How to Make Google Slides Portrait

Switch the slide's orientation from landscape

What to Know

  • Open the presentation in Google Slides. Select File > Page setup.
  • Choose the drop-down box that displays Widescreen 16:9 (or a similar horizontal ratio.)
  • Select Custom > swap the numbers listed in the two boxes to rotate the slide to vertical.

This article explains how to change all the slides in a Google Slides presentation from landscape (horizontal) mode to portrait (vertical) mode, and then back to landscape mode.

How to Change Slide Orientation in Google Slides to Portrait

After you use Google Slides to make a presentation, it only takes a few moments to go back in and change a slide's orientation from landscape to portrait. This process changes the orientation for all the slides in the presentation; there's no method for doing it for individual slides. Here's what you need to do to change things around.

  1. Go to Google Docs in a web browser. You can't do this on an Android or iOS app.

  2. Select menu (three lines).

    Google Docs with the hamburger icon highlighted
  3. Select Slides.

    Google Docs with Slides highlighted
  4. Choose the presentation you want to edit.

    Google Slides with presentations highlighted
  5. Select File.

    Google Slides with File menu highlighted
  6. Select Page setup.

    Google Slides with Page Setup highlighted

    You may need to scroll down to see this option.

  7. Select the drop-down box currently displaying Widescreen 16:9.

    Google Slides with Page Setup menu open

    This may be a different size, depending on how your presentation is set up.

  8. Select Custom.

    Google Slides with Custom Page Setup selected
  9. Swap the two numbers listed around to rotate the slide into a vertical position. 

    Google Slides with page setup sizes highlighted

    Another way to change the slide size in Google Slides is to enter a figure here. We recommend 7.5 inches by 10 inches if you want to create a portrait image that looks good when printed.

  10. Select Apply.

  11. The slide has now been correctly moved to the Portrait perspective.

How to Change Slide Orientation to Landscape

Is your presentation set up for Portrait mode and you're now regretting everything? Don't worry. It's just as simple to change your slides back to Landscape perspective. Here's what to do.

  1. Go to Google Docs.

  2. Select menu (three lines).

    Google Docs with Hamburger icon highlighted
  3. Select Slides.

    Google Slides highlighted on Google Docs
  4. Choose the presentation you want to edit.

    Google Slides with presentations listed
  5. Select File.

    Google Slides with File highlighted
  6. Select Page setup.

    Google Slides with Page Setup highlighted

    You may need to scroll down to see this option.

  7. Select Custom.

    Google Slides with Page setup options highlighted
  8. Swap the two numbers listed around to rotate the slide into a vertical position. 

    Google Slides with page setup options highlighted

    Want to change the size in a different way? Enter a figure here. We recommend 10 inches by 7.5 inches if you want to create a landscape image that looks good when printed.

  9. Select Apply.

    Google Slides with page setup options highlighted
  10. The slide has now been correctly moved to the Landscape perspective.

When to Use Different Perspectives on Your Presentation

You may be wondering why you need to switch between Portrait and Landscape perspective with your Google Slides presentations. We've looked at a few key reasons why it can be worthwhile doing.

  • Newsletters. If you're creating a newsletter in Google Slides, a portrait view is often far better for reading than landscape. It looks better for everyone and is far easier to hold too if you're printing it out.
  • Different posters. Depending on what you're designing, different posters can look better either in Portrait or Landscape perspective. It's useful to be able to see which looks better for your design.
  • Infographics. Similarly, if you're designing an infographic for your presentation, graphs will look better in Landscape while more text-heavy results will look better in Portrait.
FAQ
  • How do I add audio to Google Slides?

    To add audio to Google Slides, insert a link to a sound file. For example, if you find a SoundCloud file you want to use, select Share and copy the URL. In your Google Slide, choose where you want the sound to play and go to Insert > Link. Paste the link > Apply.

  • How do I add a video to Google Slides?

    To embed a video in Google Slides, select the slide where you want to insert the video, and then select Insert > Video. Search for and choose the video you want to add, or enter the video's URL. To adjust its size and specifications, right-click and select Format Options.

  • How do I do hanging indents in Google Slides?

    To do a hanging indent in Google Slides, ensure the ruler is visible, and then add your text. Highlight the text where you want a hanging indent, and select and drag the indent control (downward triangle) in the ruler area. Grab the left indent control (blue bar above triangle) and drag it where you want the first line of text to start to create the hanging indent.

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