, you just need to open Keynote and then specify the .ppt file to open the presentation in PowerPoint as the original format, this can be done clicking in “Open an Existing File” at the bottom of Theme Chooser. Now, you will have your presentation opened in Keynote. In order to save the presentation in Keynote format, you will need to Save As the presentation and specify Keynote instead of PowerPoint.

It is important to be aware that converting from PowerPoint to Keynote may generate some inconsistencies and differences compared with the original presentation, this is mainly caused because PowerPoint and Microsoft Office is a much more complex and mature software.

Convert PowerPoint to Keynote in batch mode

You may need to convert your PowerPoint presentations to Keynote in bulk mode, or many PPT files at once. There are ways to achieve this task by using automation. With Automator in Mac you can convert PowerPoint to Keynote easily with a simple batch process. You can learn more in this Macworld article.

If you need to make prototypes, you may consider to review the prototyping and wireframes PPT templates available in Keynotopia.

Dilum Senevirathne

15 Sep 2020

There are numerous reasons you would want to convert a PowerPoint presentation to the Keynote format. Perhaps you intend to send a PPTX or PPT file to a recipient with a Mac. Or maybe you received or downloaded a presentation as a PowerPoint file to your Mac.

Thankfully, converting a PowerPoint presentation from the PPTX or PPT format to the KEY format is quite easy. Perhaps even easier than you think. So without any further ado, let’s go through three easy ways to help you do that.

1. Use ZamZar

On Windows, the most convenient way to convert a PowerPoint presentation to the Keynote format is to use an online file conversion service. ZamZar was our pick for a couple of reasons; the service has been around for almost 15 years, and there were no other reputable file converters that could perform PPTX to KEY conversions.

Step 1: Open ZamZar in your preferred web browser. Then, click the Add Files button and upload the PPTX or PPT file that you want to convert. The file should not exceed 50MB in file size.

Note: ZamZar lets you convert up to two PPTX files within a 24 hour time period. If you want to convert more than that, you must subscribe to a paid plan.

Step 2: Set the output format to KEY, and then click Convert.

Step 3: Wait for a few seconds while ZamZar converts the file. Then, click Download to save the converted presentation file locally.

However, you must keep a couple of issues in mind while using a file conversion service such as ZamZar. Firstly, you must be aware of privacy implications. If the presentation contains sensitive information, it’s best to avoid this method since there are no guarantees of where your data might end up in.

Secondly, there are formatting issues to consider. Converted KEY files may not carry the same formatting (fonts, for example) as their original PPTX/PPT files. The problem is further compounded by the fact that PowerPoint (which you probably used to generate the presentation) doesn’t support KEY files, so there’s no way to check either.

The next method is not only private and secure, but it also allows you to convert as many files as you want.

Sébastien Page on December 21, 2017

All Mac and iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad come with a suite of office applications pre-installed. This includes Keynote, a presentation software app very similar to PowerPoint, its Microsoft counterpart.

Keynote presentations can easily be viewed on any Apple hardware, but as an application exclusive to Apple platforms, there can be compatibility issues when wanting to share a Keynote document with a Windows user. To avoid these compatibility issues between Mac and Windows, one can save Keynote documents created on Mac as PowerPoint documents that will easily be viewable on Windows.

In this post, we will show you how to save or convert a Keynote document to a PowerPoint document and make sure your presentation can work across both Mac and Windows platforms.

How to convert a Keynote presentation to a PowerPoint presentation on Mac

If you’re working with a .key presentation on your Mac and want to turn it into a .pptx presentation, follow these simple instructions:

1) On your Mac, create a new presentation or open an existing one.

2) Go to File > Export To > PowerPoint…

3) In the window that appears on your screen, you can click on Advanced Options and choose between the .pptx and .ppt formats. If you are saving this presentation to use on a newer Windows computer, which is most likely, select .pptx which is the default option anyway. Click Next to continue.

4) Enter a name of the exported document and select a location where you want to save it to, then click Export to finalize.

Once exported, you will be able to share your newly converted .ppt or .pptx file with any Windows user. Although some animations and fonts might not port over properly from your original Keynote document, the exported file should be mostly compatible with Windows computers.

How to save a Keynote file as a PowerPoint file on iPhone or iPad

The process described above for Mac is virtually the same on iOS, whether you are using an iPhone or iPad:

1) On your iPhone or iPad, open an existing Keynote presentation, or create a new one.

2) Tap on the ” … ” ellipsis icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

3) Select Export.

4) Choose the PowerPoint format. Note that unlike the file conversion process on Mac, iOS doesn’t let you choose between the .ppt or .pptx file formats as it uses .pptx by default.

5) Finally, select how you want to share the converted document. You may share it by email or iMessage, but you can also save it to the Files app or any cloud-based storage service such as Dropbox.

As you can see, the conversion process is fairly quick and simple. The best thing is it doesn’t only work for Keynote. For example, you’d follow the same basic instructions if you wanted to save a Pages document as a Word document.

PowerPoint might be the industry standard when it comes to presentations, but it’s far from the only option. Yes, Microsoft’s offering might be the most powerful, but it isn’t the easiest to use. That title might just go to Apple’s Keynote, which makes preparing and giving presentations easy.

Even if you’re a Keynote diehard, you might run into situations when you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file. You can tell these by the .ppt or .pptx format. Fortunately converting them to the Keynote format is a straightforward process.

Import a PowerPoint presentation into Keynote

To get started, open up your PowerPoint presentation in Keynote. Apple’s software supports both the newer .pptx format and the older .ppt extension. Unless you’re exceedingly lucky, you’ll probably see a few warnings.

Replacing missing fonts

The most common problem you’ll encounter is missing fonts. Being a Microsoft product, PowerPoint defaults to using Microsoft fonts. Since these aren’t available in Apple’s software, you’ll need to choose some alternatives.

Strangely enough, you might even have to replace a font with a font of the same name. Apparently, the Helvetica used in PowerPoint isn’t the same as Keynote’s version of Helvetica.

If all you’re doing is presenting, you don’t absolutely need to change fonts. If you plan to edit the presentation at all though, you’ll need to choose replacements.

Other possible issues

While missing fonts are the most common issue, they aren’t the only issue you may encounter. Graphs, for example, can be problematic when importing a PowerPoint file into Keynote. In the worst-case scenarios, you may need to completely replace the graph with a new one.

There are other issues you may run into as well, depending on how many of PowerPoint’s features you use. A list of what is and isn’t compatible between PowerPoint and Keynote is available on Apple’s website.

Test your presentation

Once you’ve made any changes necessary, the next step should be to run through your presentation. This way you can check for any other incompatible features or other issues. If you find anything that doesn’t look right, now is the time to fix it.

Save your presentation as a Keynote file

If you’re able to run through the presentation without issue, now it’s time to save the file. Once you save the presentation as a Keynote file, the conversion process is done. Just to make sure that everything went smoothly, you might want to close the file and open it again. It’s better to catch any issues early, instead of in the middle of a presentation.

Other options

If you’re running into problems not addressed here, having PowerPoint installed on your Mac can help. This way, you can fix issues in the original version of the presentation before converting to Keynote’s format. It might be less than ideal, but if you have an Office 365 subscription, it can make your life easier. You can still convert to Keynote in the end, but you aren’t stuck if you run into issues.

In extreme cases or if you’re out of time, converting to Keynote may not be an option. If you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file but don’t have the software, there is a solution. Just as with Microsoft Word files, you can open a .pptx or .ppt file in the web version of PowerPoint. This may not be your first choice, but it can save your presentation in a pinch.

Kris Wouk is a writer, musician, and whatever it’s called when someone makes videos for the web.

How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint Presentation File?
Being a local MAC users uses Keynote rather than the PowerPoint when presenting the presentations to an audience. Apple’s Keynote is part of productivity & business applications. If you want to convert the Apple’s Keynote to the Microsoft’s PowerPoint Presentations to view the keynote in PowerPoint then check and read this below article once, PowerPoint can’t open the Keynote .ppt file by itself. So by trying these below methods and guides will help you in this.

Keynote does not display timelines accurately on the animations & program is not capable of the supporting Visual Basic. This program is not compatible with the Microsoft, but the PowerPoint presentations are consistent with your MAC.

*NOTE:- The main advantage of the PowerPoint Presentations is usability. Keynote & the PowerPoint are both features of the office suites.

Table of Contents

(Guide) How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint Presentation File

So here is the tutorial on How to do that on MAC and from these methods, you can learn for converting your Keynote file to the PowerPoint presentation file.

1. Download the File in PowerPoint Presentation from Keynote App. –

• Go to this Website: iCloud.com
• Sign up on the iCloud
• Open the online Keynote application
• Drag your Keynotefile onto the browserwindow
• Keynote browser application will open your presentation
• Click on the tool icon there
• Select Download a Copy option
• Keynote will prompt an opportunity to download a Keynote/PDF/PowerPoint options
• Select PowerPoint to download it in PowerPoint presentation
• After finishing, close all the tabs & windows
• That’s it, done

By downloading the file in the presentations from the applications can help you for the Convert Keynote to PowerPoint problems.

2. Export Keynote to PowerPoint File by Apple’s Keynote Software –

• Launch the KeynoteSoftware from your MAC PC
• Start the .Key file
• Click on the File option ( At the top )
• Click on Export To option
• Select PowerPoint option there
  A Pop up will appear there
• It says,
  Create a PowerPoint document that can be viewed & edited with Microsoft PowerPoint
• Click on Next button there
• Wait for completing it
• After finished, close all windows
• That’s it, done

By exporting the File by Apple’s Software can help you to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint on iPhone.

3. Export your Project to a PDF –

• Click on the File option
  ( At the top of the screen )
• Click on Export option there
• Now, Choose PDF option
  For Image quality, Choose ‘Best‘ option from there
• Save it as PDF
• After completing, close everything
• That’s it

By exporting your project to a PDF help you to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint on PC PDF.

These are the easiest & the fastest ways for How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint Online on MAC File. Hope this guide will surely assist you in for this presentations file.

If you face any problem while How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint Online on MAC file then Comment the issue here below. Thanks for reading and checking this article.

PowerPoint might be the industry standard when it comes to presentations, but it’s far from the only option. Yes, Microsoft’s offering might be the most powerful, but it isn’t the easiest to use. That title might just go to Apple’s Keynote, which makes preparing and giving presentations easy.

Even if you’re a Keynote diehard, you might run into situations when you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file. You can tell these by the .ppt or .pptx format. Fortunately converting them to the Keynote format is a straightforward process.

Import a PowerPoint presentation into Keynote

To get started, open up your PowerPoint presentation in Keynote. Apple’s software supports both the newer .pptx format and the older .ppt extension. Unless you’re exceedingly lucky, you’ll probably see a few warnings.

Replacing missing fonts

The most common problem you’ll encounter is missing fonts. Being a Microsoft product, PowerPoint defaults to using Microsoft fonts. Since these aren’t available in Apple’s software, you’ll need to choose some alternatives.

Strangely enough, you might even have to replace a font with a font of the same name. Apparently, the Helvetica used in PowerPoint isn’t the same as Keynote’s version of Helvetica.

If all you’re doing is presenting, you don’t absolutely need to change fonts. If you plan to edit the presentation at all though, you’ll need to choose replacements.

Other possible issues

While missing fonts are the most common issue, they aren’t the only issue you may encounter. Graphs, for example, can be problematic when importing a PowerPoint file into Keynote. In the worst-case scenarios, you may need to completely replace the graph with a new one.

There are other issues you may run into as well, depending on how many of PowerPoint’s features you use. A list of what is and isn’t compatible between PowerPoint and Keynote is available on Apple’s website.

Test your presentation

Once you’ve made any changes necessary, the next step should be to run through your presentation. This way you can check for any other incompatible features or other issues. If you find anything that doesn’t look right, now is the time to fix it.

Save your presentation as a Keynote file

If you’re able to run through the presentation without issue, now it’s time to save the file. Once you save the presentation as a Keynote file, the conversion process is done. Just to make sure that everything went smoothly, you might want to close the file and open it again. It’s better to catch any issues early, instead of in the middle of a presentation.

Other options

If you’re running into problems not addressed here, having PowerPoint installed on your Mac can help. This way, you can fix issues in the original version of the presentation before converting to Keynote’s format. It might be less than ideal, but if you have an Office 365 subscription, it can make your life easier. You can still convert to Keynote in the end, but you aren’t stuck if you run into issues.

In extreme cases or if you’re out of time, converting to Keynote may not be an option. If you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file but don’t have the software, there is a solution. Just as with Microsoft Word files, you can open a .pptx or .ppt file in the web version of PowerPoint. This may not be your first choice, but it can save your presentation in a pinch.

Kris Wouk is a writer, musician, and whatever it’s called when someone makes videos for the web.

If you are a iOS user and use iWork to make your presentations and documents, you may use Keynote to prepare presentations. However, notice that PowerPoint is widely used and popular and there are plenty of presentations .PPT already created in PowerPoint. So if you need to convert your PowerPoint presentations into Keynote presentations then here we will explain how-to.

First, you need to open Keynote in your computer and then click Opening an Existing File. Now a dialog box will be displayed to pick the file from your computer. You can choose a .PPT presentation.

When you pick this file, the presentation will be automatically converted and displayed in the Keynote editor. Now you can take advantage of the beautiful Keynote transitions and animations and save your work as a Keynote presentation.

The same instructions applies if you are trying to open an AppleWorks presentations or a slide created in Microsoft PowerPoint. You can import them into Keynote and continue to work on it. Here are ways to import a PowerPoint or an AppleWorks document:

• In Keynote, choose File > Open. In the Open dialog, find the document you want to import and click Open.
• In the Finder, drag the PowerPoint or AppleWorks document icon to the Keynote application icon.

For example, you can import the slides and then save the work in Keynote 09 (for Mac or iPad) template using the .key file extension.

This video will explain you how to import PPT presentations into Keynote. In summary, you need to open Keynote, then Opening an Existing File and here you can pick any PPT presentation (created with PowerPoint) and will seamlessly imported into Keynote. Now you can take advantage of the beautiful Keynote transitions instead of PowerPoint transitions. The video uses a PPT sample of a presentation about San Andreas Fault, has 800 miles long, transform boundary and Pacific plate and North American plate, discovered in 1895 by Andrew Lawson.

Now, you can reproduce these steps to import any of our PPT templates and convert them to Keynote templates.

UPDATE: If you’re looking to create PowerPoint presentations with Canva, take a look at this recent post.

Did you know you can create Canva presentations and convert them into Keynote or PowerPoint? You don’t have to do a complete presentation in Canva however you can do several slides and throw those slides right into an existing presentation. You can also keep your business branding in mind when doing a presentation and create templates with your logo, brand colors, and website URL.

I have to tell you I get a tingly sensation of excitement when I think about doing a Canva presentation. I know I’m a Canva nerd… It’s something about creating something from start to finish and seeing it successfully done.

Okay so I made a demonstration video for you below for Keynote. If you have a Mac, you’re most likely using Keynote for your presentation. In this video I show how to fix the text when it comes up short on the download. Take a look.

For those of you who use PowerPoint, I’ve included a PowerPoint demo below for PC users. I have to admit although I have a Mac, I tend to use PowerPoint more since I’m Microsoft certified. I have to let you in on a secret… I’m such a techy nerd that the most romantic lovable gift my husband gave me was Microsoft Office Suite for my Mac. Wow! I can’t believe I told you that. That’s really bad.

I did a post about 3 Ways to Use Canva for Presentations a while back if you refer to it you’ll find out what the next video post will be about. That’s right I’m testing y’all! LOL Check it out and let me know in the comments below.

Remember Content is King & Visual Content is Queen. Fancy up those presentations with beautiful images from Canva. No need to be boring and have bulleted slides. If you need any help you know who to contact!

Lillian De Jesus

Fill out the form below if you’d like a one-on-one session.

Here’s what Jane Guyn, Founder of Pleasure Plan had to say about her one-on-one session, “I appreciated your help very much. xoxo Thank you for your help with the Canva/Powerpoint interface. :)”