How to Make a Scrollbar in PowerPoint
By Ryan Menezes
Ordinary text boxes in Microsoft PowerPoint expand to accommodate their contents. If a single text box contains a large quantity of text, you can change its width or height, but you cannot shrink the box until it excludes some text -- PowerPoint will reshape the box to fit the text rather than adding a scrollbar to the box. To add a text box with a scrollbar, you must add it as an ActiveX control. For example, if a product presentation lists detailed specifications, you can use an ActiveX text box control so that you can scroll through the box's lengthy contents.
Click the "File" tab on the ribbon. Click "Options" to open the PowerPoint Options dialog box.
Click "Customize Ribbon" and click the check box next to "Developer." Click "OK."
Click the "Developer" tab and click the "Text Box" button in the Controls group.
Click and drag over your slide to add the text box.
Right-click the text box and click "Properties" to open its Properties dialog box.
Type or copy and paste the text box's contents into the Value box.
Click the drop-down box next to "ScrollBars" and select "2 - frmScrollBarsVertical."
Click the drop-down box next to "WordWrap" and select "True."
Click the drop-down box next to "MultiLine" and select "True."
Press "F5" to preview the presentation with the scrollbar.
References
Resources
Writer Bio
Ryan Menezes is a professional writer and blogger. He has a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Boston University and has written for the American Civil Liberties Union, the marketing firm InSegment and the project management service Assembla. He is also a member of Mensa and the American Parliamentary Debate Association.