Initiating a PowerPoint presentation with a custom slide show.

Question

Initiating a PowerPoint presentation with a custom slide show.

ECGprof 20

I teach continuing medical education. I want to give a PowerPoint presentation online via Zoom, but I would like to have a looping slide show at the beginning that features the classes and perks that I offer. It will consist of 10 slides. My plan is to start this about 20 - 30 minutes before the webinar is scheduled to start so the attendees joining early will have something to watch. I want to be able to stop it at any time and go directly to the actual first slide of the presentation - Slide 11. I do not want to have to exit the presentation to do so. From Slide 11 forward, I want to move to the next slide by the usual methods.

For some reason, the slideshow keeps starting over when I click on slide 11 to move on to slide 12.

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Answer accepted by question author

Kai-L 19,670 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @ECGprof,

Good day, and thank you for reaching out to the Q&A Forum. I understand that you are looking to set up a looping introductory slideshow that transitions seamlessly into the main presentation for your webinar. From your description and my research, the behavior where the slideshow restarts instead of continuing to Slide 11 usually occurs because the entire presentation has been configured to loop continuously.

A reliable way to achieve the behavior you want is by using Custom Slide Shows in PowerPoint. This allows Slides 1–10 to loop automatically while letting Slides 11 onward play normally during the actual presentation. Please try the steps below to see if they help.

1.Prepare your slides

Ensure your presentation contains all 20+ slides (Slides 1–10 for the intro loop, Slide 11 onward for the main content).

For Slides 1–10: Go to the Transitions tab.

Uncheck On Mouse Click.
Check After and set a suitable duration (e.g., 5-10 seconds per slide, depending on content).

For the main content (Slide 11+): Keep the default On Mouse Click for manual advancement.

2.Create custom slide shows

Go to the Slide Show tab > Custom Slide Show > Custom Shows.

Click New:

Name it "IntroLoop".
Select Slides 1 through 10 > Add them > OK.

Create a second custom show:

Name it "MainPresentation".
Select Slide 11 through the end > Add them > OK.

3.Configure the intro slides to loop

Go to Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show.
Under Show slides, select Custom show and choose "IntroLoop".
Check Loop continuously until 'Esc'.
Click OK.
Test by starting the custom show (Slide Show > Custom Slide Show > IntroLoop).

4.Add a way to transition to the main presentation

To stop the loop and jump directly to Slide 11 without exiting, in one or more of the intro slides (e.g., Slide 10 or a dedicated "Start Presentation" slide), insert an Action Button:

Go to Insert > Shapes > Choose an Action Button
Draw it on the slide (make it subtle or label it clearly, e.g., "Begin Main Presentation").
After drawing the button, the Action Settings window should appear automatically.
Under Hyperlink to, select Custom Show > Choose "MainPresentation" > OK

This setup allows your intro slides to continue looping until you are ready, then transition smoothly into the main presentation with a single click.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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ECGprof 20 Reputation points

2026-06-08T11:47:51.72+00:00

This worked PERFECTLY!! Thank you so much!
Kai-L 19,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-08T14:58:52.2+00:00

Dear @ECGprof,

Thank you for your update. I’m glad I could provide helpful information to resolve this issue. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance down the road, feel free to post back. Not only I, but other professionals in the forum are always here to help. Thank you again for being a valued member of the Q&A community and I wish you all the best!

1 additional answer

Your answer

ECGprof 20 Reputation points

2026-06-08T11:47:51.72+00:00

This worked PERFECTLY!! Thank you so much!
Kai-L 19,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-08T14:58:52.2+00:00

Dear @ECGprof,

Thank you for your update. I’m glad I could provide helpful information to resolve this issue. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance down the road, feel free to post back. Not only I, but other professionals in the forum are always here to help. Thank you again for being a valued member of the Q&A community and I wish you all the best!

Answer 1

Set this up as a looping custom show for slides 1–10, and keep slide 11 and onward in the main show without looping.

Use two key pieces:

A custom show that loops (slides 1–10)
The main slide show (slides 11+), started normally, not as part of the loop

Configure the looping intro (slides 1–10)

Create a custom show:
- On the Slide Show tab, select Custom Slide Show > Custom Shows.
- Select New (or + on Mac).
- Add slides 1–10 to this custom show and name it (for example, “Intro Loop”).
Set the custom show to loop:
- On the Slide Show tab, select Set Up Slide Show.
- Under Show slides, choose Custom show and select your “Intro Loop”.
- Turn on Loop continuously until 'Esc'.
- Confirm that the custom show only includes slides 1–10.
Start this custom show before the webinar:
- On the Slide Show tab, in the Start Slide Show group, select Custom Slide Show > Custom Shows.
- Select your “Intro Loop” and click Show.
- This will loop slides 1–10 continuously.

Transition to slide 11 without restarting the loop

When ready to begin the actual presentation, press Esc once to exit the looping custom show.
Immediately start the main presentation from slide 11:
- Select slide 11 in Normal view.
- On the Slide Show tab, choose From Current Slide.
- Now advance normally (keyboard, mouse, click) through slides 11 onward.

Why slide 11 currently restarts the loop

The behavior described (clicking slide 11 restarts the show from the beginning) typically occurs when the entire presentation is being run as the looping custom show (i.e., Set Up Slide Show is configured to always use the custom show). In that mode, any attempt to move beyond the last slide in the custom show sends the show back to slide 1.
The fix is to:
- Use the custom show only for the pre-webinar loop (slides 1–10), then
- Exit that show (Esc) and start a normal slide show from slide 11.

If the goal is to avoid ever exiting Slide Show view at all, PowerPoint’s built-in looping custom show model requires leaving the looping show (Esc) and starting a new show for the main deck. Staying in a single continuous show while looping just a subset and then continuing linearly is not supported; separating the intro loop and main show as above is the supported approach.

References: