Insert Shapes in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

Shapes are the building blocks of most of the content you create in PowerPoint. Did you know that a text box that you add to your slide is also a shape that has no fill? Shapes are the building blocks of most of the content you create in PowerPoint. Also, you can combine multiple shapes to create fancier shapes.

To work better with shapes, you must start with the very basics, and there's so much to learn even at this foundation level. The first task you need to do is to insert a shape. Fortunately, PowerPoint makes it easy to do this task.

Follow these steps to insert shapes in PowerPoint 365 for Mac:

1. Launch PowerPoint and you will see the Backstage view, as shown in Figure 1, below. Here, select Blank Presentation option to create a blank presentation with a new slide.
2. 
   Figure 1: Choose the Blank Presentation option
2. The resultant slide will most certainly include Title and Content placeholders, but you can have an entirely blank slide. To do so, change the Slide Layout to Blank by accessing the Home tab of the Ribbon. Then, click the Layout button and choose the Blank option in the resultant gallery. You will end up with a blank slide, as shown in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Slide with Blank layout
3. Now, access the Insert tab of the Ribbon, and click the Shapes button to bring up the Shapes drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: Shapes drop-down gallery in PowerPoint 365 for Mac

Shapes Gallery from Home and Insert Tabs

The Shapes drop-down gallery can also be accessed from the Home tab. To see the entire Shapes drop-down gallery within the Home tab, click the Shapes button, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 3, below.


Figure 4: Shapes button within the Home tab
4. Within the Shapes drop-down gallery, PowerPoint provides options to choose shapes from several categories such as Lines, Rectangles, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Stars and Banners, Callouts, etc., as shown in Figure 3, previously on this page. Learn more about shape types in our Types of Shapes in PowerPoint 365 for Mac tutorial. For now, choose any shape by clicking on it. Thereafter, use any of these options to place an instance of the selected shape on your slide:

1. Click to place

5. Click anywhere on the slide to add the shape in a predefined size, typically 1 inch x 1 inch, as shown in Figure 5, below.
6. 
   Figure 5: Click and place a shape on the slide

2. Click and drag to place

7. Alternatively, click but do not let go of the primary button on your mouse or another input device yet! Continue dragging until you create a large enough shape on your slide, as shown in Figure 6, below.
8. 
   Figure 6: Draw a shape as large or small as you want

Use the Shift and Ctrl Modifier Keys

Hold the Shift key while dragging to constrain the height and width proportions. Hold the Alt (Option) key to draw a shape from the center. You can also draw while holding both the Alt (Option) and Shift keys.


PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Do you want more keyboard shortcuts?

Explore our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences Ebook that is updated for all PowerPoint versions.

5. You can similarly insert as many shapes as you want. Save your presentation often.