Arrows are extremely helpful in presentations for quickly and easily clarifying connections, progressions, or directions. They add dynamism to the visual design of your PowerPoint presentations and, due to their symbolic nature, save unnecessary text on the slides.
PowerPoint arrows are universally applicable: Visualize cycles with curved arrows , explain processes with flow arrows , or increase your audience's attention through the targeted use of animated arrows . We'll show you how here on the blog!
How to insert arrows in PowerPoint
The classic arrow symbol in PowerPoint is divided into two groups: block arrows and line arrows . These two classic types cover a wide range of applications. Here's how to insert arrows in PowerPoint step by step:
- In the " Insert " tab, click on " Shapes ".
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In the two subcategories " Lines " and " Block Arrows " you will see a wide selection of PowerPoint arrows. Here you can select the desired arrow symbol by clicking on it.
- Next, insert the PowerPoint arrow by clicking on it at the desired location on the canvas. Drag the arrow by its corners to adjust its shape and then manually move it to the correct position.
- To rotate the arrow, select it and grab the small circle icon in the center above the arrow. You can now freely rotate the arrow icon in both directions.
Edit and customize your PowerPoint arrows
PowerPoint offers many ways to customize arrow symbols. Right-clicking the arrow opens a submenu where you need to click on " Format Shape... ".
The editing menu for your shape opens at the edge of the image. Here you can adjust details in the categories " Fill and Line ", " Effects ", and " Size and Properties ".
You can quickly and easily reuse all arrow symbols anywhere in your presentation using copy and paste. Alternatively, right-click to open the submenu and select " Copy ." You can then paste the arrow symbol anywhere in your presentation, including on other slides, by right-clicking and selecting " Paste ."
Tip: Creating curved arrows in PowerPoint
Curved arrows are dynamic alternatives to classic arrows. To use them, open the " Shapes " tab in the " Insert " section and select the " Bow " shape under the " Standard Shapes " category.
If you insert the arc while holding down the Shift key, you can then proportionally resize it. Using the yellow dots, you can manually adjust the length of each arc, up to a complete circle.
Curved PowerPoint arrows: Adjusting the arc line and arrowhead
By default, the arc's line thickness is rather fine and inconspicuous. Therefore, PowerPoint offers the option to freely adjust both the color scheme and the line thickness:
- Select the bow arrow.
- Open the “ Shape Format ” tab and then select the “Shape Outline ” option in the “ Shape Types ” category.
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Here you will find a range of design options: You can freely change the color , line thickness , and line shape .
- At the very bottom of the open drop-down catalog you will see the option “ Arrows ”.
- Here you can select different arrowheads and line ends. Under " More Arrows " you will find further, more detailed options for defining the design of your arrows. As usual, you can adjust the length of the PowerPoint arrow at any time using the small yellow dots in the bow symbol.
Create a loop using PowerPoint arrows
Cycles are a clear and concise tool for explaining related concepts. Using Microsoft PowerPoint and the curved arrows, you can create such a cycle yourself in just a few clicks and adapt it to your data. A useful keyboard shortcut in this context is duplicating with Ctrl + D (alternatively, copy and paste with Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V ).
- The first step is to duplicate your existing sheet. Then, place the duplicate perfectly over the original.
- Now you can rotate the arrow or manually lengthen or shorten it using the yellow dots as usual. This is how you construct the second circuit segment.
- Depending on how many segments you want your cycle to have in the end, repeat this process several times until you have created a complete cycle.
How to label cyclic diagrams in PowerPoint
You already assembled the circular arc of your cycle diagram in the previous process. Now it's a matter of filling the individual sections of your cycle with information. Visually, this works best by using small "signs" or text blocks within the cycle.
First, ensure there is enough space between the arrowheads to place the information boxes. To do this, manually shorten the arrows using the small yellow dots at the arrowheads. Now you can think about the labels for the individual segments:
- In the " Insert " tab, reopen the " Shapes " section.
- Here you have complete freedom of choice. In our example, we have used classic rectangular fields to visualize the individual sections.
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Double-clicking the rectangle shape automatically opens the text field for labeling.
Format your cycle in PowerPoint according to your preferences!
PowerPoint offers numerous possibilities for creatively designing and adapting curved arrow loops to specific purposes. Especially when combined with information boxes or other meaningfully related shapes, loops quickly create overviews of relationships. Work processes, causal relationships, or other sequential sequences can be convincingly visualized in this way.
In our example, we experimented with different design elements:
a) Color scheme: The orange arrows have been complemented by light blue boxes. We recommend using complementary colors or shades of a particular hue – for example, a light pastel green combined with a strong, dark forest green.
b) Edge effects: We added subtle shading under the arrows to create a "floating" effect. The blue boxes in the example remained largely unchanged. This allows you to subtly make your circular diagram—and all other curved arrows in PowerPoint—more dynamic.
To do this, right-click on the arrow or the object you want to format and then select "Format Shape…" . In the editing menu that now appears on the right edge of the image, go to the middle category "Effects". The subcategory "Shadows" offers several self-explanatory options that you can experiment with.
c) Interior: There are several ideas for designing the interior of the curved PowerPoint arrows: An additional pie chart in the center could, for example, fill the entire space to make the exact length or extent of individual sections more clearly visible. Other, purely design-oriented options include icons, photos, or company logos in the center of the curved arrows. This way, you can subtly integrate your corporate design into your presentation.
Cycle: Animating curved arrows with PowerPoint
Curved arrows in PowerPoint are primarily used to simplify the representation of processes, relationships, or causal chains in the form of circular arrows or loops. To further draw attention to your graphic, subtle animation effects can be helpful. For example, you can strategically place your loop at a specific point or have it gradually unfold before your audience's eyes. The latter is a particularly popular method for visually emphasizing a fixed sequence or causal structure (e.g., the center).
You can recreate all the animations with just a few clicks – here's how:
a) The cycle appears as a whole :
- Mark all components of the cycle on your slide.
- Right-click on the selection → “ Group ” (the individual components are treated as a whole)
- Select the group and go to the " Animations " tab.
- Choose a suitable animation (e.g., “ Zoom ”)
b) Appearing one after the other :
- Select the element/text box/arrow that you want to appear first on your slide.
- Switch to the " Animations " tab and select a suitable animation.
- Click the second object to appear with your mouse, and then assign an animation to it as well. Continue in this way until you have animated all the objects that appear in succession.
- When you open the slide, the loop will automatically build itself. In the " Animation " section (Animations tab → Advanced Animation category), you can also adjust the speed and order of the various animations.
Tip: Do you want to decide for yourself when the next building blocks of the PowerPoint cycle appear during your presentation?
Building the arc across multiple slides is not a problem:
First, build the first "building block" of your cycle and complete its design. Then, duplicate the entire slide (select the slide in the slide overview and press Ctrl + D). Next, add the next part of the cycle to the new slide. Repeat this process until the cycle is complete. During the presentation, you decide when to move to the next slide, thus allowing the cycle to continue growing. This way, you can provide all the relevant information for each section before even showing the next one.
Highlight circular arrows with color :
- Highlight the arrow you want to emphasize with color.
- In the " Animations " tab, look for the " Line Color " animation in the " Highlight " category. (Alternatively, look for " Fill Color ")
- After selecting the animation effect, you can choose a color for the arrow to change to in the adjacent " Effect Options ".
- In the “ Animation section ” you can now determine the length and order of the animation.
- You can repeat this process with all objects that you want to highlight with color.
Extra tip : You can find a detailed article about animations in PowerPoint here .
Creating more diagrams with PowerPoint arrows: Flowchart
Especially when it comes to visually representing complex processes or workflows, flowcharts quickly provide the necessary overview. Arrows come into play again when creating flowcharts in PowerPoint.
The connecting arrows remain attached to the individual boxes. If you move the text boxes to a different position on the slide, the arrows move automatically. Here's how to insert connecting arrows in PowerPoint:
- On the " Insert " tab, select the " Shapes " field.
- Here you can search for suitable shapes for your text boxes. In this example, we're using blue rectangles.
- Then go back to the “ Shapes ” section and search in the “ Lines ” subcategory for the appropriate line arrow or other line shape.
Small circles appear at the ends of the lines, serving as anchors. Drag the line arrows across the slide with the mouse button pressed to connect the boxes or text fields you just inserted. Potential anchor points will also be automatically displayed in gray circles.
The arrow lines are now firmly anchored. At the same time, they remain dynamic and move freely across the slide. In a previous blog post, we discussed flowcharts in PowerPoint in more detail. Feel free to take a look and discover the diverse design options that Microsoft Office PowerPoint offers right out of the box.
Tip: You can find detailed information about flowcharts in PowerPoint here .
Animate PowerPoint arrows
Using animations in your presentation can increase audience attention and significantly enhance content. Especially when it comes to PowerPoint arrows, it's often helpful to tailor the direction or length of each pointer to the content. PowerPoint offers various ways to animate arrows. We'll show you one of them here:
To recreate the arrow animation above, you must follow the steps below.
- Creating a PowerPoint arrow: Our arrow consists of a rectangle and an isosceles triangle. You'll find the appropriate option in the " Shapes " category of the " Insert " tab.
- First, insert a rectangle onto your slide, and then place an isosceles triangle in front of it.
- Select both shapes and right-click to open the context menu, where you can select " Group " the shapes together.
- Next, right-click the arrow again and select " Format Object ". In the expanded editing menu, you can remove the lines of the rectangle and triangle in the " Fill and Line " tab. This will make the arrow stand out.
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To animate a PowerPoint arrow: Select the assembled arrow and then go to the " Animations " tab. In the Animation section, you will find many different animation effects in the drop-down menu. In our example, we selected the " Lines " animation path and then manually adjusted the direction.
- In the next step, add another rectangle with the same thickness as the first arrow line. This rectangle will become the growing arrow line in the finished animation. Adjust the length of the new rectangle accordingly.
- The new rectangle will now also be animated. To create the illusion of a growing arrow, we used the " Wipe " animation effect in this example. You can find this effect in the " Animations " tab under the " Entrance " category.
- After applying the effect, you can adjust the direction in which the arrow should grow in the " Effect Options ".
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In the " Display Duration " category or in the " Animation Area, " you can specify that the two animations (" Animation Path Lines " and " Wipe ") start and end simultaneously. This makes the final arrow animation clearly recognizable.
- Now you can easily layer the two objects on top of each other, right-click and select " Group ," and then insert the finished arrow animation anywhere in your presentation. If you are not yet satisfied with the timing of the wipe animation, you can adjust it manually again in the " Animation Panel ."
Conclusion: Use PowerPoint arrows to create visual stimuli or diagrams
PowerPoint offers numerous ways to effectively use arrows to make complex content more engaging and easier to understand. Curved arrows can quickly be transformed into customized pie charts or demonstrative circular flow diagrams. Animated arrows are modern and eye-catching tools for illustrating workflows, relationships, or directions. Our blog features many articles with helpful tips and tricks on this topic, including clear examples and step-by-step tutorials.
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I'm happy to help with any problems or questions you may have regarding PowerPoint or your individual presentation! Don't hesitate to contact me at becker@presentationload.de .