How to Use Google Slides Portrait Mode

New slideshows that you create in Google Slides will be in the landscape orientation by default.

This is the same as Powerpoint, and it’s the default setting because both applications assume that you are going to be displaying your presentation on a screen that is also in the landscape orientation.

But while it’s not too difficult to switch to the portrait orientation in Powerpoint, it’s a little different in Google Slides.

Fortunately, it can still be accomplished. Our guide below will show you how to use the custom slide size option to make your Google Slides presentation landscape.

How to Switch to Portrait Orientation in a Google Presentation

1. Open your slideshow.
2. Click File.
3. Choose Page setup.
4. Select Custom, then enter slide dimensions.
5. Click the Apply button.

Our guide continues below with more information on how to change Google Slides orientation so that you have portrait slides, including pictures of these steps.

How to Use Portrait Orientation in Google Slides (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will also work in other desktop browsers like Edge or Firefox. Note that performing this change to an existing presentation is going to adjust the aspect ratio for any existing slide elements.

Step 1: Sign in to your Google Drive at https://drive.google.com and open the presentation (or create a new one) that you wish to make landscape.

Step 2: Choose the File tab at the top-left of the window.

Step 3: Select the Page setup option at the bottom of the menu.

Step 4: Click the dropdown menu at the center of the window, then select the Custom option.

Step 5: Enter your desired page dimensions into the fields (the first field is width and the second field is length), then click the Apply button.

Note that the dimensions I have entered in the image below will make a letter-sized portrait orientation slideshow.

Our tutorial continues below with additional discussion about making the Google Slides portrait switch if you don’t want horizontal slides and would like to make slides vertical.

More Information on Changing Slide Orientation for Google Slides Presentations

Note that to the right of the dimensions on the Page Setup menu when you are entering your portrait slide dimensions, there is a drop down box where you can choose between inches, centimeters, points, and pixels.

If you are deciding to change slide orientation because you need them in the vertical position for printing purposes, then you will want to keep that in mind when choosing the dimensions and units.

When you make a slide portrait after it was originally a landscape slide, you are definitely going to need to carefully proofread existing content on all the slides for a few key reasons.

While Google Slides isn’t going to switch things like a portrait image to a landscape image, by switching some individual slides to portrait, the objects on that slide may not be set up properly for the portrait perspective.

Putting a slideshow into the portrait layout from the landscape perspective can be a lot like creating an entirely new presentation in a lot of ways, so it’s just something to keep in mind when you use custom dimensions.

If you are working with the Google Apps version of Google Slides in the Android or iOS app version on your smartphone you can click slides and make adjustments to the object and the content on the slides, but you won’t be able to change a slide’s orientation. if you need to switch from landscape mode to portrait view then you will need to do it in the desktop or laptop version of the Google Slides application.

Do you need a PDF copy of your presentation that you can share or upload somewhere? Find out how to download a Powerpoint file from Google Sheets and quickly generate a PDF version of that slideshow.

Additional Reading