How to Prevent Changes in PowerPoint

Read-only is also known as "marked as final" in PowerPoint.

You've worked hard on your PowerPoint presentation. Every font is sized just right, your master slides contain your custom designed logo and every animation and slide transition is timed perfectly for the big slide show presentation. Now you need to send it out into the world for review. The last thing you want is someone making a tweak here or there that throws the whole thing off. You can prevent changes in your PowerPoint presentation by marking it as final. While this is not a security measure, you can tell readers that it is a final, read-only version.

Instructions

1. Open the PowerPoint document you wish to mark as final.

2. Click on the "Office" button. Select "Prepare" and then choose "Mark as Final."

3. Save your document. Double-check the status of your document by locating the "Mark as Final" icon in PowerPoint's status bar.

Tips & Warnings

• PowerPoint presentations that are marked as final in a 2007 Microsoft Office system version will not be read-only if opened in earlier versions of the Microsoft Office suite of programs.

• When a document is marked as final, the document becomes read-only. The final status can be removed from the document and edited by someone who disregards your final status.

References

• Microsoft Office PowerPoint: Prevent Changes to a Final Version of a Document