How to Skip the Backstage Area in Powerpoint 2013

When you work in an application like Microsoft Powerpoint on a regular basis, you grow accustomed to doing things a certain way.

So when something changes, it can interrupt your workflow. For some Powerpoint users, this could be the “Backstage” area of the application.

Our tutorial below will show you how to skip the Backstage area in Powerpoint 2013 if that screen isn’t helping you to edit, create, or save your presentations.

How to Get Rid of the Powerpoint Welcome Screen

  1. Open Powerpoint 2013.
  2. Click the File tab at the top-left corner of the window.
  3. Click Options in the left column.
  4. Click Save in the left column of the Powerpoint Options window.
  5. Check the box to the left of Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files, then click the OK button at the bottom of the window.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to skip the Backstage area in Powerpoint 2013, including pictures of these steps.

Powerpoint 2013 includes an area called Backstage, which is a somewhat intermediate step that is part of the opening or saving process.

This provides you with some additional options in regard to opening an existing file or selecting a location for the file that you are about to save.

But if you always save or open files on your computer, then this might be an unnecessary step that you are looking to skip.

Our guide below will show you how to eliminate the Backstage step when using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + O or Ctrl + S to open or save files in Powerpoint 2013.

Skipping Backstage in Powerpoint 2013 (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article will show you which settings to change in Powerpoint 2013 so that the Backstage area does not open when you press Ctrl + O to open a document, or Ctrl + S to save a document from the program.

The Backstage area will still appear if you go to the Open, Save, or Save As menus by clicking the File tab.

Step 1: Open Powerpoint 2013.

Step 2: Click the File tab at the top-left corner of the window.

click the file tab

Step 3: Click the Options button at the bottom of the left column.

This opens a new Powerpoint Options window.

open powerpoint options

Step 4: Click the Save tab in the left column of the Powerpoint Options window.

click save from powerpoint options

Step 5: Check the box to the left of the Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files option.

You can then click the OK button at the bottom of the Powerpoint Options window to close the window and apply your changes.

skip backstage in powerpoint 2013

Now when you press Ctrl + O or Ctrl + S, it will open Windows Explorer directly.

Now that you know how to skip the Backstage area in Powerpoint 2013, you will be able to remove this part of the application if you weren’t using it anyway.

Do you need to share a slide from a presentation, but you don’t want to send the whole presentation? Learn how to save and send individual slides in Powerpoint 2013.

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