Rulers in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac

When working with multiple slide objects, you should have a visual cue about where you are placing slide objects. You can get exact coordinates of your slide objects using the positioning options in PowerPoint, but most of the time, you just need an approximate idea of where your objects are placed, and this can be easily obtained by using the Rulers option available in PowerPoint. Turning on this option shows you the rulers in PowerPoint. These rulers are located on the top and left parts of the active slide, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Rulers in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac

Rulers are useful not only for placing slide objects, but they make other PowerPoint features like the guides more effective.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to show and hide rulers in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac. You will also explore some of the settings that influence the measurement units in the rulers, as explained in the following steps:

1. Launch PowerPoint, and open an existing presentation, or create a new one, as shown in Figure 2, below. Note that there are no Rulers visible by default.
2. 
   Figure 2: Default PowerPoint interface with no Rulers visible
2. To make the Rulers visible, select the View tab of the Ribbon, and make sure you select the Ruler check-box, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3, below.
3. 
   Figure 3: Ruler check-box selected
3. Doing so brings up the rulers placed horizontally and vertically within the Slide Area, as shown in Figure 4, below. If you want to hide them again, deselect the Ruler check-box, as shown in Figure 3, above.
4. 
   Figure 4: Rulers made visible
4. If you see only the Horizontal Ruler, and no Vertical Ruler, as shown in Figure 5, below, you need to make sure that the Vertical Ruler's visibility has not been turned off.
5. 
   Figure 5: PowerPoint interface with only Horizontal Ruler visible
5. To check these preferences, access the PowerPoint menu and choose Preferences option, as shown in Figure 6, below.
6. 
   Figure 6: Preferences option within File menu
6. This action opens the PowerPoint Preferences dialog box, as shown in Figure 7, below. Make sure you choose the View option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7.
7. 
   Figure 7: PowerPoint Options Dialog box
7. Doing so brings up the View dialog box, as shown in Figure 8, below. Within this dialog box, select the Show vertical ruler check-box, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 8. Conversely, you can also deselect this check-box to turn off the vertical ruler.
8. 
   Figure 8: Show vertical ruler check-box selected
9. Now, you will be able to see both the Vertical and Horizontal rulers, as shown in Figure 4, previously on this page.