page numbers not showing on slides

Anonymous
2010-02-04T18:16:13+00:00

the page numbers i try to place using footer and slide numbers boxes will not show.  background appears to be blocking it.

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Anonymous
2010-02-04T22:19:23+00:00

the page numbers i try to place using footer and slide numbers boxes will not show.  background appears to be blocking it.

Hi

Did you use Insert -> Header & Footer? Check to see if the page number placeholder is truned on on the Master - View -> Slide Master -> Slide Master tab -> Master Layout -> check 'Slide Number' is ticked. If it is and you still can't see it it may be behind another element on the slide master - select the 'mother' master (the big one at the top) then Home -> Select drop down -> Selection Pane -> select 'Slide Number Placeholder' -> click the re-order up button (at the bottom of the taskpane) until the slide number placeholder is at the top.

If none of that works, let us know exactly what you have tried and exactly what is happening. Also, if the file was created in a previous version or has been edited in a previous version.

Lucy

Lucy Thomson

PowerPoint MVP

an easier tomorrow

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-09T18:50:02+00:00

    OK - this is retarded, come on Microsoft, people don't have time to be dorking around on the internet searching for several solutions to fix this that don't fix it - why don't you fix it? You've had plenty of "upgrades" to do this in. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. FIX IT.

    I honestly can't believe how convoluted this is - I am not a beginner with PPT, I've been working with it for years preparing presentations for people who are supposedly "proficient" in word, ppt and excel - at least that's what their resumes say. The only reason I work in PPT is to support these people so the don't make ugly presentations - or to make it do things they just can't comprehend.

    I also work in other pro software - Adobe namely, from InDesign to Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Aftereffects, Premier.... you would be doing yourself a favour to take a few ques from them - add a page reference onto a master page - boom, done.

    After all these years - I can't believe how little you've done to improve the software - really - what is the problem? Do you think we don't notice that for all intensive purposes you largely repackage your software from the previous version? Ever heard of Quark - that's what they did and now where are they? Nowhere.

    Get your act together - please, because I've wasted a lot of time looking up everyone's solutions that don't work and in writing this response - un-billable time.

    Are you here to help us or to waste our time and money?

    I don't appreciate buying a product that does not live up to the advertising broadcasted by the company that made it. FIX IT.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-05-28T08:29:15+00:00

    You cannot just type in <#>.

    Place the cursor where you want it to be on the master and INSERT > Slide Number

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-01-22T04:33:11+00:00

    JonathanHPS has the correct solution.

    1. Navigate to Slide Master
      1. Select the Master Slide
      2. Enable Slide Number in Master Layout
      3. Navigate to Insert, Header and Footer or Slide Number
        1. Enable Slide Number

    These steps should work as long your foreground content color is not the same as your background color.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-23T05:54:23+00:00

    I had the same issue as Derflederdog, using Powerpoint 2010. When I insert footers (Insert/Header Footer)it appears to work but nothing shows in the slide, and when I go back to the insert dialog the footers are no longer checked. Also, the slide master options are all greyed out.

    This was because I had checked "Do not display on Title Pages" and the slide layout I was using is flagged somewhere as a title layout. Uncheck the option and the footers magically appeared. If you don't want the footers to appear on slide 1, you can delete them manually. (They will reappear if you reset the slide layout or import a new theme.)

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