How to quickly change a shape in PowerPoint

We’ve all been there. You’ve just finished the killer diagram, or the big org chart, or the plan on a page. It’s taken a while. Then your boss/client/inner critic decides they want rounded corners for all the boxes. Or chevrons for the plan. “That’ll only take you 2 minutes, right?”

And did you spend ages redrawing, resizing, repositioning and reformatting all new shapes? Well, you never have to do that again. Thanks to a tucked-away command, you can swap shapes in 5 seconds.

It’s this simple:

• Select the shape(s)
• Shape Format tab
• Edit shape > Change shape > choose the new shape. The size, position, format and any text will all stay the same.

Here’s a demonstration of that:

If you think you’ll need this a lot, then save it to the Quick Access Toolbar or even a custom tab. Be careful, because the icon is the same as Insert Shape.

And if you want some tips on how to create a clear plan-on-a-page, you can download our free template.

Need more tips like this?

Do you work in a professional or corporate setting? Do you write everything down in PowerPoint? Do you worry that your documents don’t reflect well on you?
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