PowerPoint · Black out the screen
Slideshow
Windows · Linux
BMac
BBoth systems use the same combination.
Blanks the screen to black; the show is still running and one more press brings it back, but people who do not know that decide the projector has died.
- Group
- Slideshow
- Keys held
- 1
Half of PowerPoint's shortcuts only listen while the show is running — blanking the screen with B, the laser on Ctrl+L — and in edit view those same keys do something else entirely.
Reading the key names
- Keys joined by + are pressed together: Ctrl+Shift+P means hold Ctrl and Shift, then P.
- On a Mac, Cmd is ⌘, Option is ⌥ (labelled Alt on some keyboards), Control is ⌃ and Shift is ⇧.
- Windows Ctrl usually becomes Cmd on a Mac, but not always — this reference lists both combinations separately.
- With a Korean, Japanese or Chinese input method active, shortcuts built on letter keys may not fire. Switch to Latin input and try again.
- When a combination does nothing, another program has often claimed it as a global shortcut first.
Common questions
Q. What is the shortcut for Black out the screen in PowerPoint?
Blanks the screen to black; the show is still running and one more press brings it back, but people who do not know that decide the projector has died. It is B on Windows and B on a Mac.
Q. Is it the same on Windows and Mac?
Yes, B on both.
Q. How many keys is that?
1 pressed together. The combination sits under Slideshow in PowerPoint.