Design and templates
Corporate design PowerPoint template: where to find yours and how to build one
Where to find your company's PowerPoint template and how to build a corporate design template with theme colors, fonts, logo and layouts, then share it.
A corporate design PowerPoint template is a file whose slide master, layouts, theme colors and theme fonts carry your brand guidelines, so new slides start on brand instead of being restyled by hand. This guide shows where to find your company's template, what a good one contains, how to build it, how to test it and how to share it.
Where do I find my company's PowerPoint template?
Ask whoever owns the brand, usually communications or marketing, then look under File → New for the Personal, Shared or Custom tab and for templates listed under your organization's name; the full steps, including Mac and the web, are in applying a template to an existing presentation.
What belongs in a corporate design template?
Microsoft defines a theme as a predefined set of colors, fonts and visual effects, and a template as a theme plus some content. A corporate design template is that, with your rules built into the file: the guidelines live in the slide master and the layouts, not only in a style guide.
| Element | Set it as | Where in PowerPoint |
|---|---|---|
| Colors | Theme colors: four text and background colors, six accent colors and two hyperlink colors | Design → Variants → Colors → Customize Colors |
| Fonts | One heading font and one body font | View → Slide Master → Fonts → Customize Fonts |
| Logo | Once on the slide master, so the layouts inherit it | Top thumbnail in Slide Master view, Insert → Pictures |
| Slide size | Widescreen 16:9 unless your guidelines say otherwise | Design → Slide Size |
| Layouts | Only the ones people need: title, section divider, content, two columns, picture, closing | Slide Master → Insert Layout |
| Placeholders | Real placeholders for titles, text and pictures instead of loose text boxes | Slide Master → Insert Placeholder |
| Footers | Footer, date and slide number positioned on the master | Slide Master tab, Master Layout group, Footers |
Charts follow the theme as well. Microsoft's page on changing the color or style of a chart says chart styles use the theme colors, and that you change a color scheme by switching to a different theme or by selecting Chart Styles → Color next to the chart. Add one finished example slide per layout, with a chart and a table among them, so people start from a finished slide.
How do I create a corporate design template in PowerPoint?
Build it in the desktop version of PowerPoint and set the design on the theme and the slide master, not on single slides. Microsoft's page Create and save a PowerPoint template says you cannot create a template in PowerPoint for the web.
- Open File → New → Blank Presentation.
- Choose Design → Slide Size and pick Widescreen (16:9) or Custom Slide Size.
- Set the colors: in the Variants group on the Design tab open the gallery, choose Colors → Customize Colors, pick the colors in the Create New Theme Colors dialog, name the set and select Save.
- Open View → Slide Master. On the Slide Master tab choose Fonts → Customize Fonts, pick a heading font and a body font in the Create New Theme Fonts dialog, name the set and select Save.
- On the master, the top thumbnail, set the text styles and add the logo with Insert → Pictures. The layouts below inherit both. The slide master guide covers the details, including footers.
- Add or edit layouts with Insert Layout and Insert Placeholder, then choose Close Master View.
- Add one example slide per layout.
- Choose File → Save As (Save a Copy in Microsoft 365), set the file type to PowerPoint Template, name the file and select Save. PowerPoint normally switches to the Custom Office Templates folder.
To start a new deck from the template on Windows, choose File → New → Personal and double-click it. On a Mac, choose File → Save as Template to save it and File → New from Template to start a deck from it. If you also want the design as a theme file, Slide Master → Themes → Save Current Theme saves a .thmx file that you can apply to other decks.
What goes wrong in corporate design templates?
Most problems come from design that sits on slides instead of in the master.
Brand applied slide by slide
Colors picked with the color picker, a logo pasted onto every slide, text boxes instead of placeholders and fonts typed in by name.
Brand built into the master
Theme colors and theme fonts, the logo on the master and real placeholders in every layout, so a new slide starts on brand and a change reaches every slide.
Two more habits cause trouble. The first is too many layouts: every layout people have to choose between is another chance to choose the wrong one, so keep only the ones your team uses. The second is a layout without a title placeholder. Microsoft's accessibility guidance asks for a unique, descriptive title on each slide, and a slide gets its title from a layout that has a title placeholder. The glossary explains what a placeholder is.
How do I check that the template is readable?
Check colors and text sizes before you share the file. Microsoft's guidance on accessible PowerPoint presentations asks for a font size of 18 pt or larger, sans serif fonts, sufficient white space and sufficient contrast between text and background, and it names familiar sans serif fonts such as Arial or Calibri. Run Review → Check Accessibility on a sample deck.
For contrast, the W3C's WCAG 2.2 criterion on minimum contrast asks for a ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text and 3 to 1 for large text, which it defines as 18 pt or 14 pt bold. The checker below tests a text and background color pair against those thresholds. Which fonts to put in the theme is the subject of best fonts for presentations.
How do I share the template with my team?
Keep one master copy as a .potx file and decide who owns it. Then pick the route that matches your company.
| Route | How it works | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Small team | Share the file in a folder. Everyone copies it into their personal templates location (File → Options → Save → Default personal templates location) or opens it and saves a copy as .pptx for each new deck | No IT work, but an update means a new copy for everyone |
| Whole company | IT publishes it as an organization template, listed under your organization's name | Microsoft says the feature needs a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 plan |
| Organization Asset Library | IT sets up an Office template library in SharePoint, and people pick templates in PowerPoint | Up to 30 libraries, templates as .potx; setup is an IT task described on Microsoft Learn |
| Copilot | Upload the template to a Brand kit | See Copilot with a company template |
When the design changes, update the template and move older decks onto it with the steps in apply a template to an existing presentation.
Can AI work in my corporate design?
Yes. The AI offers three ways to use your design.
| Route | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open your .pptx | The AI reads theme fonts and colors, each slide's layout, repeating footers and speaker notes, and builds new slides in the same design |
| Use as template | Copies the pages, page format and images of an earlier document into a new document, without using credits |
| Brand page | Stores colors, fonts, a logo and a tone of voice and attaches them to every new request |
Open your .pptx template (up to 30 MB). The assistant is told to keep your typography, colors and logos unless you ask otherwise. New slides follow the design the AI read from your file, with its theme fonts and colors, each slide's layout and the footers.
On the Brand page you can enter a website address and select Read brand. It reads the visible colors, fonts and logo, and nothing is saved until you select Accept brand. You can also set everything up by hand. To apply the brand to a finished deck, open the file and ask, for example “Restyle the whole presentation in our brand”. Your instruction in the request always wins, and because it is an AI request it uses credits.
Brand fonts you upload (TTF, OTF, WOFF or WOFF2, up to 2 MB each) draw in the editor, PDF, PNG and JPG while the brand is active, and PowerPoint and Word files name the font you chose. Upload only fonts whose license allows it.
Create a 10-slide presentation on [topic] for [audience] in our brand. Use the active brand's colors, fonts and logo, and put the logo on the title and closing slides only. Write every title as a full sentence that states the takeaway, in our tone of voice. At the end, list the slides where you changed the layout.
Check the result against your corporate design rules, and check figures, names and statements as well. For more on bringing your own design into an AI-built deck, see AI presentations in your company template. The glossary entry on corporate design explains the term.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my company's PowerPoint template?
Ask your brand, communications or marketing team, or check the intranet for a Brand or Corporate Design download area. In PowerPoint, choose File, New and look for a tab named Personal, Shared or Custom, or for templates listed under your organization's name.
How do I create a corporate design template in PowerPoint?
Use the desktop app, because PowerPoint for the web cannot create templates. Open a blank presentation, set the slide size, customize the theme colors and fonts, open View, Slide Master, add the logo, placeholders, footers and layouts, then choose File, Save As (Save a Copy in Microsoft 365) and the file type PowerPoint Template. On Windows it then appears under File, New, Personal.
What is the difference between a PowerPoint template and a theme?
Microsoft defines a theme as a predefined set of colors, fonts and visual effects, and a template as a theme plus some content. A corporate design template builds on a theme and adds your slide master, layouts, logo and sample slides.
How do I share a PowerPoint template with my team?
Keep one master copy as a .potx file. In a small team, share it in a folder and have everyone copy it into their personal templates location (File, Options, Save) or open it and save a copy as .pptx for each new deck. Across the company, ask IT to publish it as an organization template, which needs a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 plan, or through an Organization Asset Library. For Copilot, upload it to a Brand kit.
How do I check that my corporate design is readable?
Microsoft's accessibility guidance asks for a font size of 18 pt or larger, sans serif fonts, sufficient white space and sufficient contrast between text and background, and it offers an Accessibility Checker under Review, Check Accessibility. WCAG 2.2 sets contrast ratios of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text and 3 to 1 for large text.
Can an AI work in my corporate design?
Yes, in three ways: open your .pptx template (up to 30 MB), use an earlier document as a template, or store colors, fonts, a logo and a tone of voice on the Brand page. Your instruction in a request always wins.
Keep reading
Company template and corporate design
- TemplateCompany profile
Show who you are, key facts, growth, offering, customers, history and leadership, and end on a clear next step. A 9-slide company profile deck with an example.
- GuideCopilot with a company template
Can Copilot in PowerPoint use your company template? Yes, through a Brand kit: how to prepare the template, upload it, set strict mode and check the result.
- GlossaryPlaceholder
A placeholder is a pre-formatted container on a slide layout that reserves a spot for a title, text, picture or chart. Definition, types and common mistakes.
- GuideHire a presentation designer
Hire a presentation design service, build in-house or use a tool: a decision frame, a briefing checklist, a quote table to fill in and a worked cost example.
- GlossarySlide layout
A slide layout is a template for how content is arranged on a slide: which boxes it has and where they sit. Definition, common layouts and how to choose one.
Where to go next
- ProductRevise an existing deck with AI
You review every change one by one and can restore an earlier version.
- ProductGenerate the deck as an editable .pptx
The AI builds the pages from your brief; text, shapes and tables stay editable in PowerPoint.
Turn what you read into a deck
Describe what you need or upload your material. The AI plans, writes, designs and checks every page.
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