How to Cross Out a Slide in PowerPoint

How To Cross Out A Slide In PowerPoint

Updated on:

May 25, 2026

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Use this interactive demo to learn how to hide and cross out a slide in PowerPoint.

Quick summary

In PowerPoint, you can cross out a slide by using the Hide Slide feature, which marks the slide thumbnail with a crossed-out number without deleting it. This lets presenters skip specific slides during a presentation while keeping them in the file for future use.

Steps

Open your presentation and navigate to Slide Sorter View or the Normal view with the slide thumbnails panel on the left.
Right-click the slide you want to hide and select Hide Slide from the context menu.
Confirm the slide is hidden — its slide number will now appear crossed out with a slash in the thumbnail panel, indicating it will be skipped during the presentation.

📌 Why this matters

Knowing how to cross out or hide a slide in PowerPoint gives presenters flexible control over their deck without permanently deleting content. The Hide Slide feature lets you tailor your presentation flow on the fly — skipping slides for certain audiences while keeping them available for other sessions. This is especially valuable for sales teams, educators, and trainers who reuse decks across multiple contexts. Mastering this built-in PowerPoint feature saves time and reduces the risk of accidentally showing slides not intended for a given audience.

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