Skip to main content

How to show and hide slides in Google Slides

When you create or import a slideshow, you might end up with slides you don’t want to present but don’t necessarily want to delete either. You may simply want to temporarily hide a slide in a Google Slides presentation.

Although not an obvious feature, you can hide a slide and then show it again later in just a few steps.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Web browser

  • Google account

How to hide a slide in Google Slides

Once you visit Google Slides, sign in, and open your slideshow, you can hide a slide using the Skip slide feature. Plus, you can do it in any view.

Step 1: Select the slide you want to hide.

  • In the Filmstrip, which places thumbnails of the slides on the left side, choose the slide to highlight it.
  • In Grid view, which shows thumbnails of the slides in a grid layout, choose the slide to highlight it.
  • In normal view, which displays only one slide at a time, press the Up or Down arrow on your keyboard or scroll with your mouse or trackpad until you land on the slide.

Step 2: Go to the Slide tab.

Step 3: Select Skip slide.

Skip Slide in the Slide menu.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Alternatively, you can right-click a slide in the Filmstrip or Grid view and choose Skip slide in the Shortcut menu.

When you skip a slide, this places an icon of an eye with a line through it and hides it from the presentation.

You can still work on or move a slide that you skip in a slideshow. This allows you to keep it out of the presentation but continue to edit it.

Slide showing the Skip icon in Google Slides.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to hide multiple slides

If you have more than one slide you want to hide from your presentation, you can skip multiple slides at the same time. This saves you from manually skipping the slides one by one.

Step 1: Either show the Filmstrip using View > Show filmstrip or enter Grid view using View > Grid view.

Step 2: Select the slides you want to hide to highlight them.

  • To select adjacent slides, select the first one, hold your Shift key, and select the last one.
  • To select nonadjacent slides, select the first one, hold Ctrl on Windows or Command on Mac, and select each additional slide.
Multiple slides selected in Grid view.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: Go to the Slide tab.

Step 4: Select Skip slides.

Skip Slides in the Slide menu.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 5: Alternatively, you can right-click one of the slides and choose Skip slides in the Shortcut menu.

You’ll then see the icon with the eye and line on each slide you skipped. These slides do not display when you present your slideshow.

Slides showing the Skip icon in Google Slides.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to show a slide in Google Slides

When you’re ready to show the slides you’ve hidden or skipped, you can follow the same process as above to unhide them.

Step 1: Select the slide or all of the slides you want to show.

Step 2: Go to the Slide tab.

Step 3: Select Skip slide(s) to remove the checkmark.

Skip Slide checked in the Slide menu.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Alternatively, you can right-click a slide or group of slides in the Filmstrip or Grid view and choose Skip slide(s) in the shortcut menu to remove the checkmark.

This then removes the icon from the slide(s) and shows it in your presentation.

Skip Slide checked in the shortcut menu.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to show a slide when presenting

Maybe you’ve hidden a slide and then decide to show it while presenting. You can display a skipped slide when using Presenter View in Google Slides.

Step 1: When you’re ready to present, select the Slideshow drop-down box on the top right and pick Presenter view.

Presenter View in the Slideshow menu.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: You’ll then see your main browser window with the slideshow and a smaller window that allows you to control the presentation.

Google Slides Presenter View on a Mac.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: In the control window, select the drop-down box on the top left that displays the slide numbers. You’ll see your hidden slides, each with that familiar icon of an eye with a line through it.

Pick the skipped slide you want to show, and it’ll display in your presentation.

Presenter View with skipped slides in the list.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: When you finish with that slide, select the next one you want to present in the drop-down box and continue with the slideshow as normal.

You can keep unfinished slides or those you’re saving for a different audience hidden and show them when you’re ready. Take advantage of this Google Slides feature!

For more, learn how to add audio or video to your presentation or how to a draw on Google Slides.

Editors' Recommendations

Sandy Writtenhouse
Sandy has been writing about technology since 2012. Her work has appeared on How-To Geek, Lifewire, MakeUseOf, iDownloadBlog…
Google’s ChatGPT rival just launched in search. Here’s how to try it
Generative AI in Google Search.

Ever since Microsoft started integrating ChatGPT into Bing search, alarm bells have been ringing at Google. Now, though, the tech giant has started rolling out its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool for users as part of its bid to retain its search crown.

In a blog post, the company explains that the new feature (called Search Generative Experience, or SGE) is part of Google’s Search Labs, which lets you test out experimental ideas in Google search and provide feedback to the company. Google says its generative AI will “help you take some of the work out of searching, so you can understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights and get things done more easily.”

Read more
How to drop a pin in Google Maps
google maps

Pins are a convenient Google Maps feature that allows you to save a location. You can drop a pin to save an address or mark a location if it doesn’t have an address or if the address is incorrect. Your pins will help you navigate to these locations again, and you can also share them with your friends to indicate a meetup location.

Read more
How to share Google One storage with your family
how to share google one family app android

You can never have too much online storage, especially if you have family members who very quickly load up their phones and computers with pictures and videos. Google One -- the consumer-grade subscription that gets you more online storage, among other features like a free VPN and extra photo-editing features -- allows you to share your extra storage with the rest of your family.

Read more