How to Add Slide Numbers, the Date and a Footer in PowerPoint
Slide numbers let people say "can we go back to slide 14?" A footer carries your company name or a confidentiality note. Both live in one dialog box, and both can be switched off for the title slide.
Quick reference
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| Open the dialog | Insert → Header & Footer |
| Slide numbers | Tick Slide number → Apply to All |
| Date | Tick Date and time (choose Update automatically or Fixed) |
| Footer text | Tick Footer and type |
| Keep them off slide 1 | Tick Don't show on title slide |
1. Add slide numbers
1. Go to Insert → Header & Footer (or Insert → Slide Number).
2. Tick Slide number.
3. Click Apply to All.
2. Tick Slide number.
3. Click Apply to All.
Apply adds it to the current slide only; Apply to All is almost always what you want.
2. Add the date
In the same dialog, tick Date and time:
• Update automatically — shows today's date whenever the file is opened. Good for a deck you present regularly.
• Fixed — type a date that never changes. Good for a record of when something was presented.
• Fixed — type a date that never changes. Good for a record of when something was presented.
3. Add footer text
Tick Footer and type your text — a company name, a project title, "Confidential". It appears at the bottom of every slide.
4. Keep them off the title slide
Tick Don't show on title slide before clicking Apply to All. The title slide stays clean and numbering still starts at 1 on slide 1 — slide 2 simply shows "2".
5. Start from a different number
Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size, and change Number slides from. Set it to 0 if you want the first content slide to be number 1.
6. Move or restyle them
The number, date and footer are placeholders on the Slide Master. Go to View → Slide Master, click the top master, and move, resize or recolour the three boxes at the bottom. Close Master View and every slide follows.
Troubleshooting
I ticked Slide number but nothing appears. The layout for that slide has no slide-number placeholder. In View → Slide Master, click the layout, tick Footers on the Slide Master tab, then try again.
The number shows on some slides but not others. You clicked Apply instead of Apply to All, or those slides use a layout with the footers hidden.
I want "Slide 3 of 20". PowerPoint can't do this automatically. Type the total yourself in the footer text, or add a text box on the master with the slide-number placeholder next to "of 20".
Wrapping up
Insert → Header & Footer, tick what you want, Don't show on title slide, Apply to All. If a number refuses to appear, the fix is nearly always in the Slide Master.
