Leading the way in Microsoft Office Development

Step 1 - What is the Task Pane ?

The Task Pane is a rectangular window that appears docked on the right side of your PowerPoint window.

It acts as an open menu allowing you to select from a range of commands and functions.

It displays a list of links and commands allowing you to perform different tasks depending on what you are doing at the time.

The task pane is designed to help you complete tasks quickly and will change automatically according to the task in hand.

Step 2 - Displaying the Task Pane

If the Task Pane is not displayed it can be displayed at any time by selecting (View > Task Pane).

If you want to close the task pane you can either select (View > Task Pane) again or click on the small black cross in the top right corner.

You can also use the shortcut key (Ctrl + F1) to toggle the display of the task pane.

Using the arrow in the top right corner allows you to quickly move between the different panes.

Step 3 - Getting Started

When you first open PowerPoint the Getting Started page will appear automatically in the task pane.

Step 4 - Help

Step 5 - Clipboard

Step 6 - New Presentation

Step 7 - Other Task Panes

These are all discussed in more detail in the relevant sections.

Clip Art -

Research -

Shared Workspace -

Document Update -

Slide Layout - Displays thumbnails of all possible slide layouts which can be inserted.

Slide Design - In PowerPoint 2002 this used to be the "Slide Design - Design Templates" task pane. Displays thumbnails of all the design templates currently available.

Slide Design - Color Schemes - Displays the various colour schemes based on the current slide design template.

Slide Design - Animation Schemes - Displays all of the animation effects for all the individual objects on the active slide.

Custom Animation - Allows you to set and preview the animation effects for each individual object on the active slide.

Slide Transition - Lets you define the slide transition for each slide.

Revisions Pane - Allows you to obtain a unified list of every comment and change suggested for the presentation and the ability to accept and reject them individually or all at once.