Microsoft Graph API Powerpoint Viewer - Animations only work on the first pass.

Manpreet Komal 5 Reputation points
2026-09-14T17:38:06.8366667+00:00

Our users (Teachers) are unable to replay animations through the slides on our platform once the animations have already been played. Is the expectation that the animations only play on the first pass? This appears to be a bug since users often go through slides multiple times.

Steps:

  1. View Slides which contain animations.
  2. Navigate through the slides which contain animations
  3. Navigate back to slide 1
  4. Navigate through the slides again

Expected Result:

Animations should replay.

Actual Result:

User is unable to view the animations and will have to refresh the page in order to get the animations to play again.

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For business | Windows
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  1. John Korchok 236K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-09-14T20:01:32.99+00:00

    PowerPoint has always worked this way. The animations normally play only the first time.

    To make them replay, add a dummy slide just before a slide that has animations. Make sure this slide has no animations. The slide does not need any content added to it.

    Set an automatic transition on the dummy slide. On the Transitions tab, look for the Advance Slide group. Uncheck On Mouse Click, check After and set the time to 0:00.00.

    Now when you go through the deck a second time, the auto transition will fire the animations on the following slide.

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  2. Julie Huynh 3,595 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-14T18:06:55.1866667+00:00

    Dear Manpreet Komal,

    Good day! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum!

    Based on your description, I understand that replaying slide animations should not normally require a page refresh. If the animations play correctly during the initial pass but do not replay when the user navigates back and reviews the slides again, this may indicate a limitation or issue within the PowerPoint rendering/viewer implementation being used rather than expected PowerPoint behavior.

    To better understand the situation, could you please help confirm the following:

    • Are you using the Microsoft Graph createLink / PowerPoint viewer experience, PowerPoint for the web, or another embedded viewing solution?
    • Does the issue occur with all presentations or only specific files?
    • Does the behavior reproduce in different browsers (Edge, Chrome, Firefox)?

    According to my research:

    • Microsoft Graph does not provide an API to control PowerPoint animations.
    • It primarily manages files, access permissions, sharing links, metadata, file content, and so on.
    • Slide and animation rendering is typically handled by PowerPoint for the Web or a Microsoft-side viewer.

    If you need the animations to replay when running through the presentation again, insert a blank slide immediately before the animated slide. The blank slide should not contain any animations and does not need any content.

    Then set the blank slide to advance automatically. Go to Transitions > Advance Slide, clear On Mouse Click, select After, and set the timing to 0:00.00.

    When you navigate through the presentation a second time, PowerPoint will automatically advance from the blank slide to the animated slide, causing the animations to play again.

    User's image

    Kindly let me know when there are updates or if you need further assistance. Any updates you’re able to share would be really helpful.

    I'm here and happy to help! Thank you for your kindness and patience! 

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