Change One Shape to Another in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

Imagine you have worked on a shape in PowerPoint by applying effects, animation, and a fill. Later you realize that you used the wrong shape, or perhaps the client wants you to change the shape but retain all the effects, animations, and fills. You may want to delete the existing shape and start over again, and that is a long-drawn process. Luckily, there is an easier option.

Follow these steps to change any existing shape to another, in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

1. Select the shape that you want to change, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Select the shape
2. This activates the Drawing Tools Format contextual tab of the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1, above. Within the Insert Shapes group, click the Edit Shape button, as shown in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Edit Shape button

Contextual Tabs

The Insert Shapes and Edit Shape tabs are contextual tabs. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
3. Doing so brings up a small menu. Choose the Change Shape option, as shown in Figure 3, below, to bring up a variant of the Shape gallery. Choose the shape type you need to change to, as shown in Figure 3.
4. 
   Figure 3: Choose Shape to change
4. Note that your new shape has the same fill, animation, outline, effect, and hyperlink attributes as the earlier shape. If you added no animation or hyperlink to the existing shape, then of course the new shape also won't have any animation or hyperlink attributes.
5. 
   Figure 4: Changed shape
5. Save your presentation often.