Mystery circle image in new powerpoint slide

Question

Mystery circle image in new powerpoint slide

xandrar 0

I inserted a BLANK (not part of template options) new slide into a PPT presentation I had created from a Microsoft template. The new, blank slide, appeared with a dark circle inside a ring on lower right corner. I am unable to "select" the circle to delete it. When I inserted a new slide using the template formatting -- there is no circle. When I created a new, blank presentation -- there was no such circle. The drop down menu for inserting a slide shows a similar circle on any slide that is NOT configured by the template. Can't figure out why this circle appears or what it means. It's almost like a watermark -- but dark and intrusive.

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Answer 1

John Korchok 236K Volunteer Moderator

It's a cameo placeholder, which can display an image of you from your webcam if you record the presentation.

Does it appear on all slides or just the blank slide? If it's on all slides, choose View>Slide Master, scroll up to the larger thumbnail at the top of the left-hand list of slide layouts. That's the actual slide master. Select the cameo placeholder and delete it.

If it's just on blank slide,choose View>Slide Master and remove the placeholder from the Blank layout.

xandrar 0 Reputation points

2025-11-01T14:13:05.4866667+00:00

Thanks! Who knew? Couldn't remove it on the single slide, so then followed instructions to click on the larger thumbnail ....and then could delete the "cameo." Where can I learn more about using the Slide Master?
John Korchok 236K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-11-01T14:40:12.7833333+00:00

Here's my introductory article about slide masters and layouts: PowerPoint Construction - Best Practices
xandrar 0 Reputation points

2025-11-02T18:51:18.91+00:00

Thanks! I see that I created my PPT backwards. From now on will incorporate Master Slide in process.
lcassone 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T15:34:08.4933333+00:00

The cameo placeholder does not show up on the Slide Master. It only appears when I go to Record the presentation.
John Korchok 236K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-04T16:03:29.9333333+00:00

@lcassone You are tagging on to an old post that no one else will see. To get help with your problem, please start a new thread and include the information about your PowerPoint version and operating system. Thanks!