PowerPoint Found a Problem With Content

The full message reads: "PowerPoint found a problem with content in [file name]. PowerPoint can attempt to repair the presentation. If you trust the source of this presentation, click Repair."

There are two different situations behind it:

• The file is damaged. A slide, layout or picture is cut short, written badly, or listed but missing. Repair may help, and the browser tool can show exactly which part is broken.
• The file is fine, but blocked. Files downloaded from the internet, opened from an email, or kept in a synced cloud folder sometimes trigger the message, and Repair then fails. The fix is to unblock the file or move it, not to repair it.

A quick test: if the browser tool reports no damage, the file's structure is intact, and a block is the more likely cause.

Try these in order on a copy of the file. Menu names can differ a little between versions.

Unblock a downloaded file (Windows)

1. In File Explorer, right-click the file and select Properties.
2. On the General tab, select the Unblock checkbox, then select OK.
3. Open the presentation again.

If there is no Unblock checkbox, the file isn't blocked.

Move it out of a synced folder

Copy the file from your cloud folder to a local folder, such as Documents on your computer, and open the copy. Sync software can lock or change a file while PowerPoint reads it.

Reuse Slides

1. Create a new blank presentation.
2. On the Home tab, select the arrow below New Slide, then select Reuse Slides.
3. Select Open a PowerPoint File and pick the damaged presentation.
4. Tick Keep source formatting, right-click a slide in the pane and select Insert All Slides.

Repair it in the browser

Drop the original file into the tool at the top of this page. It rebuilds the file index, mends broken XML, replaces missing pictures with a blank, and takes out slides that are listed but missing. Open the repaired copy in PowerPoint.

PowerPoint for Mac shows the same message with a Repair button. Click it first, on a copy of the file.

If it fails:

1. Drop the file into the repair tool at the top of this page. It runs in your browser, and the file stays on your Mac.
2. Open the repaired copy in PowerPoint.

Keynote reads .pptx files with its own code and sometimes opens a file PowerPoint rejects. If it does, choose File, then Export To, then PowerPoint to save a fresh copy.