Marketing visuals · 5 min

Make plain slides look designed with PowerPoint Designer

PowerPoint, Design Suggestions

Short answer: Add a picture, a list, or a list of dates to a slide, then pick a layout from the Designer pane. You can also select a picture and choose Design Suggestions. Use a built-in theme and the Title or Title + Content layout for the best suggestions.

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 20, 2026

You've seen people ask ChatGPT or Gamma to make slides look good. Here's how in PowerPoint: Designer suggests layouts as soon as you add pictures, a list or dates. For Copilot users it's called Design Suggestions on the Home tab.

A common situation (composite)

The content is fine.
It just looks like 2009.
I don't have time to redesign 20 slides.

What you get

Data: your slides with pictures, lists or dates.
Does: suggests layouts for each slide.
Output: restyled slides.
How often: any deck.

Before you start

Needs: PowerPoint Designer needs any Microsoft 365 subscription with the current PowerPoint app. The prompt needs Copilot in PowerPoint (label M365 Copilot (Basic) or Premium), which Copilot Chat (Basic) does not include. Not sure what you have? Start here.
Where: PowerPoint, Design Suggestions.
Access: Copilot only uses content you already have permission to open. Use only information your company allows in Copilot.

The steps

Use a built-in PowerPoint theme and the Title + Content layout.
Add one to four pictures, a list, or a list of dates.
Open Design Suggestions (Home tab for Copilot users, or Design > Designer).
Pick a layout. Repeat per slide.

Copy this prompt

Rewrite the text on this slide as 4 short parallel bullets of under 8 words each, keep the title as one clear statement, and remove any extra text boxes.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/powerpoint-designer-slides/)

What a good result looks like

One message per slide, readable from the back of the room.

If a feature is missing

No suggestions? Check you're online, use a built-in theme, remove extra shapes, and use pictures larger than 200 by 200 pixels. On Copilot Chat (Basic) there is no Copilot in PowerPoint, so cut each bullet to under 8 words yourself, or paste the slide text into Copilot Chat.

Make it smarter

Keep a short "What it got wrong" note. Paste it above the prompt next time, like "Don't invent dates".

Not sure what to ask? Copy the quick note for your Copilot admin.

Questions people ask

Make plain slides look designed with PowerPoint Designer?

Add a picture, a list, or a list of dates to a slide, then pick a layout from the Designer pane. You can also select a picture and choose Design Suggestions. Use a built-in theme and the Title or Title + Content layout for the best suggestions.

What do I need for this?

PowerPoint Designer needs any Microsoft 365 subscription with the current PowerPoint app. The prompt needs Copilot in PowerPoint (label M365 Copilot (Basic) or Premium), which Copilot Chat (Basic) does not include. No suggestions? Check you're online, use a built-in theme, remove extra shapes, and use pictures larger than 200 by 200 pixels. On Copilot Chat (Basic) there is no Copilot in PowerPoint, so cut each bullet to under 8 words yourself, or paste the slide text into Copilot Chat.

Next step

Try it once, then make it yours.

Run the prompt on one real task this week. Then pick your next workflow.

See the workflow library ↗

Cite or share this guide

Make plain slides look designed with PowerPoint Designer. Stuck with Copilot. https://stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/powerpoint-designer-slides/ Last checked Oct 20, 2026.

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Official references

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 20, 2026.