What is a .ppt file?
Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation · Document · Microsoft · 1997
PPT is the classic Microsoft PowerPoint format used until 2007, before PPTX. It is a binary OLE2 compound file holding slides, text, images and transitions. PowerPoint still opens it.
What is a .ppt file used for?
A .ppt file stores a slide deck in the OLE2 compound-file structure shared with old Word and Excel. PowerPoint 2007 replaced it with the XML-based PPTX.
PPT opens in PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress, Keynote and Google Slides, all of which can convert it to the newer PPTX or to PDF for sharing.
What opens a .ppt file?
The .ppt format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- LibreOffice Impress
- WPS Office
macOS
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Keynote
- LibreOffice Impress
Linux
- LibreOffice Impress
- OnlyOffice
Web
- Google Slides
- Microsoft 365 for the web
Open a .ppt file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .ppt. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Microsoft PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress.
- On Mac, use Microsoft PowerPoint or Keynote.
- On Linux, try LibreOffice Impress or OnlyOffice.
- Still stuck? Convert the .ppt to pptx, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .ppt file?
Almost always because no installed app understands PPT. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads. If double-clicking opens the wrong program instead of nothing at all, the file association is set to the wrong app rather than the file being broken.
The other possibility is that the file is not really a .ppt at all. Drop it into the file identifier to check it by its bytes instead of its name. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert a .ppt file
You can convert a .ppt file to pptx, pdf, odp using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
What is the .ppt file signature (magic bytes)?
A .ppt file starts with the hex bytes D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1. Programs identify PPT by those bytes, not by the filename, so a renamed file still gives itself away.
These are the documented signatures for PPT. For a full breakdown, see the OLE2 Compound File file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | ASCII | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1 | 0 | - | OLE2 compound file |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .ppt file?
PPT is the classic Microsoft PowerPoint format used until 2007, before PPTX. It is a binary OLE2 compound file holding slides, text, images and transitions. PowerPoint still opens it.
What is the difference between PPT and PPTX?
PPT is the old binary format (PowerPoint 97-2003). PPTX, from PowerPoint 2007, is a ZIP of XML: smaller and more robust. PowerPoint opens both.
How do I open a .ppt file?
PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress, Keynote and Google Slides all open .ppt, and can save it as PPTX or PDF.
Can I open a .ppt without PowerPoint?
Yes. Google Slides and LibreOffice Impress are free and open .ppt directly, as does Apple Keynote on a Mac.
Related formats
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