PPTX Repair

A .pptx file is a ZIP archive of XML files: one per slide, plus layouts, masters, themes, pictures and a list that ties them together. The tool checks every part and fixes:

• A missing or broken file index, the usual result of a download or save that stopped early. Everything up to the cut is kept.
• Broken XML in a slide or another part: tags left open, stray & characters, characters XML forbids, repeated attributes.
• The content type list and the links between parts, rebuilt when they are missing or point at parts that aren't there.
• Missing pictures. A blank takes their place so the slide still opens.
• Slides listed but missing. They are taken out of the presentation so the rest opens. The diagnosis marks this as lost content.

The diagnosis lists every problem with the part it was in, for example ppt/slides/slide4.xml, and says whether it was fixed and whether any content was lost.

What it can't fix

• Slides or media that aren't in the file, such as the part of a cut-off file after the cut.
• A presentation whose main part (ppt/presentation.xml) is missing or cut off. The diagnosis says so, and there is no copy to download.
• A presentation that lost every slide master. The diagnosis warns that PowerPoint may not open it.
• Password-protected presentations. The tool can't read them, and it doesn't remove passwords.
• Old .ppt files from PowerPoint 2003 and earlier, which use a different format.
• Missing videos and sounds. Their links are left as they are, so PowerPoint may still complain about those slides.
• Damaged embedded fonts. A font cut short is removed, and the slides use installed fonts instead.

Work on a copy of the file. Menu names can differ a little between PowerPoint versions.

Reuse Slides

This copies every slide PowerPoint can still read into a new, healthy presentation.

1. Create a new blank presentation.
2. On the Home tab, select the arrow below New Slide, then select Reuse Slides.
3. In the Reuse Slides pane, select Open a PowerPoint File, then pick the damaged presentation.
4. Tick Keep source formatting so the slides keep their design.
5. Right-click any slide in the pane and select Insert All Slides.
6. Save the new presentation under a new name.

Reuse Slides only works with files on your computer, so copy the damaged file out of cloud storage first.

If PowerPoint can't list the slides at all, use the tool at the top of this page, then open the repaired copy.