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.
How to open 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. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see how to open a .ppt file.
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
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.
.ppt file signature (magic bytes)
Programs recognise a .ppt file by the bytes at the start of the file, not by its name. These are the signatures for PPT. For a full breakdown, see the PPT file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | 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
Sources
Details on this page were checked against authoritative references: