In PowerPoint, most new projects begin the same way—with creating or opening a new,
blank presentation.
All you have to do is go to the backstage view… and choose New.
If you prefer to start from scratch, go ahead and click the thumbnail that says Blank Presentation.
Or you can take a look at one of the built-in themes… where you should find several different
designs to choose from.
If you want a little more guidance on your presentation, though, you can always start
with a template instead.
You'll find them in the very same place in the backstage view.
Templates, like themes, come with their own design and color scheme.
But they can also include tips or placeholders that'll help you further develop your slides.
To use a template, choose one of the categories here… or search for something specific.
If you see a template you like, just click to view a preview.
Then click the Create button… and you can start adding your own content to the slides.
Opening an existing presentation is also very easy.
Again, you'll want to go to the backstage view… but this time, click Open in the left
pane.
If the presentation you're looking for is something you've worked on recently, it might
be listed under Recent Presentations.
In fact, you can "pin" certain presentations here, so you always have access to your most
frequently used files.
All you have to do is mouse over the file, then click the pushpin icon.
To unpin it, click the icon again.
You can pin as many presentations as you want.
If the file you're looking for hasn't been opened recently, just look to the other options.
Under SkyDrive, for instance, you can access files that are saved online to your SkyDrive
account.
Under Computer, you can access files that are actually saved to your computer.
All you have to do is click Browse… then select the presentation you want.
When you're ready, click Open… and the presentation will appear.
Sometimes, you may find yourself working with a presentation that was created in an older
version of PowerPoint (specifically PowerPoint 2003 or earlier).
When you open one of these files, it'll appear in something called compatibility mode.
This mode is designed to disable certain features, so people who have older versions of PowerPoint
can still collaborate on the file.
If this isn't a concern for you, you can easily convert the file to the current version.
To get started, go to the backstage view.
Then click the button that says Convert… and choose where you want the new copy to
be saved.
You can give it a different file name too.
Keep in mind: converting an older presentation can cause unexpected changes to your slide
layout.
However, it will give you access to all the current features and commands.
Now you know how to create, open, and convert presentations in PowerPoint 2013.