Ribbon reference — Nixt Slides docs

Most ribbon controls are icons. The Control column gives each one’s tooltip, which is also the name a screen reader announces. Where a tooltip changes with the situation, the alternatives are separated by “or”.

Title bar

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Close (back arrow)	Closes the presentation, asking to save unsaved changes	—
Present (“Present from this slide F5”)	Starts the slide show from the current slide	Refused while the slide master is open
Save (“Save ⌘S”)	Saves the presentation	The presentation opened read-only
Save a copy as (download icon)	Menu: PowerPoint presentation, PDF, Markdown outline, Plain text	—
More (three dots)	Menu: Show notes or Hide notes, Slide inspector, Version history, Widescreen (16:9), Standard (4:3), Hide this slide or Show this slide	—

Tab row

Control	What it does
Tab names	Show that tab’s controls. Clicking the open tab collapses the ribbon.
Undo — “Undo” and the change’s name, or “Nothing to undo”	Undoes the last change
Redo — “Redo” and the change’s name, or “Nothing to redo”	Redoes the last undone change
Collapse the ribbon or Show the ribbon (arrow)	Hides or shows the ribbon’s controls

Home

Slides

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Add a slide (+)	Adds a slide with a title box and a content box after the current slide	Refused while the slide master is open
Add a slide with a layout (menu)	Adds a slide built from the layout you choose	Not shown when the presentation has no layouts
Duplicate this slide	Inserts a copy of the current slide after it	Refused while the slide master is open
Delete this slide	Deletes the current slide	Refused for the last slide, or while the slide master is open

Text

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Bold	Turns bold on or off for the selected shape’s text	No shape is selected (“Select a shape first”)
Italic	Turns italic on or off	No shape is selected
Align left	Left-aligns every paragraph in the shape	No shape is selected
Centre	Centres every paragraph in the shape	No shape is selected
Bullets	Turns bullets on for every paragraph, or off if all have them	No shape is selected

Drawing

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Quick styles — fill, outline and text colour in one step	Opens the Quick styles dialog	No shape is selected

Align

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Line up on the left	Lines up left edges	Fewer than two shapes selected (“Shift-click a second shape to line them up”)
Centre across	Centres shapes horizontally on each other	Fewer than two shapes selected
Line up on the right	Lines up right edges	Fewer than two shapes selected
Line up along the top	Lines up top edges	Fewer than two shapes selected
Centre down	Centres shapes vertically on each other	Fewer than two shapes selected
Line up along the bottom	Lines up bottom edges	Fewer than two shapes selected
Space them out evenly across	Makes the horizontal gaps equal	Fewer than three shapes selected (“Select three or more shapes to space them out”)
Space them out evenly down	Makes the vertical gaps equal	Fewer than three shapes selected

Arrange

Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Shape fill	Opens the colour palette for the selected shape’s fill	No shape is selected
Bring to front	Moves the shape in front of everything on the slide	No shape is selected
Send to back	Moves the shape behind everything on the slide	No shape is selected
Group the selected shapes	Groups the selected shapes	Fewer than two shapes selected (“Shift-click a second shape to group them”)
Ungroup — leave the shapes where they are drawn	Takes the selected group apart	No group is selected (“Select a group to take it apart”)
Delete the shape	Deletes the selected shape	No shape is selected

Insert

Group	Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Text	Add a text box	Adds an empty text box	—
Shapes	Add a rectangle	Adds a rounded rectangle	—
Shapes	Add an ellipse	Adds an ellipse	—
Tables	Insert a table	Opens the Insert a table dialog	—
Links	Link this shape to a web address, or “Change the link —” and the address	Opens the Link this shape dialog	No shape with text is selected (“Select a shape with text first”)
Links	Remove the link	Removes the selected shape’s link	The shape has no link (“This shape is not a link”)
Media	Add a picture	Opens a file dialog for a PNG, JPEG, GIF or WebP picture	—

Symbols are inserted from the text dialog: double-click a shape, then pick one. See Insert a symbol.

Design

Group	Control	What it does
Themes	Five scheme swatches — “Recolour the deck with” and the scheme’s name, or the name and ”— this deck’s colours”	Replaces the presentation’s colour scheme
Fonts	Font menu — “Headings and body text. This deck uses” and the fonts	Replaces the heading and body fonts: Calibri Light / Calibri, Georgia, Helvetica Neue, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS / Verdana
Background	Slide background	Opens the colour palette for the current slide’s background
Slide size	16:9 (“Set the deck to 16:9 slide”)	Makes every slide 16:9
Slide size	4:3 (“Set the deck to 4:3 slide”)	Makes every slide 4:3

Transitions

Group	Control	What it does
Transition	Transition menu — “Transition into this slide. Dissolve plays as a fade.”	Sets the current slide’s transition: None, Fade, Push, Wipe, Split, Cut, Dissolve or Zoom

Animations

The tab is unavailable on a slide that has emphasis, exit or motion-path animations from PowerPoint. See Animations from PowerPoint files.

Group	Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Entrance	Appear, Fade, Wipe, Fly in, Zoom, Split — “Bring the shape on with” and the effect	Gives the selected shape that entrance animation, or changes its effect	No shape is selected (“Select a shape first”)
Entrance	Remove the animation (eraser)	Removes the selected shape’s animation	The shape has no animation (“This shape does not animate”)
Start	On click, With previous, After previous	Sets when the animation starts	The shape has no animation (“Give the shape an animation first”)
Timing	Length menu — “How long the effect takes”	0.25s, 0.50s, 0.80s, 1.20s or 2s	The shape has no animation
Timing	Run this one earlier (up arrow)	Moves the animation one place earlier	The shape has no animation
Timing	Run this one later (down arrow)	Moves the animation one place later	The shape has no animation
This slide	Summary: “No animations” or, for example, “4 in 3 steps”	Information only	—

Slide Show

Group	Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Start	Present from the first slide	Starts the slide show on slide 1	Refused while the slide master is open
Start	Present from this slide	Starts the slide show on the current slide	Refused while the slide master is open
Set up	Skip this slide when presenting, or Show this slide when presenting (lock icon, highlighted when hidden)	Hides or shows the current slide	—
Set up	Rehearse timings — present the deck, and how long each slide is up for becomes how long it stays up (clock)	Starts a rehearsal from slide 1	—
Set up	Advance on the deck’s own timings and the total (highlighted when on)	Turns automatic advancing on or off	The presentation has no timings (“This deck has no timings — rehearse to make some”)
Set up	Clear the timings, so every slide waits for a click (eraser)	Removes every slide’s timing	The presentation has no timings (“This deck has no timings”)

View

Group	Control	What it does
Presentation views	“Normal — one slide, edited” (highlighted in Normal view)	Switches to Normal view
Presentation views	“Slide sorter — every slide at once, dragged into order” (highlighted in the slide sorter)	Switches to the slide sorter
Present	Present from this slide	Starts the slide show on the current slide
Show	Speaker notes (highlighted when shown)	Shows or hides the speaker notes pane
Show	Skip this slide when presenting, or Show this slide when presenting	Hides or shows the current slide
Master views	“Edit the slide master — the logo, the rule, the band every slide under it shows”, or “Close the master and go back to the slides”	Opens or closes the slide master view. Unavailable when the presentation has no master (“This deck has no slide master to edit”).

Table

This tab appears at the end of the tab row while a table is selected. Controls marked “needs a cell” are unavailable, with the tooltip “Click a cell first”, until you click a cell.

Group	Control	What it does	Unavailable when
Rows	Insert a row above	Adds a row above the selected cell	Needs a cell
Rows	Insert a row below	Adds a row below the selected cell	Needs a cell
Rows	Delete this row	Deletes the selected cell’s row	Needs a cell
Columns	Insert a column to the left	Adds a column to the left of the selected cell	Needs a cell
Columns	Insert a column to the right	Adds a column to the right of the selected cell	Needs a cell
Columns	Delete this column	Deletes the selected cell’s column	Needs a cell
Merge	Merge the selected cells	Merges the selected block into one cell	No block of cells is selected (“Shift-click a second cell to select a block, then merge”)
Merge	Split this cell back into the grid	Splits the selected merged cell	No merged cell is selected (“Select a merged cell to split it”)
Cell	Cell shading	Opens the colour palette for the selected cell	Needs a cell
Cell	Edit this cell	Opens the dialog to type the cell’s text	Needs a cell
Table	Delete the table	Deletes the whole table	—

Dialogs

Dialog	Opened from	Controls
Edit text (or Edit title, Edit subtitle, Edit content and so on)	Double-clicking a shape	Text field, SYMBOLS row, Cancel, Apply
Cell dialog, titled “Row n, column n”	Double-clicking a cell, or Edit this cell	Text field, Cancel, Apply
Link this shape	Insert › Links	Address field, Cancel, Link
Insert a table	Insert › Tables	Size grid, Cancel, Insert
Quick styles	Home › Drawing	Eight style swatches, Cancel
Version history	More › Version history	List of versions, Close
Unsaved work from time	Opening a presentation with a recovery copy	Discard it, Restore
Keep these timings?	Ending a rehearsal	Discard, Keep
Save changes to name?	Close with unsaved changes	Don’t save, Cancel, Save
Cannot open name	A file that can’t be opened	OK