What you need
Your deck, a microphone, and a screen recorder. PowerPoint does have its own recording feature, but only in the desktop app, and it hands you a video file rather than something you can send. Which route makes sense depends on where you are working and what you need at the end.
Step by step
- Open your deck in Slide Show view. Start the presentation full screen, in the PowerPoint desktop app or PowerPoint for the web, so the recording captures it exactly as your audience would see it.
- Start Opivv with mic and camera on. Click the Opivv icon (or press Alt+Shift+R) and switch on your microphone, plus the camera bubble if you want your face in the corner.
- Choose the slides as your source. Pick the window or tab your slideshow is in. Position the camera bubble where it will not cover your slide content.
- Present and mark your sections. Talk through the deck and advance slides at your own pace. Press M at the start of each section so viewers get chapters they can jump between.
- Stop and share the link. Click stop. The recording uploads and a share link lands on your clipboard, ready to send or embed. No exporting, no huge file to upload.
PowerPoint’s own Record Slide Show, and where it stops
The PowerPoint desktop app (Windows and Mac) has a built-in Record Slide Show feature. It captures narration and slide timings, and it records slide by slide, so you can re-record a single slide you fluffed without starting over. When you are done, File > Export > Create a Video gives you an MP4 that keeps your timings, narration, animations, transitions, and laser-pointer gestures.
It is genuinely good. The catch is what you are left with: a large MP4 sitting on your computer. To get it to anyone you still have to upload it to OneDrive, Drive, or a video host, wait for it to process, set permissions, and paste a link. If the presentation is meant to be sent rather than presented live, that is the slow part.
On PowerPoint for the web? The built-in recorder isn’t there
PowerPoint for the web does not support recording a slide show. If your deck lives in the browser, the Record Slide Show route simply is not available to you, and neither is the MP4 export that comes with it.
The same applies on a Chromebook, where the PowerPoint desktop app cannot be installed at all. In both cases a browser-based screen recorder is the practical way to turn the deck into a narrated video, and it takes the same five steps above.
Getting the audio and your face right
Turn your microphone on for narration, and tab or system audio only if your slides play embedded video or sound. For a straightforward narrated deck, mic on and system audio off is the cleanest mix.
The camera bubble is what makes a recorded deck feel like a person presenting rather than slides with a voiceover. Put it in a corner your layout leaves empty, and look at the camera when you make your key points.
Do it in one take
Re-recording from slide one every time you stumble is how a ten-minute talk eats an afternoon. If you fluff a line, pause with Alt+Shift+P, collect yourself, and resume. On Pro you can also trim the rough edges afterwards with the built-in editor, and add an AI transcript so the talk is searchable.
Common questions
How do I record a PowerPoint presentation with audio?
Start your deck in Slide Show view, then record it with your microphone on. In the PowerPoint desktop app you can use Record Slide Show and export an MP4. In PowerPoint for the web, use a screen recorder like Opivv, which also gives you a shareable link instead of a file.
Can I record a slide show in PowerPoint for the web?
No. PowerPoint for the web does not support recording a slide show, so the built-in narration and video export are desktop-only. Recording the browser tab with a screen recorder is the way around it.
How do I record PowerPoint with my face on screen?
Turn on the camera bubble in the Opivv setup overlay before you start. Your webcam appears in a movable corner bubble on top of the slides while you present, which the built-in PowerPoint recorder does not do in the same way.
How do I share the recording?
If you exported an MP4 from PowerPoint you have to upload it somewhere first. If you recorded with Opivv, a watch-in-browser link is copied to your clipboard the moment you stop, and anyone can open it with no account and nothing to install.
Is it free?
Yes. Opivv records and shares a link for free, up to 5 minutes per clip. For a full-length presentation, Pro ($5/month) raises the limit to 2 hours and adds a trim-and-cut editor and AI transcripts.
Related: Record a Google Slides presentation · Record yourself presenting · Try Opivv free