Many SlideShare presentations can be downloaded, but do you know how to download a file from SlideShare? Learn how in this short tutorial.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement May 17, 2024 • 14 min read This post is part of a series called How to Make Online Presentations (SlideShare + PowerPoint).When I find a SlideShare presentation that looks interesting, I want to download it from SlideShare. But how do I do that? So, you'd like to download it from SlideShare to study it in more depth later, but you don't know how. We're here to teach you how to use SlideShare download options.
In this tutorial, we'll look at the SlideShare Download and Save Slides features. We'll give step-by-step details on how to download SlideShare PPT presentations for free. Plus, you'll learn how to save and save individual slides from online presentations.
Finally, we'll show you how to turn off the SlideShare Download and Save Slides features if you're a SlideShare author.
Before you read on, be sure to download our free eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It will help you master the presentation process, from initial idea through to writing, design, and delivering with impact.
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What is SlideShare? Think of it as a social network for presentations. It's a great place to upload, view, and explore other presentations. Presentations can go further when shared online, and SlideShare is the best place to do so.
Many authors of SlideShare presentations make their presentations available for download. Great presentations can serve as inspiration to you, or you may need to study the information presented more closely.
Maybe you're a teacher who wants to share a SlideShare presentation with your students. Or a traveling professional who wants to view a presentation while offline. Either way, the SlideShare download feature can help. Just be careful to follow SlideShare's terms and policies.
To see some of the best SlideShare presentation examples, refer to this article:
Throughout this tutorial, we'll cover four essential skills that every SlideShare user should know:
Let's jump into learning all four of these skills in a series of easy-to-follow steps.
SlideShare authors can choose to enable downloads as PPT files, as PDFs, or slide saving. These features are helpful if you want to study a SlideShare presentation in more detail.
Let's think of an example. If a SlideShare deck describes a product that you're thinking about buying, having the slides handy can make your decision easier. Downloading slides can also be helpful if you want to review the slides while offline.
In this tutorial, we’ll use the Torga Elevator Pitch PowerPoint from Envato Elements. You can find thousands of other great premium PPT templates on Envato Elements to use today. Or you can check out our Ultimate Guide to the Best Microsoft PowerPoint Templates.
If the download feature is enabled, you'll see a Download Now button above the presentation. Here's what the Download Now button looks like:
A SlideShare author can also enable slide saving. The Save Slides feature lets you save individual slides from a presentation. The saved slides are kept within a section in your SlideShare profile.
The SlideShare Save Slides feature is useful if you want to refer to the information on a particular slide later. It's a great option if you think that you won't be able to find the presentation again.
The Save Slides feature also lets you group slides with similar topics together. This works even if the slides came from different SlideShare presentations. If your "All Saved" list is public, you can share it through social media or email.
If the Saved Slides feature is enabled for a SlideShare presentation, it's easy to use. Sign in to your SlideShare account, and navigate to a slide that you want to save. Hover your cursor in the top-right corner, where you'll see a ribbon icon appear. Click on it, and you can save the slide to add to your profile.
A SlideShare author can choose to disable the Download or Save Slides features. A presentation with downloads disabled lacks the Download button:
If the Save Slides feature is disabled for a presentation, the Save slide button doesn't appear.
If you find a SlideShare presentation without a Download button or with Save Slides disabled, try contacting the author of the slides. But remember, they turned off saving slides and downloading for a reason. While they may allow you access, you should always respect their wishes. Keep in mind, they’re sharing their slides voluntarily and can choose how, when, and where to share.
You could possibly get around the limitation by taking screenshots of the presentation or using third-party software. But I don't recommend using these methods. If you resort to these tactics, you could possibly find yourself in violation of SlideShare terms (now owned by Scribd) and/or intellectual property laws.
In this section, you'll learn how to download a SlideShare PPT presentation file as a PDF.
To download a SlideShare, you’ll first need to log in. Begin by going to https://slideshare.net. On the homepage, you’ll see the Login button in the upper right corner. Click on it.
Now, enter your login credentials. You can log in using your email address, or your Scribd, LinkedIn, or Facebook account. And of course, you can register for an account if you need one.
To find a SlideShare download, you'll want to start by using the Search feature. You'll find the Search box in the upper center of the SlideShare window.
To find a slide deck to download, type in some keywords to begin a search. Then, press Enter on your keyboard. Or you can click on the magnifying glass icon in the search box itself.
SlideShare will display your results. At the top of the displayed results, you can filter what you’ve found.
In the upper left, you can sort presentations by the date they were uploaded. This is a great way to help ensure that you’re using current, up-to-date content.
Be sure the material really is fresh and new. Just because a presentation is newly uploaded doesn’t mean it’s newly built.
Similarly, you can filter by language with the next drop-down menu. This is a quick and easy way to find perfect slides to download.
When you see slides that you want to download, click on the thumbnail. The presentation will open in a SlideShare window.
When you click on a presentation’s thumbnail, you’re ready to download from SlideShare.
Remember, not every presentation is made available to download. This is left up to the author/uploader of each individual slide deck.
If the slides you’ve chosen can be downloaded, you’ll find the Download Now button below the lower right corner of the slide deck. When you’re ready, click Download Now.
If you’re a first-time downloader, you’ll see a menu appear offering the option to subscribe to SlideShare. It’s now a premium platform that requires a membership to use. But fortunately, you can sign up for a free trial that lasts for 30 days. (After, at the time of this writing, SlideShare costs $11.99 per month).
When you’ve joined, your slides will download. Thereafter, you’ll see them start to download automatically when you click Download Now. They’ll appear in your Downloads folder. The only exception is if you’ve changed where files downloaded in your web browser go.
Once the download is finished, you'll have a hard copy of the SlideShare presentation! Now, you can view it offline and more. And even if the slides vanish from SlideShare, you’ll have a copy of them forever.
Instead of downloading an entire SlideShare presentation, you can save a single slide. Let's learn how to use the Save Slides feature. Here's what to do:
When you want to save a SlideShare slide, navigate to that slide in your web browser. Move your cursor across the slide. You’ll see a white bookmark icon appear in the top-right corner.
Click on this, and you’ll save the slide.
When you choose to save a slide, SlideShare will automatically save it. You won’t see an immediate visual sign that this has happened. But it’s easy to view, sort, and organize your saved slides on SlideShare.
To get started, hover over your user profile in the top-right corner. From the list of options, click Saved. When you do, you’ll be taken to the All Saved section of the menu. By default, slides that you save are placed in the All Saved folder.
On the left, you can create a new list by clicking Create list. When you do, you can name the list and give it an optional description. Plus, you can choose whether your list will be visible to others. Click Create List when you’re finished.
Now, you can add saved slides to your new list. To do so, find a slide you want and hover over a slide that you want to add to a new list. In the top-right corner, click on Save Slide.
You'll see all the lists you’ve created. You can choose where to make your chosen slide appear by clicking on the right destination.
While downloading a SlideShare presentation is a helpful tool, it's not for everyone. Some authors may choose to disable downloads and/or saves. If this is you, read on for instructions on how to disable these features. You can toggle off SlideShare Download and Save Slides features.
You can control how other users view, download, and save your SlideShare decks. To do this, go to the My Uploads section of your SlideShare account. Find it by hovering over your profile dropdown and clicking on My Uploads from the list of options.
There, you’ll see a list of the presentations that you’ve uploaded to SlideShare.
To change the download and saving settings on a SlideShare deck, find it in your list of uploads. Then, click on the pencil icon in the Privacy group.
When you click on the pencil, you’ll see two tabs at the top: Edit Details and Privacy Settings. From these, choose Privacy Settings. In the middle of the listed options, you can choose No to block users from downloading or saving slides (or both.)
It’s an easy way to control how your content is viewed and used. Toggle off download from SlideShare options to protect sensitive content. (Of course, some of the techniques for SlideShare downloaders are impossible to stop.)
When you’re finished making adjustments, be sure to click Update at the bottom of the screen. This locks in your SlideShare downloader options.
You can do more than download a SlideShare presentation. Here are some tips to help you get the most from SlideShare:
You need an eye-catching title and first slide if you want more SlideShare downloads. The first slide is displayed as a thumbnail on the website, so it's what people see when deciding whether to click on the presentation. You should have an exciting title because you want to intrigue people enough that they will click on your SlideShare. The more people click on your presentation, the more views and downloads you’ll possibly get.
If you want people to download your presentation from SlideShare, it must show up when searched. It should have an SEO-optimized title, keywords, and a compelling description to get your presentation to appear when searched. Your description should also include keywords for your target audience.
The best way to attract more SlideShare downloaders is to get on your social media and share your presentation, encouraging people to download it. When sharing your presentation, make sure that you have a proper link and that you are encouraging people to engage with your presentation.
We have the perfect complement to this tutorial, which will walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.
Grab our eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It's available for FREE with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.
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You know now how to download SlideShare slides as PPT presentations. Plus, we've provided the detailed steps to help you disable the SlideShare Download and Save Slides features. If you're a SlideShare author and don't want other viewers to have this access on the SlideShare presentations you upload, you can now control that.
Refer to our companion tutorial to learn how to upload SlideShare slides. Or, to learn even more about various aspects of using SlideShare, study the Envato Tuts+ SlideShare learning guide: How to Make Online Presentations (SlideShare + PowerPoint).
Editorial Note: This tutorial was last published in 2017. It's been comprehensively revised to make it current, accurate, and up to date by our staff—with special help from Sarah Joy and Andrew Childress.
