How to view "PPS" files

PowerPoint has become a major tool for many different facets of life. Businesses use it constantly for meetings. And teachers will even put a whole semester's worth of notes in PowerPoint slideshows. If you don't have the ability to view PowerPoint presentations on your computer, you're going to end up being frustrated. But not to worry: if you've tried to open a PowerPoint document (or a PPS file) on your computer and it hasn't worked, there are two possible options. The most obvious is simply to buy PowerPoint and install it on your computer. But if you're strapped for cash, there is a way to just view PowerPoint documents that's completely free. And it's very easy to install, taking maybe ten minutes.

Here's how:

1. PowerPoint Viewer 2007 is completely free and can be found at this web address: (or you can search "download powerpoint viewer 2007" in a search engine such as Google or Yahoo). This version will allow you to view any PowerPoint presentation made on PowerPoint 93 or a later version, but you will probably never come upon a presentation that was made before the 93 version, so you should be fine with the 2007 Viewer.

2. When you arrive at the Free Download site, near the top there will be a button labeled "Download." Click on it, and a small window should pop up, asking if you want to run the program or save it. Click "Save" and wait while the downloading process is completed. It should only take a few minutes.

3. Once the download is done, you will be taken to a page that says "Your download has started." This should mean that PowerPoint Viewer has already been installed.

4. When you click on a PowerPoint document, it should automatically select PowerPoint Viewer to open in. But if it doesn't, simply right-click on the document you want to open. Among the options given should be "Open with." Click on that and find PowerPoint Viewer from the list it will give you.

5. Now you should be able to view almost any PPS document.

6. In order to successfully navigate through a presentation, keep in mind that most of them are designed in a manner similar to web pages. There will probably be some sort of icon on which you need to click in order to move to the next page. If not, it doesn't matter, because PowerPoint is set up so clicking anywhere on the current slide will move you to the next one.

7. There is no generic way for you to go back to a previous slide, like the "Back" button on the internet. But if the presentation is well-designed, the creator will have put in some sort of a link to the last page. There should at least be navigational buttons on each slide which will take you to the different sections of the presentation. However, not everyone is very intricate in their presentation design, so you may be stuck with having to start the entire presentation over again in order to revisit a previous slide.